Bracknell 2: 1 Sonning 4: 0

Bracknell 2: 1

Sonning 4: 0

Scorers: Tom Scott

Bracknell claimed their third win in four MMBO division 4 games on Saturday, by a single goal, against Sonning. But do not by fooled by the one nil score line into thinking that this was a narrow victory; far from it, as Bracknell dominated the game but failed to convert that dominance into goals.

A number of observers claimed this was their best performance of the season, which was a tough generous, however Bracknell did control the game from start to finish. This was due in no small part to some outstanding partnerships in central defence and central midfield, as Sean McInnes and Rob Badley controlled the middle of the park whilst Matt Molyneux and Ywain Martin were largely responsible for the clean sheet. The latter two were playing together for the third time this season, and their maturing partnership gets better with every game.

Sonning’s defence was almost as resolute as Bracknell’s however, and it wasn’t until the second half that their resistance was broken. It was down to Rob Badley, who threaded a pass through the eye of a needle to find Tom Scott in the D who, with just one hand on his stick, applied a deft touch to divert the ball past the keeper and into the goal. Up until this point, Sonning had managed just one shot at goal in the whole match, but five minutes from the end they got hearts racing after winning a string of short corners. Bracknell did not panic though and their defence held strong. A Sonning goal at that point would have been a gross injustice.

The win lifts Bracknell up to seventh in the table, but with just three points separating the teams in sixth and eleventh place, they will know that every point matters and they can’t afford to ease up just yet.