Hellenic League Premier Division
Larges Lane, Bracknell
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 390
Match Rating: 4
At the conclusion of my earlier game at Frimley Green, I then made my way to the safe game of the day, for a very attractive looking top of the table clash in the Hellenic League.
Larges Lane is about a 15 minute walk from Bracknell train station, and spectators enter the complex via a turnstile block, from which there is a short walk along a lane, leading to the entrance of the ground itself close to the halfway line. This ground was completely redeveloped in 2016, the plus side is that it is now a very neat, tidy, modern and compact ground that is easy on the eye, but the flip side is that it has lost all of its character, not helped by a lack of club signage in and around the ground. To the right of the entrance is quite a long white building which house a modern but very dark clubhouse, the changing rooms, and hospitality rooms. A roof attached to the exterior wall outside the clubhouse covers four rows of seating. To the left of the entrance, there are a couple of black container units which were empty inside today but according to the programme will soon house a gym, with a tea bar where the gym is currently, next to the boardroom. There is just hard standing around the rest of the pitch, which is tightly lined with wooden panel fencing. The programme was a very unusual size, very narrow which was easy on the eye with an attractive cover, although for some reason the content was duplicated inside.
Today’s visitors Highworth Town came into this game top of the table, having won 26 and drawn four of their 34 games so far, whilst Bracknell were in fourth place, eight points behind Highworth but with four games in hand – indeed it looks like being between today’s teams and FA Vase finalists Thatcham Town for the probable two teams that will get promoted to the Southern League. Bracknell had won 24 and drawn two of their 30 league games, but impressively had only dropped two points from their 16 home league games all season. Both teams have been free scoring this season , both scoring more than 100 goals. When the two teams met in late December, Highworth won 1-0.
On an overcast afternoon with occasional spells of ran, Bracknell were as impressive with their high tempo, energetic brand of football, winning most of the 50-50 challenges, as Highworth really disappointed with a rather limp and uninspired performance. Bracknell took the lead with just two minutes on the clock, Seb Bowerman struck a fairly tame shot from the edge of the area straight at the keeper but the ball went through his arms and into the net. They nearly doubled their lead on 15 minutes when Bowerman saw his chipped shot over the keeper come back off the far angle of the woodwork. In a very rare attack, Highworth had a goal disallowed when a far post tap in following a low ball across the area was ruled out for offside. But Bracknell doubled their lead on 25 minutes when Kensley Maloney sprinted into the box and just as a challenge came in, he managed to shoot the ball inside the keeper’s right hand post. The home side hit the woodwork again on 41 minutes when Joe Grant saw his shot on the run come back off the bar. And 2-0 was how the scoreline stood at half time, which did not really do justice to a terrific performance from the home side, and gave the visitors hope that they could still get back into the game.
The second half was much more even, although Bracknell continued to control the game as Highworth barely threatened. Bracknell hit the woodwork for the third time on 55 minutes when TJ Bohane saw a shot deflected onto the post. Although Bracknell always looked much more likely to score again, the game rather petered out as Bracknell cantered to a very important win which puts them in a great position to clinch promotion. As for Highworth, after a stunning start to their season, which saw them with their first 13 league games straight, and then after a defeat were then unbeaten in their next 13 league games, they are on a relative wobble, having now lost two of their last four league games, and will need to get back into form quickly if they are to see of challenge of Bracknell and Thatcham for the two promotion spots.
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