Home and Away

Today's home match against Sundon had to be moved to Kempston's Hillgrounds pitches due to waterlogged ground at Mowsbury. This had the advantage of avoiding a further pile-up of fixtures, but the downside was that we were allocated a senior pitch with full-size goals. Still, the conditions were the same for both sides.

Reuben was unavailable for line-duty, so thanks are due to Boz for taking the flag. And, in fact, it is a good time to mention our appreciation to Reuben for doing a professional job for us most weeks. There was some consternation among the crowd as Boz left it late to arrive pitchside - it can be a thankless task that no one wants to do!

We fielded a full squad apart from Josh (unwell), and Luke took the captain's armband when Sandra elected to use Ewan as a sub.

We won the toss and wisely chose to play the first half with the help of a considerable wind. This direction also benefitted from a slight slope on the pitch and from the sun being behind the players.

It was clearly going to be important to take full advantage of these environmental factors, in the form of early goals. We were certainly able to enjoy the vast majority of the possession. Our defence was able to play well upfield, with Cameron and Angus able to put in a number of good balls well up the huge pitch.

Our best chance in the first 10 minutes came from a theatrical effort from Dominic, which unfortunately found the post and ricocheted away from danger. The wind, meanwhile, was not universally helpful - several crosses were pushed behind the goal when we did not allow enough for the effect.

More chances came and went until, with nearly 20 minutes played, David and Dominic set up a move to Romao who flicked in a ball from the wing onto Elijah in the box. He connected beautifully, only to see the effort hit the crossbar. However, he was able to pick up the rebound and slot the ball in at the corner from a narrow angle.

Still, one goal did not seem enough of a return. Fred and Dominic both put efforts wide or high despite the cavernous goals, before Elijah added a 2nd with an excellent free kick - over the wall and then down to find the low right-corner.

2-0 at half-time despite several more chances from Brickhill. Meanwhile Sundon were unable to make much progress at all - their sole shot at goal in the last minute of the half was easily caught by Harry.

Ewan came on for the second half and was soon involved in the third goal: Luke's throw was picked up by Ewan who found Dominic in scoring position. However, Dominic in turn made a pass to Fred who smashed the ball into the top corner.

It was good to add to the lead because already Sundon were much more threatening with the weather playing their way.

In fact, they were soon able to take advantage. Harry's goal-kick into the wind was ineffective and immediately picked up by Sundon who drilled the ball past Harry's diving attempt to recover.

The damage was doubled a minute later when a Sundon cross was converted at close range. There was now some measure of disarray amongst the home side, although Sam C in particular remained very solid. Sundon continued to apply considerable pressure. Their wind-assisted shots and long balls created a lot of problems for us.

They levelled just over half way through the second period when they committed Harry and used the full width of the goal to find the net.

There was time to recover the game, but Brickhill were struggling and didn't seem to be getting the best of the decisions either. Indeed Sundon now seized the lead for the first time with a long-range shot that bounced in the box and over Harry who possibly came too far out.

Chances to equalize were few, although Greg created a good chance for Luke. Instead, the visitors extended their lead just before full time and almost grabbed a sixth. So in the end, it was a pretty clear defeat and we need to learn from this and do better next time:

BRICKHILL WANDERERS 3 - 5 SUNDON PARK RANGERS
Elijah (18min, 25min), Fred (36min)