Brakes Miss Chances at Redditch

First, the good news: Steve Thompson was at Redditch and "couldn't wait to get back on the pitch". He dismissed the rumour that he was out for much of the season saying that he'd had his hernia operation 3 weeks ago and had been aiming at a return for the start of September but had felt so good in training that it might be earlier than that.

Brakes needed the width that Thommo gives, too often pushing balls through the middle into the jaws of a competent defence. Nevertheless Brakes looked more like scoring than in recent games, with Webb again superb and full of running, and had several chances which they failed to take unlike Redditch who took two of the few chances that they had. Otherwise, despite Redditch finishing 4th last season 3 leagues ahead of Brakes this was a fairly even encounter.

If anything Brakes were on top when they conceded a goal in the 33rd minute after a direct run through the middle of their defence ended with Morris rounded and the ball slotted in the corner. The second half started in similar fashion with play compressed in the middle of the pitch. Brakes competed well but the final pass, invariably, was a punt through the middle which rarely worried the home defence. The game cried out for some old-fashioned wing-play with the ball pulled back from the goal line. Nevertheless Brakes could have scored twice in the first 5 minutes from a Timms back-heel and a Webb pile-driver that skimmed the bar.

Wholesale changes 10 minutes into the second half saw Beefie picking the ball out of the net for his first touch as Brakes struggled to settle. The rest of the half was a similar catalogue of missed chances with Josh driving wide twice when through on goal in the 65th and 70th and the magnificent Webb having a shot parried by the keeper in the 80th.

And so to the end of the friendlies (where maybe we should have played a few lesser teams to give the attack some confidence) and the start of the "real thing" next Saturday. Let's hope that the drought is replaced by a flood as the goals rain in on Thimblemill and the other hapless teams in Division 1.