Magpies pinch nothing from Badger Den

By Lisa Banahan

The Broxbourne Ladies 1’s occupy 4th place in the East Premier league following 3 points pinched from the Harleston Magpies Ladies 1’s on Saturday. Poor weather greeted both sets of players at Mill Lane but the Badger’s clinical short corner routine proved the difference between the sides. Short corner success comes at a price, however, with left back Lisa Banahan sustaining a nasty knock at the hands of Emily “Bruiser” Wilkins during training on Tuesday. Ever sympathetic captain Dr. Laura Wills confirmed it to be “only a bruise”, and the left back made the starting eleven for Broxbourne. With Pip Evans returning still nursing a wound sustained at the hands of Wilkins earlier in the season, the Badgers looked strong in defence to stifle the Magpie threat.

The first goal came courtesy of Becky Scarrot’s swift and accurate cross to the right post from a short corner. Kerri Marshall’s well timed run had her perfectly positioned to secure the Badgers a 1-0 lead. Later in the half, Alice Brown opened her goal tally for the season in the second phase of a short corner, finding the bottom corner from a rebound off a defender on the line. It wouldn’t be the first time in the game that Brown’s cat like reflexes would play a crucial role. Deep into the first half she took a raised ball to the chest, ducking at the last minute to avoid a face injury. Brown hardly flinched, more worried about the £26 she dropped on an over-priced Badger toy in Cornwall. The Badgers went into half time still 2-0 up.

Captain Laura Wills kept it PC with her game management and Coach Matt McDonnell, inspired by the arrival of his 5 week old son at the stadium, was keen to get on with the job at hand in the second half. Kay Finch, as well as entertaining the team with her witty comments and ABBA related puns, was a key player in the defensive press and worked relentlessly to down the left hand side to ward off the on-going threat from the visitors. Early in the second half, Emily Wilkins turned her wrath on the opposition this time, with a cracking first time strike off a short corner to extend the lead to 3-0.

The Magpies managed to peck one back, putting one past Freya Green in goals with 5 minutes to go. The Badgers successfully defended a number of short corners, with Green making a crucial save with minutes on the clock. The strength of Broxbourne on the right hand side with Laura Wills, Kerri Marshall and Emily Wilkins linking up nicely, kept possession with Broxbourne in the dying minutes and saw them to the final whistle maintaining their two goal advantage.

Next Saturday the Badgers travel to St. Albans and hope for better weather conditions. With an Indian Summer forecast, hopefully this will warm not just the hearts of the Badgers but also the recently purchased home of striker Kerri Marshall. With no other social events in the calendar, the Badgers revel in the excuse to let their hair down after the game.