Brantham back on track with 3-0 win against Rovers!

RIDGEONS PREMIER DIVISION - SATURDAY APRIL 16th BRANTHAM ATHLETIC 3 HAVERHILL ROVERS 0. We went at Rovers straight from the first whistle and within a minute had our first chance which was put wide under pressure. We took the lead in the 4th minute, guess who ! yes you are right, Ollie Mann. A determined header from Adam Bloss put Sean Gunn on his way and Sean laid the ball into the path of Ollie Mann. Ollie ran straight at goal and hit the ball home under the advancing keeper. 1-0. Haverhill hit back straight away and O'Brien was put through on goal but he could not control the ball and his effort was taken easily by Brantham custodian Ryan Bedingfield. We picked our game up again and a good move across the pitch ended with the ball being played wide to Ollie Mann. Ollie cut inside and drew the keeper out of his goal and slotted home in style at the near post. 2-0. Haverhill came back into the game and Thomas Wray who made an important stop to clear our lines and keep the fast running Haverhill man away from goal. Haverhill kept on coming forward and a good shot was stopped by Ryan Bedingfield but he could not stop the ball going back out again and Haverhill's Paynter hit home from close range but the linesman had his flag up and the goal was disallowed. Phew!! It was our turn to press forward and Sean Gunn skipped through a couple of tackles and laid the ball off into the path of Kieran Lawler. Kieran hit the shot first time on the run and his shot went along the line and just past the wrong side of the far post. Minutes later midfield general David Grimwood went through three tackles, steadied himself and sent in a fierce shot which Haverhill were glad to clear off the line to deny David. Haverhill were still in the game and a good move from the back ended with Abbott running through only to finish by putting his shot into the side netting. The second half started with a bad tackle on Kieran Lawler which required lengthy treatment and the Haverhill man was a tad lucky only to receive a caution for the tackle. We made it 3-0 when the ball was played through to Ollie Mann playing wide. Ollie had to shrug off a defender but was driven wider than he would have liked but he still in a great shot at goal which beat the keeper only to hit the crossbar and come out. With the goalkeeper trying to get to the loose ball it was Sean Gunn who reacted the quickest and he rode a tackle and hammered the ball home into the back of the net. To their credit Haverhill would not give up and they still pushed men forward in search of a goal. O'Brien was put through but he seemed to hurry his shot from distance and it went over the bar. We hit back when the ball was played down the left to Lewis Blanchett who left his marker on the ground with a superb body swerve. Lewis went down the flank and crossed the ball for Sean Gunn to hit on the volley and it looked a goal but Morrison in the Haverhill goal pulled off a first class stop to tip the ball round the post for a corner. It was all Brantham at this stage with Lewis Blanchett keeping them on their toes down the flank with some classy football. We might have made it 4-0 when Ollie Mann went through and played the ball back to Sean Gunn who hit it hard and low and the Haverhill goalkeeper did well to save the shot let alone hold it. The last move of the game saw a great one-two between David Grimwood and Lee Grimwood which ended with the ball going to Ollie Mann who hit it first time and his shot hit the stanchion before being cleared. Brantham - 1.Ryan Bedingfield. 2. Simon Mann. 3.Andy French. 4.Jack Sibbons. 5. Thomas Wray. 6. Kieran Lawler. 7.Marc Lowe. 8. David Grimwood. 9.Ollie Mann. 10. Adam Bloss. 11. Sean Gunn. subs used - Lewis Blanchett, Chris French and Lee Grimwood. not used- Nathan Munson. Next two home matches - Tuesday April 19th -Brantham v Wisbech (7.45 pm) and Saturday April 23rd - Brantham v Gt Yarmouth ( 3.00 pm) ----barry felgate--