Saturday 4th March 2006
Southern League Division One West
Bromsgrove Rovers 0 Bracknell Town 0
by Phil Baker

A number of matches were called off owing to the inclement weather and with a couple of interesting oval balls games on TV, many Rovers fans will probably have wished this game had also fell victim to the weather. However, just over 300 hundred trouped in the Victoria Ground on a cold but sunny afternoon and after 10 minutes they must having been rubbing their eyes thinking they were re-living last Tuesday's game against Leighton.

Yet again the home side were dominant and not just for the first 20 minutes this time but for the whole of the first half. Neil Davis had two gold-plated opportunities to put the game beyond their opponents on 20 minutes when he beat the offside trap and with only the 'keeper to beat, blasted over the bar and on the 34th minute again with Poyser the only obstacle sent the ball wide of the left-hand post.

Davis at least managed to get a reasonable shot in whilst several other players got themselves into good positions and were either panicked into weak shots or took their time too much and lost the opportunity.

Bracknell just two places off the bottom played better than the home team expected and certainly did not look as vulnerable as they did down in Berkshire in January. As with many other teams at the Victoria Ground this season, they defended in numbers and relied on breaks to get on the score sheet. As a consequence, they only managed a couple of decent chances at the end of each half though they did smell blood towards the end of the second and played three strikers when Rovers ran out of ideas and looked to be settling for a point.

Riad Erraji playing his second match on his return to Bromsgrove moved into the right side of mid-field where he looked a lot more comfortable. John Snape played in the centre of defence where he gave a good account of himself replacing Chris McHale whilst Wayne Dyer returned to the starting line up for Daire Doyle.

With a crowded mid-field the killer pass was difficult to make though one from Wayne Dyer on 25 minutes did allow Davis to score only to be ruled offside. Kevin Banner also got the ball in the net a few minutes later from a rare header also to be ruled offside; a decision seriously questioned by home supporters. Chances in the second half were and far between though the Bracknell 'keeper nearly punched a clearance into his own net from a corner. Indeed he looked pretty tense throughout the match and Rovers will probably wish they had put him under more pressure.

There was nothing wrong with Rovers' line up or formation indeed the quality of the play throughout the game was not bad. The biggest problem again was putting in the ball into the net when they had the opportunity. After a few chances had been missed a degree of nervousness set in and players seemed to be wary of making mistakes and there lacked an inventiveness in their play.

Another disappointing scoreline against a team who probably played better than there position in the league but in truth Rovers should have easily taken all three points.

Rovers (3-5-2): Lee Evans, Matt Johnson, Joe Williams, John Snape, Exodus Geohaghan, Riad Erraji, Mark Benbow, Wayne Dyer, Neil Davis, Paul Moore (Jimmy Smith 73 mins), Kevin Banner.
Subs not used: Delton Francis, Tim Clarke.

Bracknell Town (4-4-2): Andrew Poyser, Michael Cook, Dave Fenton, Jorden Oldham, Ben Woolley, Danny Hayward, Jim Griffin, Gavin Taylor, Steve Scott (Stuart Tanfield 78 mins), Jonny Dyer (Neil Baker 90+3 mins), Jonathan Rea-Palmer.
Subs not used: Dan Green, Ross Herridge, Michael Buck.

Attendance: 306

Baker's MoM for Rovers: Joe Williams