Brantham hit Woodbridge for four!!!

Photo: (left)- Adam Bloss who powered a header home for our fourth goal and (right)-League leading goalscorer Ollie Mann who hit a first half hat trick.

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY MARCH 26th BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 4 WOODBRIDGE TOWN 0. After the midweek defeat at CRC were were keen to get back to winning ways and we did that with a good 4-0 win at home to Woodbridge Town, doing the double over them for the season. We started quickly and despite some of the game being concentrated in midfield we did create openings. Despite us looking the more confident side it was Woodbridge who had the first real chance. A ball was played into the Brantham area and as Sam Banya made ground towards the ball he was beaten to it by Andy French who put a deft header back to Ryan Bedingfield in the Brantham goal. At the other end Andy was involved again when he put over a corner that was played back to David Grimwood who was not that far wide with a snap shot. It was then the turn of Sean Gunn who hit the ball from outside the area only to see it clip the woodwork before being cleared. We broke the deadlock when a good move down the left ended with Ollie Mann collected the ball and made ground straight into the Woodbridge area only to be brought down and the referee pointed to the spot. Ollie made sure things were right before blasting the ball home, sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-0. Woodbridge were struggling to hold the Brantham front runners and minutes later Ollie Mann was on target for his and Brantham's second goal. A good move from the back to the flanks saw the ball played into the path of Ollie Mann. Ollie ran directly at goal and as the keeper came out to narrow the angle Ollie hit it home past him. Midfield man David Grimwood who was playing well was then involved in the wars again, this time as David went to head the ball a Woodbridge man hit him in the head with a very high boot and David went down like he had been pole-axed. After a long delay for treatment David finally got up and was soon involved again in the action. Minutes later Ollie Mann grabbed his third goal of the game. He went on a mazy run, cut inside and drew the keeper off his line and sent in a hard shot that hit the bar and bounced down. A defender ran back to hastily boot it off the line but the assistant referee, who was right in line with the goal, signalled a goal and speaking to him after the game he said it had gone a good foot over the line. 3-0. This seemed to wake Woodbridge up a bit and they finished the first half with some good football with both Banya and Seaman going close.

Half time - Brantham 3 Woodbridge 0.

Woodbridge carried that momentum into the second half and were looking that much more determined and both Sam Banya and Churchyard saw good efforts well taken by Brantham keeper Ryan Bedingfield. Midfield man David Grimwood, who was still looking groggy, came off to good reception from the Brantham supporters and he was replaced by Ben Spencer. The Brantham defence were being put under pressure but they were coping well with some sustained attacks by an eager Woodbridge team. Brantham made the game as safe as it could be with a 4th goal. From a Sean Gunn corner it was defender Adam Bloss who made a surging run to leap like the proverbial salmon to power a header into the roof of the goal, leaving the keeper clutching at fresh air. Brantham brought on subs Lewis Blanchett and Danny Garrad and both were running straight at the Woodbridge defence. Despite this set back all credit to Woodbridge who still played some good football but they just could not find a way to open their account. Towards the end, Lee Grimwood who once again seemed to cover every blade of grass with his non-stop running laid the ball into the path of Marc Lowe who hit it first time and it sailed over the bar.

Brantham - 1. Ryan Bedingfield. 2. Simon Mann.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 - Ben Spencer, Lewis Blanchett, Danny Garrad, subs not used - Chris French and Nathan Munson

----------barry felgate------

CRC win match in injury added on time!!

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - WEDNESDAY MARCH 23rd CRC 3 BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 1 We made the journey midweek to Cambridge to face CRC and from the start they were prepared to push men forward. Our new signing, Thomas Wray, who had a very good game at Kirkley was ruled out with a bruised foot while Andy French could not get away from London to get to the game and this meant a rather hurried shuffle round of the team for manager Tony Hall. Simon Mann dropped in at right back and Lewis Blanchett played out wide. CRC had the first real chance when a cross into our area was headed just wide by Ingrey. We had to defend in depth for the first ten minutes with CRC making ground down the flanks and causing us a few problems with their quick passing of the ball. However, we started to settle down and started to play some good attacking football. We had a couple of good chances with both Ollie Mann and Lee Grimwood going close before we took the lead through Sean Gunn, his second in as many games. The ball was laid back into the path of Sean Gunn a good 25 yards out, Sean looked up and saw the keeper just off his line and lobbed the ball over him and into the back of the net. CRC's Eades put a good cross into our area and Simon Mann, under pressure, managed to clear the ball for a corner. From the corner CRC's big centre half, Blaine Hudson, all 6 foot 5 of him. headed the ball at goal only to see it hit the bar, phew!! Brantham midfield general David Grimwood was having some problems with an injury but he still kept involved in the game and had a couple of chances to add to our score. The first caution of the game came to CRC when Lewis Blanchett turned his marker and was making ground only to be dumped onto the ground by a cynical tackle. From the free kick the ball fell to Sean Gunn who sent in a good shot on the run which the keeper managed to get to and hold. For a while we looked slightly the better side going forward and both David Grimwood and Ollie Mann had good efforts well taken by the CRC keeper. Kieran Lawler, after his great success at Kirkley, was determined to do well with a free kick about 25 yards out which he blasted at goal but with the keeper struggling the ball went just over the bar. The first half ended with a good move by us down the wing and it ended with Sean Gunn, who seemed to be popping up all over the show, putting his first time shot just over the woodwork. Half time - CRC0 Brantham 1 The second half saw CRC make changes and they pulled a goal back when from a corner the ball was played back to Brighton who made no mistake with a crisp shot into the net. Both our central men, Adam Bloss and Jack Sibbons were getting through a lot of work keeping CRC men out. Jack was called upon to make a superb clearance as the ball sped towards our goal and Jack was able to get the vital touch and clear the ball away from our goal and danger. Adam Bloss also made a telling tackle when a forward looked clean through but somehow Adam managed to get to him and with a cracking tackle took the ball clean away from him. Despite CRC running at our defence and looking composed on the ball we still had our fair share of chances. Ollie Mann made a great run down the flank and as the ball bobbled about Ollie laid it back to Lee Grimwood who hit it first time only to see it strike the woodwork. The game went into injury time, time added on by the referee, and in that time CRC grabbed two goals and the three points. The first came from a corner for CRC in the 2nd minute of injury time, Hannant lurking in the area was not picked up and he headed firmly home leaving Ryan Bedingfield no chance of stopping the ball. In the fourth minute of time added on CRC added a third goal when Hannant latched onto a through ball and he hit home from just inside the area which left our lads a bit deflated as you can imagine. From having a point in the 90th minute we had none after injury time had been added on, despite us looking at our watched every few seconds and saying " surely he must blow for full time now!!" but it was not to be. Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2.Lewis Blanchett. 3. Chris French. 4. Jack Sibbons. 5. Adam Bloss. 6. Simon Mann. 7.Kieran Lawler. 8. David Grimwood. 9.Ollie Mann. 10.Lee Grimwood.11. Sean Gunn. sub used - Ben Spencer. ---barry felgate---

Reserves go down to Stanway by the odd goal 2-3

RIDGEONS RESERVES SOUTH - SATURDAY MARCH 19th
BRANTHAM RESERVES 2 STANWAY RESERVES 3
We went into Saturday's game without the Gaffer (writes Nathan Burrell) who was ill. We had been at Stanway a week previous and they gave us a hard game before we narrowly came out 3-2 on top , so we knew it was going to be a hard match. Not the best of starts for us as we went behind in the first couple of minutes. We gave the ball away in a dangerous position and the Stanway winger put in a decent cross and there was their striker, all alone, to head home. The first 10 minutes was the worst we have been this season but we created our first real bit of football when Danny Garrad done well getting to the line and then cutting the ball back to Ben Sparrow whose first time shot produced a fine save by the Stanway keeper. We were level after 15 minutes with this time Ben Sparrow getting to the by-line and he cut the ball back for Danny Garrad to steady himself and fire the ball home into the corner of the goal,. This should have composed us but we were not winning any first or second balls and the Stanway front two were always a danger. The last 20 minutes of the half saw us start to get to grips with the game playing some decent stuff and after making and missing chances we took the lead. The ever dangerous Ben Sparrow was brought down in the box and Ben Green stepped up to convert from the spot. We then had two glorious chances to increase our lead with both falling to young Ross Cooper. Both times Danny Garrad played the ball across the area with Ross running onto the ball, the first effort he blazed over the bar and the second attempt saw the ball cleared off the line.
Half time and Robbie and myself made it known to the boys that we had to improve and the next goal would be crucial but unfortunatelty this did not happen for us as Stanway levelled the game on 50 minutes with a poor goal from our point of view. A long punt upfield was missed by our defence and with Ross Welton coming out to block the ball it fell to a Stanway forward who rolled the ball into the empty net. We were hoping this would get the boys going but it seemed to have the opposite effect with us continuing to give the ball away and looking ragged all over the pitch. We then lost the ball in midfield on the half way line and Stanway pushed forward and their winger played a good early ball and again a forward, who was unmarked, easily headed home to give Stanway the lead. We then had a couple of good chances to bring ourselves level, firstly Shaun Webb broke into the box and the keeper made a very good save to deny Shaun. With time running out Adam Thompson broke into the box and with the defender falling to the ground Adam's shot was blocked by the hand of the defender, but for some reason the referee waved play on!!
So a disappointing result and this puts Braintree in pole position for the title with their 6 games in hand, in all honesty winning the league should now be forgotten as we have to get back to the way we were before Christmas. What is more worrying is that in the last 3 games we have conceded 3 goals each time!
There is no questoning the ability in the team but staying consistent for the entire season seems to be a mental problem and perhaps having to win and perform each week is a pressure some of the boys cannot handle, but I am equally as sure that they will do just that when they develop further.
Anway, enough of this, more importantly no football on Saturday with the next game being on Tuesday evening when we are at home to Wivenhoe Reserves.
Many thanks to Nathan Burrell for the report, I do know that sometimes when you have lost how hard it can be to compile a report, but the important thing is that people learn from the game and take the good points into the next game----barry felgate----
Brantham - 1.Ross Welton. 2.Ben Spencer. 3. Alex Drouet. 4.James Long. 5. Kevin Mann. 6.James Turner. 7. Ben Green ( 1 goal). 8.Shaun Webb. 9.Ben Sparrow. 10. Danny Garrad ( 1 goal). 11.Ross Cooper. subs - Scott Cooke, Adam Thompson and Alex Street.

Brantham thump 7 past a stunned Kirkley & Pakefield

Photo= Sean Gunn who had a good match at Kirkley & Pakefield and opened the scoring for us with the first goal in the 7-0 win.

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY MARCH 19th KIRKLEY & PAKEFIELD 0 BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 7 We made the journey to Lowestoft looking to get back to winning ways after the defeat at the hands of Walsham - and didn't we do just that with a superb 7-0 win. The team welcomed new signing Thomas Wray to the team and he lined up in the back four. A great result for us and the entire team proved the point that they are as good as anybody in the league with a superb showing. Ryan Bedingfield, in goal, when called upon made some top class saves, while the back four of Thomas Wray, Jack Sibbons, Adam Bloss and Chris French didn't put a foot wrong and were superb in the fact that they were limiting Kirkley to a lot of long range efforts. Kieran Lawler, David Grimwood, Simon Mann and Sean Gunn patrolled the midfield and got involved in everything that was going on and they all more than played their part in the win. The two main front men, Ollie Mann and Lee Grimwood both caused the Kirkley defence a lot of problems with their direct running at goal.Ollie Mann finished on a well taken hat-trick while Lee Grimwood was rewarded for all of his non-stop running with a goal late in the game. Subs Lewis Blanchett and Andy French came on during the second half and both made their mark on the game. We started well and and within minutes Lee Grimwood was put through and shot at goal only to see the keeper Attridge make a good save. The keeper had to do the same again when when Lee and Sean Gunn combined to set Ollie Mann through on goal and the Kirkley keeper did well to get a hand to the ball let alone push it round for a corner. From the corner Adam Bloss, stationed at the far end of the goal, saw a header go just over the bar. We took the lead in the 8th minute when Lee and Ollie combined to play the ball through for Sean Gunn to run onto. Sean raced through and slotted past the oncoming keeper. David Grimwood was in the wars,getting hit in the face by the ball, and with David laying injured, for some reason the referee allowed play to continue! Ollie Mann then headed just wide and a great move ended with Simon Mann hitting the ball on the run, beating the keeper only to see it hit the woodwork. David and Ollie both had chances before we added number 2. From a throw in on the left the ball was played onto Ollie Mann who made ground, looked up and from distance sent in a great shot that beat the keeper at his near post. It was 3-0 just prior to the break when Lee and Olle combined to set Kieran Lawler off. Kieran side-stepped his marker and from a good 35 yards out sent in a blistering shot that the keeper could only help on its way into the net. We started the second half with some good passing and attacking football and Simon Mann made ground down the right, got to the edge of the box and put a teasing cross into the area and Ollie Mann beat the keeper to the ball to head firmly home. Simon Mann then made ground down the flank, beating three opponents on the way only to see Attridge in the Kirkley goal make a very good save to deny him. Ollie Mann notched up his hat-trick when he went straight at goal, held of two challenges before stroking the ball home. It was all us at this stage and Lee Grimwood went into the area, dinked past a defender as though he wasn't there only to be brought down and the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped David Grimwood, made sure the ball was in the right place before blasting it home. Kirkley were starting to get into the game and had a ball cleared as it raced towards the Brantham goal line. We were still not finished and Lee Grimwood, who had run and chased the entire game, was rewarded for all of his hard work with a goal. The ball had been played back to the keeper and Lee seeing what was going on ran straight at the ball and with the keeper making a right hash of things, Lee calmly walked the ball into the back of the net. Almost at the end Ryan Crisp broke through and onto the Brantham goal and only a very good save from Bedingfield stopped him getting a consolation goal for the Royals.What a game and what a result!! Our thanks to the supporters who again made the trip to support the team and I can assure you that your support was very much appreciated.

Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2. Thomas Wray. 3.Chris French. 4. Jack Sibbons. 5.Adam Bloss. 6. Simon Mann. 7. Kieran Lawler. 8. David Grimwood. 9.Ollie Mann. 10. Lee Grimwood. 11. Sean Gunn. subs used - Lewis Blanchett and Andy French. Sub not used - Nathan Munson

---barry felgate---

Brantham brought down to earth with a bump!!

Top photo -David Grimwood (middle) and Simon Mann (far right) working the ball past Walsham ex-Town man Gavin Johnson. Bottom photo- New signing from Wivenhoe Lewis Blanchett working hard down the flank but running up against a hard and quick tackling Walsham defence.

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY MARCH 12th
BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 1 WALSHAM LE WILLOWS 4
After some very good results we came back to earth with a bump as Walsham took us apart to record a deserved 4-1 win. I would like to say Walsham were lucky, but in truth they fully deserved the win. Midfield general David Grimwood, who was not feeling at all well, was determined to play if he could, and he was soon involved in things. We started brightly but it was Walsham who opened the scoring in the 8th minute (well done to Gary Mower for winning the Golden goal competition!!), We seemed to be caught at sixes and sevens as Walsham pushed forward. With us missing vital tackles the ball was played into our area and Jack Brame made no mistake with a crisp shot. Minutes later we were 2-0 down when we failed to clear the ball from our area and Ollie Hughes was in the right place at the right time to make us pay with a well taken goal from close range. We started to hit the ball about well only to go down to a third goal. Walsham had a free kick which was blasted at the Brantham goal. The ball hit the woodwork and came out and Adam Bloss, in trying to clear the ball, saw it end up in the back of our net. We started to settle down and were playing some decent football and this paid off when a good move ended with the ball at the feet of Lee Grimwood. Lee turned his marker and made ground into the area only to be brought down and the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped leading scorer Ollie Mann, again making sure the ball was in the right place before blasting it past the goalkeeper's outstretched hand. Minutes later Walsham regained their three goal advantage when Brame made ground into our area and despite our man trying to play the ball Brame went to ground and the referee pointed to the spot for the second time in minutes. Cusack stepped up and hit the ball home low and hard from the spot giving Bedingfield in the Brantham goal no chance. We were not having the best of games and this was proved when Ryan Bedingfield could not hold onto the ball as he fell to the ground and a Walsham man hit it first time but luckily for us it was cleared off the line. Lewis Blanchett was getting through some hard work down the flanks but was finding it hard to get past a hard and quick tackling Walsham defence. Just before the break Ollie Mann went through and sent in a hard shot that went along the goal line and that just about summed the first half up for us. The second half saw Walsham happy to defend in depth and we came close to addy to our tally when from a Lee Grimwood corner Marc Lowe saw a great effort beat the keeper only to be cleared off the line. Towards the latter part of the match Walsham again pushed men forward with ex-Town man Gavin Johnson being involved in most of what was going on. He tried a snap shot from outside the area that Ryan Bedingfield did well to get a hand top and put it round for a corner.We had chances but it was going to be one of those days when we were just not able to make them count for anything.
Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2.Simon Mann. 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. Lewis Blanchett. subs - Sean Gunn, Andy French and Nathan Munson.

Reserves 2-2 draw away to Witham

Photo- Tom Williams who stepped in as goalkeeper in the absence of Ross Welton and Tom had a good game between the sticks making some top class saves.

RIDGEONS RESERVES -SOUTH - SATURDAY MARCH 12th
WITHAM RESERVES 2 BRANTHAM RESERVES 2
Another away day for the ressies (writes Nathan Burrell) as we travelled to Witham for another tricky looking game. Witham battered us at home a month earlier 0-3 so we knew a tough afternoon was in store. We welcomed Tom Williams in for goal for Ross Welton, who was taking his new girlfriend to Leeds to watch the Town - enough said!! Lee Willcox was playing his last game before going into hospital and we all wish him well and Lee was skipper for the day. Witham started quite brightly and young Tom Williams had a couple of early good touches. Our first real chance fell on 5 minutes when Lee Willcox broke down the left and put in a great early cross which Adam Thompson just failed to get on the end of. We then had two glorious chances to take the lead but squandered the chances on both occasions. Firstly Ben Spencer took a quick long throw and Adam Thompson shot just wide and then Lee Willcox played a lovely through ball to Alex Street who scuffed his effort past the post. We took the lead after 20 minutes when from a corner the free scoring centre back, James Long, came in at the far post and planted his header into the corner of the net. We then increased our lead 10 minutes later when Ben Sparrow broke clear and his shot was blocked by the keeper but Lee Willcox was on hand to bang the rebound in to give us a 2-0 lead. Witham, to be fair, had chances and on the stroke of half time struck our woodwork three times and on each occasion were unlucky not to have scored.
So half time and Merch and myself were fairly happy with the performance but certainly knew that this game wasn't won and stressed this fact to the boys and we all knew how important that next goal would be. The first 15 minutes of the half were pretty ordinary from both teams but we had the chance to make it 3-0 when from a Witham corner we broke down our left and the ball was played to Ben Sparrow who was bearing down on goal but his first touch took him wide and the chance was missed. The game now was becoming fairly heated with some tasty challenges going in and Witham were awarded a free kick just outside the box and with us still arguing with the decision the free kick was placed into the corner of our goal, so 1-2 and game on. Lee Willcox then came off injured and Merch came on to settle us down, but Witham were having more possession but we looked the more dangerous on the counter attack. On 35 minutes Ben Spencer smacked the cross bar with a great 25 yard effort and Ben Green smacked the rebound high and wide. Witham almost immediately broke and they also hit our cross bar with a good effort. With two minutes left Witham grabbed the equalizer with a poor goal from our point of view. A long punt upfield caught us out and we let the ball bounce and their forward outpaced us well to make the game level at 2-2. This thought wasn't the end of the action as right from our kick off we played a ball into the Witham penalty area and Kev Mann headed the ball across the goal and Ben Spencer ran past a defender to head home but was adjudged offside. So the game ended 2-2 and looking back was probably a fair result with Witham certainly causing us a few problems for the second time this season. Next week we host Stanway Reserves and with 6 games left we certainly need to win all of these to put pressure on Braintree at the top of the table.
Brantham - 1.Tom Williams. 2.Ben Spencer. 3.Scott Cooke. 4. James Lonmg (1 goal). 5.Kev Mann. 6.James Turner. 7.Ben Green. 8.Alex Street. 9.Lee Willcox (1 goal). 10.Ben Sparrow. 11. Adam Thompson. subs - Allan Merchant, Ross Cooper and Danny Garrad.
(thanks to Nathan Burrell for another good report - --barry felgate---)

Reserves grab two late goals to win at Stanway!!

RIDGEONS RESERVES SOUTH - WEDNESDAY MARCH 9th
STANWAY RESERVES 2 BRANTHAM RESERVES 3
We travelled over to Stanway looking to keep the distance between ourselves and Braintree at the top of the league table ( writes Nathan Burrell). In night games in our league you are never quite sure what opposition you will be playing. With the Brantham under 18's also playing we welcomed Kieran Lawler, Sean Gunn, Andy French, Scott Cooke and Josh Mann into the squad. As expected Stanway started like a house on fire and were first to every ball and really did not allow us to get into the game. Somehow, against the run of play we took the lead on 15 minutes. The ball dropped to Lee Willcox who finished well from 15 yards out to give us the lead. Stanway heads didn't go down and they created two or three good chances with their front two giving Ben Spencer and James Long a tough game. Stanway equalized from a well worked free kick from 25 yards out, giving Ross Welton no chance at all in the Brantham goal. We started to get on the referees back due to our frustration on not being able to pick our game up and on 35 minutes the referee awarded Stanway a rather soft penalty. The Stanway forward and Ross had tangled in the box, and to our surprise the referee pointed to the spot, so half time and we were trailing 2-1 with it all do in the second half.
A few choice words were given to the team about our attitude and fair play to the boys they took our points on board and put in a much better second half display. Almost immediatley we were level when the ball fell to Lee Willcox and from a good 20 yards out Lee sent in a great shot with the ball smashing off the cross bar and bouncing on the line. Adam 'Sniffer' Thompson headed in the rebound to make sure but as we like Lee -it's his goal mate!! We were enjoying good possession and skipper James Long, who had gone close on a couple of times with decent headers, smashed home the winner with 20 minutes to go. The ball fell in front of James from a corner and he was in the right place at the right time to make sure it counted. So a 3-2 win which was a huge result bearing in mind that Braintree had beaten Ipswich Wanderers on the same night.
On Saturday we face another tough looking game when we are away to Witham Town.
Brantham. 1.Ross Welton. 2.Scott Cooke.3.Alex Drouet. 4.James Long ( 1 goal). 5.Ben Spencer. 6.James Turner. 7.Ben Green. 8.Alex Street. 9.Lee Willcox (2 goals). 10.Adam Thompson.11.Sean Gunn. subs - Kieran Lawler, Andy French and Josh Mann.
(many thanks to Nathan Burrell for a report at very short notice...barry felgate)

Brantham grab all three points in 93rd minute!!!!

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY MARCH 5th BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 1 ELY CITY 0 We left it late in the match at home to Ely City to claim all three points, with our winning goal coming in time added on by the match referee (93rd minute I have been informed). For the first time we could watch a game without getting soaked through and despite the persistent drizzle the supporters from both teams enjoyed the game. Ely started the game quickly and within minutes a free kick from Parkinson went just wide of our post. We hit back with a good move involving Simon Mann and Lee Grimwood and the ball was hit towards the near post of the Ely goal and the Ely keeper got to it just seconds before Ollie Mann did. Five minutes later we had a free kick a good 25 yards out. Ollie Mann stepped up, lined his shot up, and sent a fierce shot that the keeper just managed to steer round the post. Ely's Mason was put through but hurried his shot and put it wide of our goal. Minutes later Chris French hesitated a tackle and this gave Bridgeman the chance to send in a hard shot that our keeper Ryan Bedingfield did well to push round for a corner. Lewis Blanchett, playing wide, tormented his marker with some great ball control and at times the Ely man was forced to dive in to try and stop him. The half ended with both teams looking good going forward but both solid in defence. Ely's two big centreal defenders, Murdy and Lawrence, were doing a good job of keeping Ollie Mann off the score sheet at the break. The second half started with us looking that bit more determined and a good corner from Lee Grimwood was well taken by the Ely custodian. Our Adam Bloss and Ely's Robbie Mason then got in a tangle and with the free kick being given to us the Ely man turned on Adam Bloss and seemed to throw a punch. This was spotted by the assistant who called the referee over and the Ely player was shown the red card, something by listening to comments, did not please some of his team mates as he trudged off. Ely sub Ebanks-Blake went through and tried a shot on the run that was not that far wide. At the other end Ollie Mann latched onto a superb Marc Lowe pass and Ollie turned his marker and sent in hard shot which was matched by a good save by the Ely keeper. The Ely keeper was making sure he kept the Brantham fans behind his goal informed of what was going on and everybody, including the keeper, was enjoying the banter. We then lost Lewis Blanchett who had skipped past one man only to be scythed down by a defender and even after treatment Lewis could not carry on and he to be replaced. Midfield dynamo David Grimwood combined with brother Lee Grimwood in a good move that ended with Lee hitting his shot just over the bar. Lee turned provided minutes later when he put through the perfect ball for Ollie Mann to run onto and Ollie's shot looked a goal until the Ely keeper, somehow,managed to stop and hold the ball. With the game going into time added on by the referee we finally made the breakthrough. A good through ball from midfield was played to the edge of the area and Lee Grimwood was the quickest to react and he latched onto the ball and made ground into the area only to be brought down by the keeper. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and during the heated arguments from the Ely players the only one who seemed to be ice cool was our Ollie Mann.Ollie took his time, got the ball in the right spot, made sure his boots were clean and then blasted the ball home into the back of the net. Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2.Simon Mann. 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. Lewis Blanchett. subs used - Sean Gunn. Subs not used - Shaun Webb and Andy French. ----barry felgate---- Next two games - March 12th - Brantham versus Walsham le Willows at Brantham. March 19th - Kirkley and Pakefield versus Brantham - at Lowestoft (there is a coach going to this game and there will be room for supporters to travel with the team)

Reserves good win away from home.

RIDGEONS RESERVES -SOUTH - SATURDAY FEBRUARY 5th

HAVERHILL RESERVES 2 BRANTHHAM RESERVES 3

We travelled over to the new home of Haverhill Rovers (writes Nathan Burrell) for this first versus second top of the table clash. The day started badly with Alex Street getting lost and calling yours truly for directions which is not a good move and we also had the 'gaffer' running late trying to locate the ground. We all eventually arrived around 14.15 pm so it was surprising how well we started the game. The first chance came our way when Alex Street showed a great touch to bring the ball down and play in Ben Sparrow who shot just over. Against the run of play Haverhill took the lead when we failed to clear on two occasions on the edge of our box and the ball found its way to their forward who finished well past Ross Welton into the corner of the net. The game was a tight affair with both teams playing 4-5-1 systems and play was being concentrated mainly in midfield. Our next chance fell on the 25th minute when Ben Spencer played a glorious cross first time on the run and there was young James Turner to volley in from 15 yards to draw us level at 1-1. We took the lead on 35 minutes when Ben Green played Ben Sparrow down the line and Ben's pace took him into the box only for the Haverhill defender to bring him down for a penalty. Up stepped the maverick that is Ben Green and he coolly slotted the penalty away to give us the lead. Just as we thought we would be going in at the break with our noses in front Haverhill caught us with a sucker-punch right on half time when we failed to pick up their forward and a simple give and go beat our back line and the Haverhill player made it all square.

Half time and we weren't disappointed with the first half performance but we knew we had to up the tempo to get the vital 3 points. The second half to be fair was all Haverhill pressure but without really testing Ross Welton in the Brantham goal. The winner,which came our way, came in the 75th minute when a poor header back to the Haverhill keeper was intercepted by Ben Sparrow who beat the keeper to the ball to give us the lead. Five minutes later Haverhill struck our post with a great shot from the edge of the box and in the closing minutes young Ross Cooper beat the offside trap to strike the Haverhill woodwork.

So we returned with 3 vital points and I hate to mention individual players but thought that young James Turner and Lee Willcox were magnificent in midfield and the returning James Long was superb at the back, not losing a header all game. But honestly this was a good team performance with everybody getting 7 out of 10.

Wednesday night we are away to Stanway so need to keep the wins coming.

Brantham - 1.Ross Welton. 2.Ben Spencer. 3.Alex Drouet. 4.James Long. 5.Kevin Mann. 6.Lee Willcox. 7.Ben Green (1 goal). 8.James Turner (1 goal). 9.Ben Sparrow (1 goal). 10.Alex Street. 11.Danny Garrad. subs - James Glen, Stuart Macfarlane and Ross Cooper.

(Thanks to Nathan Burrell for another top class report and a top class showing by the team,-well done----barry felgate-----)