Brackley Blues Still Setting in at Scarborough Affair?

After two home defeats have pushed them out of the promotion chase, Brackley faced Scarborough in a last saloon attempt to get back on track. The first half an hour was disappointing with an equal balenced match being delivered instead of a Brackley onslaught on goal to re- kick start their promotions hopes. In third place and with 75 points, a win today would not give them enough points to take second spot, so desperate now is their situation. Middle of the table, Scarborough created a few chances of their own in the first half with their supporters being more vocal and taunting than the Brackley followers with chants of ‘your supposed to be at home’ and ‘ is it a library in here? ‘One cannot help feeling that the lack of vocal support from their fans and the poorer performance on pitch is another reason for the blues setting in at St James’ Park and anxiety that the season is going to end with yet another maybe close to promotion opportunity going out of the window.

As the first half hit the third quarter it was Scarborough stepping up and creating the chances. Brackley after a run in, got a corner on the left hand side, but the kick went straight into the arms of the Scarborough keeper.

Some weak Brackley corner kicking first half.

More playing safe Brackley back passing instead of forward play followed and as half time approached one could not help feeling that the players needed a good talking to during the break. Some defensive Brackley errors started to also set in to add to the sinking feeling mix along with the inadequate corner kicking. Just as everybody was wishing for the referee to blow his whistle and save Brackley from conceeding a goal, Conor Hall managed to hit the net in a goal which came out of the hat from nowhere. Conor Hall was sitting on the bench in their previous match which raises some managerial decision making issues despite the last min resurrection goal.

As Brackley went into the changing room for their urgent in need of team talk, one could not help feeling that their lead was not reflective of what was going on, on the pitch in the first half.

More drama in the second half as the referee goes down injured after a collision with a player.

For the first 10 mins of the second half, Brackley came out fighting with several attacks and shots on goal. But the change of play was short lived as the match returned to equally balenced play and with Scarborough getting more of the ball in the Brackley half and creating a few serious equalising opportunities of their own.

70th min, Brackley hit the right hand post despite a return to evens Stevens play in the second half.

Substitutions started in the 76th minute as Brackley tried to keep their lead and Scarborough came more and more closer to equalising. The fact that Brackley had more to play for showed itself in the final quarter of the match. Brackley desperately needed to hold their lead to stand any chance of getting back into the promotion race while all Scarborough had to fight for was a slight improvement in their mid table position should they be able to get a goal back. It was to proove s sufficient enough factor in giving Brackley their vital promotion chasing victory despite their far from satisfactory performance on the pitch. In the final four mins of extra time, Okafor finally sealed the match for Brackley by making it 2-0. In conclusion, it was just a shame that the good 871 attendance could not have been rewarded with a better show from the players on the pitch. The 2-0 result was not reflective of what happened during this critical match for Brackley.

871 attendance needed to be rewarded with a better Brackley performance on the pitch. The 2-0 result was not reflective of how they played during the match.