WATKINS DOUBLE KEEPS BADGERS SECOND

Broxbourne remained hot on the heels of table toppers Sevenoaks as they ground out a 3:1 win over Tunbridge Wells at Badger Field.
The Badgers looked a little flat without head coach Matt McDonnell who was conspicuously absent fulfilling babysitting duties at the futures cup.

Broxbourne looked sluggish from the off, struggling to remain in front of the Tunbridge attackers who repeatedly overloaded the D. The opposition were clearly remembering the double defeat they handed the Badgers the previous season and were keen to repeat history.
Unfortunately, some bizarre indirect umpiring decisions led to Broxbourne having to defend a string of penalty corners. Captain Lisa Banahan was called upon twice and did not disappoint making two superb goal line saves to keep the score 0-0.

As the Badgers began to settle, their form improved and the passing game of the previous week reappeared, the midfield and forwards looking good on the attack.
The deadlock was broken on 25 minutes with Broxbourne finally pulling ahead as a result of one of their own penalty corners. A lucky deflection off the defence fooled the keeper, giving Em Wilkins another goal to add to her tally.

Injured goalkeeper Kim Bames stepped up to deliver the half time team talk in McDonnell’s absence and whatever was said clearly revived the Badgers as they looked much better going in to the second half.

It didn’t take long for Broxbourne to double their lead; man of the match Becky Watkins with a superb disguised shot, which fooled everyone including the keeper, to end up in the far corner.

Broxbourne looked a little complacent with their 2-0 lead and allowed Tunbridge back into the game. Some last ditch tackles by Watkins and Darragh kept the attackers at bay but another goal seemed to be on the cards. Lax marking led to a 2 on 1 situation at the back leaving Freya Green helpless to prevent a tap in to halve the Badger’s lead.

Switching back on, the Badgers increased the pressure, winning a succession of attacking penalty corners. Buoyed by her success in the midweek penalty flick competition, veteran Gemma Wilkinson was brought down to earth with a bump as she struggled with her stick stopping responsibilities and was left scrabbling around on her hands and knees trying to recover the ball. Despite Wilkinson’s best efforts to sabotage the Badgers, the ball found its way to Watkins in space on the left who unleashed a stunning reverse stick effort which flew into the bottom corner, re-establishing the two goal cushion.

Tunbridge did their best to get back into the game and looked sure to score from a penalty corner when Wilkins and Wills were both banished to the halfway line after breaking too early. However, a wonder save from Green frustrated the visitors who were just unable to convert, leaving the final score at 3:1.

Next week Broxbourne welcome the league leaders Sevenoaks to Badger Field in a key top of the table clash. The so far undefeated Sevenoaks will definitely be a test for the Badgers who have so far enjoyed a relatively easy ride in division 1S. Please come down to support and enjoy what is sure to be an absolute cracker.