VALUABLE POINT FOR BATTLING BADGERS

Broxbourne came from a goal down to secure a hard fought point on the road against a physical and well organised Old Southendians. The Badgers preparations were less than ideal with the late withdrawal of Louis Scarrott meaning they travelled with a bare eleven. Scarrott made the mistake that surely many have made before him by assuming that Southend was in central London rather than on the east coast of England. The logistical gaffe meant the midfielder was marooned somewhere near Whitechapel and had no chance to make push back.

The first half was a cagey affair, Broxbourne understandably were reluctant to press too high up the field given their lack of numbers and this resulted in the home side edging time of possession. That possession resulted in few clear cut chances though with the Badgers sticking to their men like glue and keeper Paul Staples had relatively little to do.

Broxbourne’s attacking play was not clicking though, on the rare occasions they reached the final third a misplaced pass or a poor first touch meant the attack came up empty. However the best chance of the half did fall to the visitors; George Blemkin made a trademark marauding run down the right hand side winning a short corner. Ben Scarrott’s initial flick was saved with the rebound falling to Josh Chapman who blazed his shot wide of the far post.

Old Southendian came out hard to start the second half and started to put the Badger defense under pressure. Disaster struck in the 45th minute when Toby House received his marching orders for what could generously be described as a forward’s tackle and was sin binned for ten minutes. With no subs an already tired Broxbourne team were put under incessant pressure as the home side looked to make the extra man count.

Attack after attack was launched with the Badgers surviving several goal mouth scrambles thanks to the excellent Staples in goal and some incredible last ditch blocks by Blemkin and Chris Hopson in particular. Ironically having weathered the storm and back to eleven Broxbourne then went behind, a Southend forward was allowed to dribble into the D unchallenged and gave Staples no chance with a powerful shot into the bottom corner.

Broxbourne’s heads could easily have dropped but they equalised within three minutes. Scarrott picked out Adam Kitching and the veteran crossed for Hopson who produced a composed finish from one yard out.

During an end to end final fifteen minutes either side could have grabbed a winner. The Badgers gave away multiple short corners with left back Stan Mason unfortunately the victim of some subtle stick blocking which deceived the umpire. Broxbourne's defensive short corner unit held firm keeping the scores tied. Southend were becoming increasingly open to the counter attack and Scarrott, both House brothers and Kitching were inches away from grabbing a winner but the final pass or shot was not quite good enough to unlock the Southendian defense. No further goals followed with a draw perhaps a fair result in the end.

Next week the Badgers host bottom of the table Felixstowe at Badger Field. Despite their lowly position the seasiders played very well in the first game between the two sides narrowly losing 1-2 and the Badgers will know they will have to play well to get the win.

Off the field there was exciting transfer news for the Badgernation. Strangely not reported by Sky Sports News on transfer deadline day, CEO and Chairman Kitching secured a late deal to sign Phil Bryans from Exeter University for an undisclosed fee. Bryans played for the blue and pink on loan during the 2016-17 and convincing the classy midfielder to return is a major coup for Kitching.