BADGERS OFF TO FLYING START

A wet start to the new season saw Broxbourne face Sevenoaks 2 at home on Saturday. Having only lost twice last season and been promoted from Division 1 South into the East premier league, Broxbourne were looking forward to being tested at a higher level. Broxbourne made a positive start, dominating possession and linking some carefully crafted passing towards the opposition D. Pressure on the goal resulted in a series of short corners and Becky Scarrott stepped up to strike the ball. Broxbourne looked as if they were still working on their short corners, and a couple of inaccurate drag outs and stick stops prevented them from getting a good shot away. Nevertheless, Broxbourne maintained their dominance, and a storming run from Emily Wilkins tore through midfield and into the top of the Sevenoaks D. Wilkins pulled the ball onto her reverse stick side and hit the ball sweetly with so much force that the keeper didn’t even see the ball. 1-0 to Broxbourne. Towards the end of the half, Sevenoaks started to make some threatening runs, with several young skilful players penetrating the Broxbourne defence. However, some strong defending and last minute tackles from Claire Cattermole meant that Broxbourne goalkeeper Freya Green only had to make one save all game.

After half time Broxbourne continued to hold most of the possession, frustrating Sevenoaks, who had 2 players sent off with yellow cards for bad tackles. Taking advantage of the surplus players, Broxbourne turned up the pressure once again. Some impressive team play saw the ball being delivered to Gemma Wilkinson at centre forward. However, she didn’t make the most of the situation and got pulled up several times for backing in to the Sevenoaks defence. A ball was played out to Tor Stacey at right half, and she powered up the wing. Sheer persistence saw her beat a couple of players and get into the top of Sevenoaks D, where she fired a ball towards the goal. Having beaten the keeper, Charlotte Skipp took an extra touch to ensure the ball ended up hitting the back board. 2-0 Broxbourne. Broxbourne maintained a good defence until the final whistle, keeping a clean sheet. Broxbourne were pleased with the good start they made to the season, and look forward to playing city of Peterborough away next week.