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---