Brantham Athletic 5, Wroxham 2
The Yachtsmen, who lost at home to Stanway last week, were up against a Brantham side who drew at Trafford Park last month and who belied their lowly status with a fine win at Dereham last Saturday.
Wroxham were forced into changes with several players missing but they included new signings Thomas Mustapha and Ollie Savage in the squad.
Both teams started off well with both having half chances but it was Brantham who broke the deadlock in the 15th minute with a well-worked goal.
Against the run of play, a good ball was played through and Oliver Mann beat the offside trap to slott the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
They could have increased their lead when Mann broke free again and with only Scott Howie to beat scuffed his shot into the side netting.
Mann was involved in Brantham’s second goal when he saw a hard shot well stopped by the keeper but he could not hold the ball and the rebound was hit home low and hard by Lee Grimwood to give the home side a two-nil lead at the break.
A heated exchange then followed when Ollie Savage was fouled just outside the area and in the aftermath players from both sides argued.
David Grimwood went down holding his face and referee Evans needed to calm the situation as it served as a reminder of a similar incident which occurred in the home game between the sides.
The referee was lenient but the first yellow came when Josh Carus was cautioned for a foul on Sean Gunn and a second yellow followed for Brantham’s Marc Lowe for dissent.
With Wroxham pushing for a goal before half-time Langlois had a shout for a penalty turned down only for the player to be booked for a dive. Brantham’s Jack Sibbon’s then received a yellow for a jump leading with his elbow.
Wroxham made two changes with Ben Thompson and Tomas Mustapha replacing Ross Durrant and Claudio Langlois but the first breakaway saw Brantham extend their lead . Some good play in midfield between Gunn and Lawler saw the ball pushed through to Marc Lowe who hit the ball on the run from well outside the area and it went like a rocket into the near corner.
David Grimwood then dinked the perfect ball into the area for Lee Grimwood to run onto and finish off in style.
Tomas Mustapha was showing good pace down the right and as Brantham seemed to sit back a bit his cross found Gavin Lemmon to stab the ball home from close range.
More good work from Mustapha saw him beat his defender only to be fouled with Brantham’s sub being issued with a caution for arguing.
Wroxham gave themselves a chance to get back in the game when Lemmon was again on target after receiving the ball from Danny Bloomfiled and with a quick look up he saw the keeper off his line and struck a great dipping shot from 20 yards to give the scoreline some respectability.
But as Wroxham were pushing forward, Brantham added number 5 when Howie and Carus collided and Ollie Mann was the first to react for a simple tap in.
With two more one on ones not taken by Brantham the scoreline could have been greater, leaving The Yachtsmen to lick their wounds with the worst result of the season so far.
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