Brantham go nap away to League leaders Dereham

The two Brantham front runners who led the Dereham defence a merry dance in this match, hitting the five goals between them. On the left is Lee Grimwood who scored a well deserved and superb hat-trick while on the right is Ollie Mann who netted a brace with two great goals and to be honest both could have had more on the day!! They run and chase for each other and will pass the ball if either thinks the other has a better chance than him,. and that is what team football is all about..

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY JANUARY 29th
DEREHAM TOWN 1 BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 5
Brantham (sponsored by Kensington) made the trip to Dereham and they went there knowing it was going to be a hard game against the current league leaders.However, in the end it was us who looked by far the better side and we ran out 5-1 winners,which I can assure shocked the Dereham supporters and management. We settled down from the start and had an early chance when the ball was played through to Ollie Mann who sent in a hard shot that the keeper did well to put round for a corner. Dereham had height in their side,but early on they didn't seem able to make that count. We deservedly took the lead when a good three man move and the ball ended up with the livewire Lee Grimwood who smashed it home. Dereham were creating chances but just could not seem to make them count with our back four of Jono,Jack,Adam and Chris French, doing a great job in shutting them down. We were still pushing men forward in search of a second goal and Ollie Mann seemed to go through two men before hitting the ball at goal and the keeper just managed to get hold of it at the second attempt. David Grimwood then got in on the action when a good through ball picked him up on the edge of the area and under pressure David's shot was not that far wide. We almost added a second early on when the ball was played towards the edge of the Dereham area and Sean Gunn latched onto the ball and made ground towards goal. He hit the ball at the top of the goal only to see it clip the bar and it came down for a very relieved Dereham keeper to get hold of it and clear the ball. Sean was involved again moments later when some great play down the flank by Ollie Mann saw the ball cut back across goal for Sean Gunn to run onto but he hit his shot well over the bar. At the other end Dereham's Reeves went close and minutes later leading goalscorer Danny Beaumont was put through but Ryan Bedingfield narrowed the angle and Beaumont saw his shot go wide of the post. Ollie Mann got involved again when he seemed to tie up two defenders in knots before hitting the ball at goal only to see the keeper make a top class save. Back at the other end Dereham's Beaumont was again put through on the Brantham goal only to see his effort go just inches wide. Half time came with Brantham still looking the better side all round but they again knew that Dereham would come at them from the re-start. Dereham did just that and grabbed an equaliser when a good move saw Beaumont play the ball into the area and Ollie Thompson was the first to react and put the ball in the back of the Brantham net. Dereham people thought that this was the start of a come-back by their side but they were going to be sadly disappointed as it was Brantham who picked the game up by the scruff of the neck and made all the running. We regained the lead when a good move involving Ollie Mann, Kieran Lawler and Gunn saw the ball laid off for Lee Grimwood to thrash home. We had two more good chances before we made it 3-1. This time it was some magic football from Marc Lowe who set off Ollie Mann on a great run and Ollie sidestepped opne tackle and bore down on goal and with the keeper starting to come out Ollie hit it past him and into the near corner. A fantastic piece of skill by Lee Grimwood saw him grab a well deserved hat-trick when he broke through and from an awkward angle slipped the ball past the the oncoming Dereham defender and keeper. Ollie Mann had the last word when he ran onto a good through ball, turned his man, and sent a superb shot into the goal for his second and our fifth of the game. You could see how much the result meant to the Brantham team with their end-of-game huddle at the final whistle. Our thanks also to the 7 hardy supporters who made the journey to the game and they seemed to make more noise than the home people did and they all went home with a big smile on their faces!! Our thanks also to the Dereham people who made us all welcome and listening to their people after the game they thought it could have been 8 or 9 in our favour and they agreed that if chances we created in the first half alone had gone in it would have been all over by then!
We even got a mention in the Ridgeons League bulletin when they said -" Brantham Athletic showed that they could be in a false position near the bottom with a shock 5-1 win at league leaders Dereham Town. There was a Lee Grimwood hat-trick and a brace from leading goalscorer Ollie Mann" Let's hope that this result,maybe, just maybe, be the start of us climbing up the league table!!!
Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2- Jono Crouch. 3-Chris French. 4- Jack Sibbons. 5.Adam Bloss. 6.Kieran Lawler. 7.Marc Lowe. 8.David Grimwood. 9.Ollie Mann. 10. Lee Grimwood. 11.Sean Gunn. subs not used - Kieron Smith-Edwards, Shaun Webb and Danny Garrad.
----barry felgate---

Reserves great win at home against AFC Sudbury

RIDGEONS RESERVES-SOUTH - TUESDAY JANUARY 25th
BRANTHAM RESERVES 2 AFC SUDBURY RESERVES 0
Brantham Reserves (sponsored by Kensington) welcomed AFC Sudbury on Tuesday night ( writes Nathan Burrell) looking to increase our lead at the top of the table and expected a keenly fought contest, and it certainly was that. Sudbury's first team game had been called off on the same night and they brought in a few fringe players and we welcomed Sean Gunn, Kieran Lawler and Chris French into the squad. In a very tight game both teams were finding it hard to create any clear cut chances with play being mainly in midfield. We started to gain the upper hand and our first real chance was from a free kick about 20 yards out which Lee Willcox drove into the Sudbury wall. Sudbury were looking dangerous on the counter attack and our back four had to keep a close eye on their lively front two whose movement and pace was top class.Our best chance of the half fell to Ben Sparrow who chased a long ball and got to it first. With Sudbury's goalkeeper racing out of his goal towards the ball Ben tried a 30 yard lob only to see the ball drop just past the post and cleared by a Sudbury defender. From the resultant corner Chris French whipped the ball in and the ball bounced about in the six yard box without us getting a touch on it.
Half time Merch and myself were happy with the work rate and commitment of the team but felt we just needed to calm down when in possession and play a little more football and we knew the chances would come. We started to get the ball on the ground and started to create chances.The first came from a short corner and Chris French beat his marker and cracked in a great shot which produced a good save from the Sudbury keeper. Chris French then got in a one-on-one, the keeper done well but then dropped the ball at Frenchy's feet only to grab the ball at the second attempt before Frenchy knew what was going on! Sudbury were still well in the game and from a free kick 25 yards out Ross Welton pulled off a great save, saving low to his left. Almost immediately Ross pulled off another great save with the Sudbury forward through in a one-on-one and Ross blocked the ball with his legs to keep the game all square. We then took the lead in the 70th minute and what a goal it was. The ball was crossed into the Sudbury box and was cleared only for the ball to drop to Chris French just out side the area and Chris smacked the ball home on the half volley with a superb shot into the top corner of the goal. 1-0. Sudbury then put us under pressure but all credit to the boys who defended fantastically well, not giving Sudbury a sniff of a chance. We were playing on the counter-attack and from a quick break Sean Gunn found himself getting to the goal line before beating the Sudbury full back and with some superb cool finishing hit the ball, from an awkward angle, into the corner of the goal to make it 2-0 and to seal the win.
So a huge three points against a quality Sudbury team, who in all honesty won't lose many games this season.This sets us up nicely for the double header against Braintree,home and then away. It would be very hard to pick out players but I thought that the back four of Spencer, Mann, Long and Drouet were superb and young Lee Willcox certainly had his best game for us this season.
Brantham - 1.Ross Welton. 2.Ben Spencer. 3.Alex Drouet. 4.James Long. 5.Kev Mann. 6.Kieran Lawler. 7.Ben Green. 8.Lee Willcox. 9. Ben Sparrow. 10.Sean Gunn (1 goal). 11. Chris French (1 goal). subs- James Glen, Adam Thompson and Alex Street.
Thanks to Nathan Burrell for a top class report and well done to the lads for such a great performance. I was able to watch a lot of the game and Merch and Nathan have the right mixture, younger players and the more experienced lads, and they all did the team and the club proud in this game.-----barry felgate----

Brantham draw at home against Newmarket Town

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY JANUARY 22nd
BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 0 NEWMARKET TOWN 0
Brantham (sponsored by Kensington) entertained ( maybe not some of the crowd !!) Newmarket Town looking for three valuable league points but in the end had to settle for just one point after a goal less draw. We took the game to our opponents from the first whistle and had the first real chance when Andy French broke down the left before playing the ball into the area. Kieran Lawler was the first to react in the box but put his header straight at the keeper. Ollie Mann made ground down the wing and cut inside before hitting the ball along the goal line before it was cleared by a defender. Newmarket started to settle down and a good three man move ended with King hitting the Brantham cross bar. We hit back straight away and some good work down the right by Lee Grimwood, who seemed to cover every inch of the pitch during the game, put the ball through to Ollie Mann on the edge of the area. Ollie turned his marker and sent in a hard and low shot that the Newmarket keeper did well to stop. We then had a rash of cautions. Both Lee and David Grimwood were cautioned after going in with an opponent for the ball and to everybody watching the game it seemed that these were legitimate tackles with both players contesting the same ball , but, the referee seemed to think otherwise. Newmarket then had a player cautioned and Kieran Lawler joined the list after disputing a decision. The second half started with both teams pushing men forward in search of that elusive opening goal. Newmarket had two good chances which were both well taken by Bedingfield in the Brantham goal. Some good work in the middle by the industrious Marc Lowe finished with the ball being played along the ground to Ollie Mann who turned his marker and sent in a shot that beat the keeper but went inches wide of the post. We looked the more positive side going forward with the midfield and defence getting through a lot of work but we were just not able to make chances count.Towards the end of the game shots from Ollie Mann, Lee Grimwood and Kieran Lawler seemed to beat the keeper only to go agonisingly the wrong side of the woodwork and that just about summed the day up for us. Spare a thought for manager Tony Hall who has had his full first team squad available for selection for just three matches this season-we won two and drew one- nuff said!!!
Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2- Jack Sibbons. 3-Andy French. 4- Jono Crouch. 5-Adam Bloss. 6- Shaun Webb. 7-Marc Lowe. 8-David Grimwood.- 9.Ollie Mann. 10-Lee Grimwood. 11- Kieran Lawler - subs used - Sean Gunn - subs not used - Chris French, Danny Garrad and Kieron Smith-Edwards
---barry felgate--

First team go out of Cup away to CRC

RIDGEONS LEAGUE CUP - 2nd round - WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19th
CRC 3 BRANTHAM 1
Brantham (sponsored by Kensington) travelled to CRC and as the saying goes -"So near- but yet so far away" and that just about sums our cup match up . There had been a lot of phone calls between ourselves, CRC, the league and the referees as at one stage the game was going to be played at Brantham but then after the FA informed us that they couldn't change the referees it was back to Cambridge. We were key men short, Marc Lowe still getting over his injury from last Saturday's game and defender Andy French could not get off work in London in time to get to the match. This meant that manager Tony Hall had to shuffle his team line-up about once again. We started off with Ryan Bedingfield making two good stops early on and minutes later the ball was put into the CRC area and Ollie Mann outjumped everybody to power a header goalwards only to see the keeper make a top class save. CRC hit back straight away and their centre forward sent in a hard shot that hit the post before being cleared by Bedingfield for a corner. CRC took the lead when the ball was played into our area and their man was given all the time and space he needed to head home at the far post. CRC were concentrating a lot of their attacks down both flanks and minutes after the goal they could have added a second when a forward was allowed to run through and shot at goal only to see Ryan Bedingfield deflect the ball round for a another corner. Towards the latter part of the half we started to settle down and we were knocking the ball about well. This paid off when David Grimwood did all the hard work before putting the ball through for Ollie Mann to run onto and Ollie turned his marker and struck the ball home straight and true. 1-1. In the last minute a good attack ended with Adam Bloss running in on goal and it looked as if might score but CRC managed to get the ball off their line and clear. We started the second half as we had finished the first by taking the game to our opponents. Sean Gunn broke through and laid the ball off into the path of David Grimwood whose shot was cleared by a frantic defence. Minutes later the ball was played to Kieran Lawler and from a good 25 yards out Kieran hit it and the shot beat the keeper but smacked against the woodwork. This seemed to wake our opponents up and realise they were in a game and they regained their advantage when a pass into the area went unchallenged and their man made no mistake with a header into the net. We made changes with Danny Garrad, Shaun Webb and Lee Willcox all coming on during the second half . All soon got involved in the action and Shaun Webb made two important headers almost as soon as he came on. The game was over when CRC added the killer third goal when a forward was allowed all the time he wanted to place his shot wide of Bedingfield. CRC are a young side and have the benefit of being able to train every day and that came through. They knocked the ball about well and had all of the tricks that you can associate with a team who are involved at the level they are. But all credit to our lads, who despite being down, still ran and chased every ball. Our thanks to the people who made the journey at short notice to come and support the team.
Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2.Kieron Smith-Edwards. 3-Chris French. 4-Jono Crouch. 5-Jack Sibbons. 6.Kieran Lawler. 7-Adam Bloss. 8.David Grimwood. 9.Ollie Mann. 10.Sean Gunn. 11-Lee Grimwood. subs used - Shaun Webb, Lee Willcox, Danny Garrad. subs not used -Nathan Munson
---barry felgate--

Brantham go down 3-2 in scrappy game at Yarmouth

Photo - Adam Bloss who scored our second goal with a shot so hard that the ball finished up stuck in the back of the goal between the stanchion and the goal net.

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY JANUARY 15th
GT YARMOUTH 3 BRANTHAM 2
I would have liked to start by saying that we were unlucky in the match away to Gt Yarmouth-but in all reality that was not the case, as we were poor in a game that we really could and should have won. I agree that losing two main midfield men in the first half, Marc Lowe and David Grimwood, did not help our cause, but Yarmouth can point out that they had their keeper sent off just before half time and had to play the second half with a stand-in keeper. I am sure that we all agree that we are more than capable of moving away from the bottom end of the table but we will only do that if EVERY PLAYER peforms to his full potential, and it certainly didn't happen in this game!! We started brightly enough when Lee Grimwood made ground down the flank and put a cross over which ended with Ollie Mann powering a header towards the top corner of the net, only to see the home keeper, somehow,manage to tip the ball round his post for a corner. We then lost midfield man Marc Lowe to a bad ankle injury and we can only hope that he is not going to be out for any length of time.Chris French came on for Marc and soon got involved in the action with two meaty tackles early on. Sean Gunn broke down the left and put in a good cross that Ollie Mann headed at goal, but only to see the keeper, again, tip it over for yet another corner, despite the keeper being in a collision with his post. Yarmouth took the lead, against the run of play to be honest, in the 33rd minute when Jake Reed ran through and latched onto a ball and with the Brantham players appealing he side stepped a challenge and slotted home past an oncoming Ryan Bedingfield. We continued to argue the point which ended with Ryan being cautioned. Yarmouth had their tails up now and Woodcock broke through and sent in a stinging shot that Bedingfield did well to tip over the bar. We then lost midfield man David Grimwood. David had been unwell but determined to play and not let the team down, but in the end even he to call it a day in this match. This meant that for the second time in the first half that manager Tony Hall had to make changes to his playing formation. We were creating some good chances but we just could not find a way past Hilton in the Yarmouth goal. This changed a bit just prior to the break when Hilton came out of his area and pushed a Brantham player to the ground. The referee, after speaking to his assistants, then gave Hilton his marching orders. We again pushed forward and the stand-in keeper was quick off his line to make a good save from a fierce Ollie Mann shot. Half time 1-0.
The second half started with Yarmouth doubling their lead. From a free kick into our area the ball was not cleared anbd Duffy,running in, hammered the ball home from close range. 2-0. This seemed to wake us up and we pulled a goal back when the ball was played to the far post and Ollie Mann seemed to turn on a sixpence ( somewhat dates me I'm sure!!) and blasted the ball into the roof of the net. We then tried some long range efforts, including a 35 yard stinger from Andy French,but the keeper was equal to the shots. Chris French then skipper round two tackles and laid the ball off into the path of Sean Gunn and from close in Sean drilled the ball over the bar. We drew level with the goal of the game. From a corner a Yarmouth defender tried to head the ball clear but he helped it on it's way across goal and Adam Bloss, lurking in the area, let fly with a shot that flew like a rocket into the top corner of the goal. Such was the power of Adam's shot that it got wedged between the stanchion and the net and one Yarmouth man was heard to comment that if it had not gone into the goal it would have ended up in the North Sea!
With the game seeming to ebb out it was Yarmouth who grabbed the winner when a hard shot was sent across the Brantham goal, hard and low, and as Jack Sibbons, with a Yarmouth man coming in from the edge of the area, tried to clear the ball, to his dismay Jack saw it come off his boot and end up in the back of the net- and that just about summed our day up!
Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2.Jono Crouch. 3. Andy French. 4. Jack Sibbons. 5.Adam Bloss. 6.Kieran Lawler. 7.Marc Lowe. 8.David Grimwood. 9.Ollie Mann. 10.Lee Grimwood. 11.Sean Gunn. subs used -Kieron Smith-Edwards, Chris French and Danny Garrad
--barry felgate---

Reserves run riot at home to Halstead winning 9-0

Photo- Ben Spencer who curled his shot into the top corner of the net for our 9th and final goal of the game.

RIDGEONS RESERVES SOUTH - SATURDAY JANUARY 15th
BRANTHAM RESERVES 9 HALSTEAD RESERVES 0
It was top versus bottom of the reserve south division as we hosted Halstead looking to maintain our lead at the top of the table( writes Nathan Burrell). Play was mainly in midfield as for the first 10 minutes we struggled to get our passing game going. On 15 minutes we made the breakthrough with Ben Green chesting the ball down to the feet of Shaun Webb who in turn crossed for Alex Stocker to hit home. This goal settled us down and we started to play our football. Lee Willcox was unlucky not to increase our lead when he broke through from midfield and saw his well struck effort saved well by the Halstead keeper. Young Ross Cooper, who was making his first start for the reserves, then had two great chances, the first a glancing header which was only inches away and the second he drilled the ball into the side netting. We made it 2-0 on 25 minutes when Ben Spencer did well to get to the by-line and cut the ball back to veteran Kevin Mann who made no mistake from 6 yards to put us firmly in control. Ben Green then got into the action when, from the edge of the area, he curled in a beauty of a shot that gave the keeper no chance at all. 3-0. We scored our fourth right on half time when Ben Green's free kick was pushed out by the Halstead keeper and there was goal machine Shaun Webb to tap it home. 4-0
Half time and we stressed to the boys to keep things simple and more goals will come. Almost immediately as Merch and myself were making our way back to the dugout Alex Stocker picked the ball up on the left hand side, beat the full back, and spanked in a low shot into the corner of the net 5-0. It was all one way traffic with Halstead struggling to get out of their half and we scored our 6th of the game when Ben Green got in down the right flank and put in a lovely cross which was well finished by Shaun Webb for his second of the game.We then made some changes and brought on Ben Sparrow and Adam Thompson for the last 30 minutes and quickly scored our 7th when Ross Cooper broke down the right and put in a great cross ball which fell nicely to Alex Stocker who smashed the ball home to complete his hat-trick. Adam Thompson then got into the act with probably the goal of the game. He picked the ball up 30 yards out and drove forward and unleashed a screamer to put us 8-0 up. The last goal was also a superb effort when some lovely one touch football found Ben Spencer and he curled one into the top corner of the goal with his left peg to complete the rout at 9-0.
Impossible to name a man of the match with the entire 14 players putting in a great shift, have to mention Speedy's fantastic hat-trick from left midfield and two great finishes from Webby, do just have to mention the centre forwards of Street,Cooper and Sparrow or failing to score in a 9-0 victory, enough said!!
No game on Saturday but we back on duty on Tuesday 25th at home to AFC Sudbury in the league.
Brantham - 1.Ross Welton., 2.Ben Spencer ( 1 goal). 3.Alex Drouet. 4.James Long. 5.Kev Mann (1 goal). 6.Shaun Webb (2 goals). 7.Lee Willcox. 8. Ben Green (1 goal). 9.Alex Stocker (3 goals). 10.Alex Street. 11.Ross Cooper. subs- Adam Thompson (1 goal), Ben Sparrow and James Glen.
(Thanks again to Nathan Burrell for the report- and well done to the lads for that great victory-keep the good work up gentlemen.)------------barry felgate------)

Brantham Reserves win away at the seaside!!!

RIDGEONS RESERVES SOUTH - SATURDAY JANUARY 8th
FELIXSTOWE & WALTON RESERVES 0 BRANTHAM ATHLETIC RESERVES 2
We were only one of a handfull of teams to get a game on Saturday ( writes Nathan Burrell) as the heavy rain put paid to many of the fixtures. We welcomed Adam "Blossy" Bloss into the team for a game after his recent lay-off and the returning Ben Spencer from injury. We started the game well,moving the ball about for the opening 5 minutes. After this spell we opened the scoring just after the 5 minute mark when a Brantham effort hit the post and came back out and Shaun Webb, running in, hit it home past the startled goalkeeper ( sorry Shaun-trying to give your goal away to another player!!).0-1. We then nearly increased our lead in the 10th minute with some fine football. A deep cross was headed back across goal by Kieran Lawler only for the oncoming Alex Drouet to volley over the bar when well placed. We then gifted our opponents a great chance when we lost the ball 30 yards out from goal only to see the Felixstowe striker shoot past the post -phew!! Play tended to be in midfield with Shaun Webb and Lee Willcox getting through a lot of work. We deservedly increased our lead on the 30 minute mark when the ball dropped to Kieran Lawler again 25 yards out and his shot produced a good save from the Felixstowe keeper but the ball came out and there was Alex Drouet to tuck away the rebound. Right on half time we gave the ball away in a dangerous position and this gave Felixstowe a glorious chance to get back into the game but once again their effort was off target. Half time 0-2.
At the break we were happy to be two goals to the good but we all knew that the game wasn't won so we made it clear to the boys that plenty of hard work was required in the second half. We had the first real chance of the second half when a good deep cross from Street was inches away from Ben Green converting at the far post. Felixstowe then seemed to up their game and were looking to get back into the game and keeper Ross Welton pulled off as great save, pushing a well hit shot onto the post. For the rest of the half Felixstowe had plenty of possession but failed to get past our hard tackling back four. We should really have been awarded a penalty in the closing stages when Kieran Lawler was bundled by the Felixstowe keeper, but referee Dawson, who had a good game, waved away our appeals.
So a big 3 points after the extended Christmas break which hopefully should set us up for a go at the title. Next week we are at home to Halstead on Saturday and then at home again the following Tuesday against AFC Sudbury Reserves - why not come along and give us some support!!
Brantham - 1.Ross Welton. 2. James Long. 3.Ben Spencer. 4. Adam Bloss.5.Kevin Mann. 6.Shaun Webb. 7.Lee Willcox. 8.Ben Green. 9.Kieran Lawler ( 1 goal). 10.Alex Street. 11. Alex Drouet. subs used - Ross Cooper and Alex Stocker.
Thanks to Nathan Burrell for his in-depth report and I must say that I thought the team did well against some experienced Felixstowe players. The back four were in great form while the midfield seemed to run and chase after every ball. Up front the lads caused the Felixstowe defence a lot of problems and to be honest we could have had more than 2 goals but to their credit Felixstowe threw everything into stopping the ball. Good to see so many people travel to watch the game and support the team and I know that their support was appreciated by Merch, Nanthan and the team.
--barry felgate---