BRACKNELL Town showed that little bit of extra class, particularly in front of goal, to overcome a good Horsham side by a 3-1 margin in their Velocity Trophy tie, writes Dave Wright.

After edging the first half, the Robins spent large parts of the second half defending, but weathered the storm and went on to beat the best and certainly the most entertaining visiting team seen at Larges Lane so far this season.

Gavin James, Adam Cornell and Kane Fitzgerald netted the goals that took Town through to the second round.

Bracknell made four changes to the team which had won 3-0 at South Park the previous Saturday with Chris Grace, Dave Hancock, Jamie McClurg and James taking over from Mark Scott, Carl Davies, Kensley Maloney and Liam Ferdinand.

And it was James who opened the scoring after 18 minutes when he headed home Seb Bowerman’s left-wing cross.

Bowerman, Cornell and Joe Grant had already gone close after Town had been quick to find their stride, but it soon became clear the Hornets were also capable of flying down both wings.

It was a game played at speed with play switching from end to end, although Bracknell continued to create the more chances. James’ involvement in the tie ended at the end of the first half due to a groin injury, and a similar injury forced Joe Gater off early in the second half, with Davies returning to his usual spot at the heart of the defence.

Town’s player-manager arrived off the bench at a time when his side were coming under increasing pressure as the men from Sussex stepped up their bid to equalise and it came in the 57th minute.

Rob O’Toole missed an open goal from Steve Metcalf’s left-wing cross, but the striker made no mistake to equalise when the ball fell nicely for him after recalled keeper Chris Grace had got down well to push out Tyrell Richardson-Brown’s shot.

At this point of the game, Horsham were looking the more likely side to go on to win, but the Robins are made of stern stuff and realised they would have to pull out even more, which they duly did.

They got their chance just after the 70-minute mark when McClurg, from 25 yards out on the right, floated a superb free-kick towards the far post, and Cornell met it perfectly to head firmly into the net.

And Town put the issue beyond doubt in the 81st minute when Fitzgerald linked up nicely with Cornell down the right flank and took the ball out to the left before hitting it back past keeper Josh Pelling on the turn.

Skipper Hancock described it as a “good win against a decent side”, but considered it was “our quality going forward that won us the game in the end.”

  • QUINCY Patterson helped to get Bracknell Town off to a flying start in the Junior Premier League by scoring four goals in their 5-3 win over Ignite Sports, the Oxford City academy team.

Felix Crouch added the other to cap an impressive performance.

In the Surrey Youth League on Sunday, Bracknell U9s drew 5-5 with CB Hounslow, their goals coming from Ollie Collins (2), Charlie Kelly, Jacob Parson-Young and Ben Paul.

Joseph Callow netted twice and Sidney Moore once as Bracknell U10s inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Chipstead, while the U10 Robins beat Kingston Town 3-0 thanks to Sam Lynskey (2) and Rudy Steinborn-Busse.

At U11 level, Bracknell won 4-2 at Barnes Eagles through goals from Ollie Draper (2), Bertie Saunders and Erim Dinctop, and the Robins got the better of Rushmoor Saints Colts by a 4-1 margin following strikes from Leon Dutta, Dan Snow, Harry Pashley and Jake Dutton.

Milo Swanton (2), Marcus Reisi and Nathan Bond were on target in Bracknell U12s 4-0 defeat of Met Police U12s.

The U13s shared 10 goals with Byfleet, Scott Morgan (2), Ethan Hall, Stan Broadway and Jake Cook all finding the net for the Larges Lane club.

There was also a point for Bracknell U15s, Joe Warren scoring in the 1-1 draw with Farnham Town Blues.

In an U16 game, Bracknell edged home 3-2 against Sheen Lions with Toby Raggett, Nathaniel Larkin and Max Mullins their marksmen.

FC Bracknell Results – U12s 2 Laurel Park 2; U12s Youth 8 Windsor Vulcans 1; Colts 0 Woodley United Mohawks 5; U13s 8 (Vincent 4) Wokingham & Emmbrook Jaguars 5; U14s 3 Wokingham & Emmbrook Blacks 3; U14s Youth 5 (Leo Saunders 3) Wokingham & Emmbrook Warriors 0; U14s Colts 4 Bracknell Athletic 3; U15s 0 Hearts of Teddlothian 3.