Robins & Reds Share the Points

Bracknell Town 1-1 Uxbridge

Monday night football is never the most appealing of activities, coming with a short turnaround from Saturday’s opener against Dorchester, a trip to Bracknell was probably not top of the list for Uxbridge, however they came away with a very creditable point – and in fact were sitting top of the league for 15 heady minutes in the second half.

The match was played in warm but rainy conditions, and with an excellent crowd of 723 packed into Sandhurst’s ground – there was a good atmosphere to spur on both sets of players. The Reds saw Fabio Sole and Kai Hobbs coming into the starting lineup and began the match brightly enjoying plenty of possession. It was Ollie Hamstead who put in a fine cross on 6 minutes, with nobody in a red shirt able to get on the end of it. Bracknell though always posed a threat, and minutes later it took a superb block from Hobbs to deny Charlie Kennedy, as his goal bound shot went over the bar. Uxbridge had more joy down the flanks though, and on 12 minutes the lively Dan Rowe did superbly to get to the line and get the ball into the box, Rio Connell was unfortunately not able to make a connection under pressure though, and the ball went across the face of goal to safety. Mark Scott was called upon on a few occasions as the half wore on, but his positioning was always spot on and any shots that came his way were comfortably dealt with. Casey Bocarro was proving to be a thorn in Bracknell’s side all evening – none more so than when he took down a high ball to unleash a shot on the up on the half hour, but it was dealt with by Michael Eacott in the home side’s goal. Both teams had gilt edge chances to break the deadlock before the break, firstly an Uxbridge corner caused some measure of chaos in the Bracknell penalty box, with a couple of shots being blocked, before Eacott made an instinctive save with his feet to deny a close-range effort. This almost came back to haunt the visitors as shortly after a quick Bracknell break saw Joe Grant’s piledriver evade Scott, but the ball cannoned off the bar and went over – a let off for sure, but it was all square at half time.

HT 0-0

The second half saw Fope Deru replacing Rio Connell for, and he was soon into the action on 52 minutes getting in in on the left of the box, but seeing his shot well blocked at the near post. Ex-Bracknell favourite Liam Tack was proving a real handful in the middle of the park, and he went close just before the hour, with a fine shot that whistled past the post with Eacott stranded. It was the home side though who went closest on 56 minutes as they forced Mark Scott into action on a number of occasions, but the new Uxbridge keeper was more than up to the task, keeping the Robins at bay. This proved pivotal as the Reds took the lead on 65 minutes, Harry Rush’s free kick was recycled by Kai Hobbs, who laid the ball off to Bernie Tanner, who twisted and turned and fired fine shot against the bar, it was Dan Rowe who reacted first though to nod home the loose ball, to spark wild celebrations from the away contingent, to record Uxbridge’s first goal at step 3. The match then started to break up, with a number of substitutions, fouls and yellow cards making for a rather scrappy period of play. The next action of note was with 9 minutes to go as Bracknell did fashion an equaliser, some hesitation from Uxbridge as to whether a substitution could be made, saw Seb Bowerman pick up the ball on the left-hand side and drive towards the visitors goal, before unleashing a fine curling shot into the top corner, leaving Scott with no chance. Unsurprisingly this spurred the home side on, but apart from one great block by CJ Fearn, the Uxbridge defence had little to concern them as the game ended all square.

From the 2 matches so far, Uxbridge have more than held their own at this level and can definitely look to build on a solid couple of results, starting with a trip to Dorset on Saturday where they will face Wimborne Town.

FT 1-1

Att 723

Uxbridge: Scott, Bocarro, Connell (Deru), Fearn, Hamstead, Hobbs (Osu), Tack (Brandao), Rowe (Dawson), Rush, Sole (Stallard), Tanner