22nd Sep 2007 *Rotherham 4th(Home) 0 - 2 loss
ELDRIDGE D, MUSGRAVE O, PACKETT O, NAZAR T, JORDAN J, SHUTT I, THORNICROFT M[Y], SNOOK J, APPLEBY H, DRYDEN T, HOLMES J **MOTM** , LILFORD D, KANDT M, SUGDEN R,
An ill-tempered game with umpire's decisions being constantly questioned by Rotherham players resulted in an opening defeat to the the League campaign.
As an unbiased observer(?), it was disappointing to watch the worsening atmosphere in the game, where BRHC fielded 5 junior players against an experienced Rotherham team.
Putting that to one side, the positives were that in the second half, the juniors played extremely well as a unit wth Josh Holmes (MOTM), James Jordan and Harry Appleby all performing well at the back and James Snook and Dale Lilford showing some good movement and passing, despite some rather heavy-handed tackling from Rotherham.
In the second half, BRHC had numerous short corners and put the Rotherham defence under severe pressure, without unfortunately being able to get that vital goal.
Tim Dryden and Mike Thorycroft showed some excellent touches and drove the play forward in the second half.
BRHC maintained their discipline (but for one moment where Mike Thornycroft reacted to a bad tackle and was manhandled by up to 4 (!) Rotherham players) throughout the game and kept pressing the Rotherham defence right upto the last minute.
Our thanks to the umpires, Andrew Packett and Chris Austin (Both BRHC!) for putting up with a game played in a poor spirit.
