BADGERS AND BRICKIES END ALL SQUARE

OUR third pre-season friendly was, predictably, the toughest yet - but the Brickies still came home from Brockenhurst with an honourable 2-2 draw against opposition now one division higher. New Milton made a rapid start and deservedly went ahead inside five minutes through Jake Carswell’s opportunist effort from the edge of the penalty area. Brock were stung into action and soon equalised but the Brickies were ahead again just before the half-hour with a really smart run in from the right and clever finish from ex-Badger Noel McCarthy-Gardiner (pictured, left). The Brickies remained on top but conceded again just before half-time. There was no further scoring, although both teams hit the woodwork in the second half. As in previous games, manager Jamie Kay gave a run-out to seven subs, and admitted that after such a promising performance, he is likely to have something of a selection problem when the season-proper starts - because at least three first team regulars were missing from this squad through unavailability. And even though only prestige was on the line, there was a crowd of 156, including a sizeable New Milton contingent. (Picture by LES CHASE).