Saturday 9th December 2006 Bury St. Edmonds v Broxbourne Result - Won 3-2: Report by A Law

Broxbourne finished their pre-Xmas league programme with a hard fought win against Bury St Edmunds on Saturday, a victory which takes them into fourth place in the league, hard on the heels of the top three. With five of the Broxbourne team carrying injuries into this game, late withdrawals were just what the Badgers did not need. However, Dan Nearny pulled out on the morning of the game with a finger injury and with Kiwi star, Blake Burrows suspended, Peter Ware a long-term injury and with Nick Hill having recently moved to Australia, Broxbourne were left with no substitutes for the game. All this was forgotten as Broxbourne dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, scoring two goals from Rob Dyer in the process. He opened the scoring in the 4th minute when he finished easily after a fine aerial pass from Adrian Crawley and then he scored his second in the 11th minute from the penalty spot after Paul Dover was stopped from scoring by a blatant foul by a Bury defender in the D. With Broxbourne controlling play at this point it seemed a comfortable victory was on the cards for the Badgers but for the remainder of the first half and the first 20 minutes of the second half, Bury took the game to Broxbourne, allowing them no time in midfield and forcing them into long periods of resolute defence. Dan De Costa, on his first team debut, impressed at left defence and will be looking to cement his first team place after the Christmas break. Bury pulled a goal back in the 29th minute after Fradley lost possession in the midfield, allowing a quick break by the speedy Bury forwards. It could have been worse but for some heroics by Alex Ford in the Broxbourne goal, and his fine goalkeeping meant that Broxbourne went into the half-time break with their 2-1 lead intact. However there was no respite after the break and Bury scored a deserved equaliser in the 42nd minute but as the game progressed the old heads of Broxbourne started to gain more possession and territorial advantage. Rob Dyer nearly completed his hat trick in the 56th minute only for his shot to strike the inside of the Bury post and Ford had to be at his best to foil several more Bury attacks. Broxbourne forced a string of penalty corners in the final 10 minutes of the game and from one of these Paul Dover continued his fine goal scoring run, hitting a sweet reverse stick strike into the Bury net in the 63rd minute. Ford was forced to make a couple more saves in the final five minutes of the game and Broxbourne held out to take the three points on offer. Team: Ford (GK), Law, Evans, De Costa, Crawley, Hopson, Dover, Fradley, Brown, Robinson, Dyer.

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