Gilbert Hat-Trick keeps Badgers rolling

By Charlie Frederick

Broxbourne made it four wins out of four in Prem B on Saturday with a tough game away at Bourne Deeping. Once the Badgers had eventually managed to find the changing room, via a tour of the car park, it was down to business.

Broxbourne looked strong from the first minute, pressing hard and repeatedly turning the ball over in the opposition half; Louis Scarrott and Chris Hopson looking threatening going forward. The badgers took the lead early on in the half with a well-timed deflection from Gilbert, opening his account for the season. Both McPhil and Harris had strong opportunities, with the keeper coming out fast to prevent the lead increasing.
Bourne Deeping came into the game as the half progressed, switching to three at the back to create an overload, but some strong tackling and superb reading of the game from Blemkin, Chapman and Ellis shut down any real threats. Broxbourne continued to counter attack, with the game becoming an end-to-end style of match with neither side able to break into the D. That was until a good bit of individual skill from Scarrott managed to force the keeper to only parry a shot in the air straight to Gilbert, who made no mistake in a tennis-like serve shot finding the net to make it 2-0 and end the half.

Bourne Deeping seemed to be more re-energised by the break than Broxbourne, winning multiple short corners. It was only a matter of time before a well-timed run from an attacker saw a strong deflection beat Thomas, reducing their arrears to a single goal.
The pressure kept rising and Broxbourne struggled to get hold of the ball from the hosts who kept with the crash ball approach. Some bad tackling from Gilbert meant Broxbourne fell to 10 men resulting in another goal coming shortly afterwards, levelling the scores.

Broxbourne managed to find their rhythm after a while and managed to keep hold of the ball, staying patient moving left and right until a short corner was won from a good run by Henry House. The Mitch Wobble was ordered, and a small breakdown and smart pass from Scarrott found Frederick on the left side, who was able to ‘low aerial’ according to Chapman, making no mistake in finding the centre of the goal retaking the lead. The hosts did not seem phased by this and instantly hit back at the Badgers taking it to 3-3. Broxbourne had a scare when J Chapman had to go off due to illness, only to be replaced like-for-like with younger brother Mitch. Then, with only minutes to go, Gilbert sealed the game with an upright reverse shot from a tight angle, finding the bottom corner.

Broxbourne look to continue their run as they host Sudbury next weekend back at Badger Field.