Bracknell get hit for 5

Bracknell Men’s 1s good goal scoring form deserted them as they lost 5-1 to 4th placed West Hampstead.

The margin of the defeat does not do justice to the performance that Bracknell put in especially with 3 senior players missing from the starting line up. With young guns Max Heaver and Sam Fox Harvey running the midfield put Bracknell on the front foot from the off. With a level of maturity that belied their age, the two dominated the opening exchanges and Bracknell pressure west Hampstead into a number of errors. This led to the opening that Bracknell were looking for, when the returning Peter Scott fired a trade mark reverse stick shot into the bottom right corner of the goal and give Bracknell a well deserved lead. West Hampstead tried to get a foothold in the match, but clever defending and hard work meant they were kept at Bay. Then came the game’s controversial moment. Attacking down the right, Tom Pullen crossed only for the ball to deflect up, but Paul Kaplanski was on hand to expertly score pass the keeper. But the umpire disallowed the goal for dangerous play, much to the confusion of all players, Bracknell and West Hampstead alike. This decision halted Bracknell’s momentum and slowly West Hampstead came more into the game. With minutes left before half time they scored from a well worked short corner to level the scores.

Not too disappointed, Bracknell again started brightly and created a few good goal scoring opportunities. However, where in previous games these would have been scored, today their goal scoring touch was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately for Bracknell West Hampstead had no such problems and raced into a 2 goal lead. Pressing for the goal that would get them back into the game, Bracknell got caught on the break as West Hampstead grabbed their 4th. With legs tiring and the game out of their grasp, Bracknell conceded a 5th and it was game over.

A good performance over all that Bracknell can be proud of with such a young team, 5 players were under 18. Next week Bracknell host Oxford 2s and will be looking to get back to winning ways quickly.