WHEN I SAW BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS TAKE ON BEDFORD TOWN IN JULY 2014... I return on Saturday to see The Badgers v Hinckley LR in the FA Cup...

 When The Badgers Fell Prey To The Eagles…

Bugbrooke St Michaels 1-4 Bedford Town (July 2014…)

Bedford's Eagles glided into The Sett, ironically in Birds Close, to net four times in a lively encounter, which avoided the forecast rain but entertained those who ventured out on an early July afternoon. 

The Bugbrooke Secretary and Chairman were kindly accommodating but I believe that Bugbrooke's stuffed badger mascot lives in a loft now, leaving me rather disappointed... Badger icons were generally evident at the neat ground however and The Bodging felt at home there, despite the threat of culling from the talons of the predatory Eagles. 

THE BODGING: AT HOME AT THE SETT...

Incredibly, Bugbrooke is twinned with German team TSV Vohl… You simply couldn't make it up... The Bedford manager allowed me to photograph his team list, added some numbers for me and I hoped that the correct players' names corresponded to the correct action described below. His replacements remained unknown but their numbers are mentioned in dispatches. 

Although I was allowed to photograph the Bugbrooke squad, there were no numbers on the list and so my report contains the numbers of players only, something I apologise unreservedly for. 

The two chaps who stood near me were checking out a new ground too and they were from Retford, their team also being nicknamed The Badgers… Hmm, a strange day all round then...

Straight from the kick-off the Eagles, wearing shirts as blue as Chinese ferret badgers, threatened on the right, the ball was played across the penalty-box and although it was cleared, the referee pointed to the penalty-spot, a chance Tom Liversedge wasn't going to spurn, clipping a smart spot-kick without a run-up, high into the top right corner of the net. 

THE SPOT-KICK...

Soon afterwards, Robbie Parker's header from a left-wing delivery was smartly tipped over his crossbar by home 'keeper Mark Phillpott, whose jaw was often wide open whilst bellowing but as a Badger, he knew that his jaw would never dislocate. The goalie then fell left on his goal-line to stop Sam MaCrae's low shot, following a brief spell of attacking by the Badgers and a break on the right by the Eagles. At this point, Bugbrooke must have been wishing they were stink badgers, able to excrete a real pong whilst defending...

The second goal wasn't long arriving either, curled right-footed and low past Phillpott from the inside-left channel, 15 yards out. The ball flew into the right corner of goal from the boot of influential forward Aaron King, noticeable for his glabrous head and a beard, not so common in 2014. 

Liversedge drove a low centre across the face of the Bugbrooke goal and it seemed only a matter of time that a third strike would cull the Badgers totally. However, as with the Hufflepuff House in the Harry Potter stories, which had a badger as its emblem (quiet until attacked and then fought off stronger foes) the hosts rallied. 

A curled free-kick from Badger 7 ripped into the near post's side-netting with visiting 'keeper Lee Crocks leaping, his jersey as green as a Japanese badger. Thus the hosts began to force themselves into the game. 

A forceful run by MaCrae led to a short pass for Parker, who drove a shot wide of the left upright but when Scott Cross fed Aaron King, the strong striker sliced his effort at goal. Strangely, Bugbrooke struck a goal out of nothing when Badger 10, possibly Lance Allen (?) picked up a loose ball around 28 yards out and lashed a right-footer over the stunned Crocks and high into the Bedford net. A fine goal and Bedford's ascendancy had been rattled…

Good attacking by Parker led to a low cross towards the far post, where Aaron King slid in with a defender only to see the ball bounce off the base of the vertical for the grateful Phillpott to gather. Badger 15 replaced Badger 8 and with his green boots shining like a pair of jelly-shoes on Cornwall's Treyarnon Bay beach, he began to take on the midfield workload. 

Aaron King and MaCrae threatened for Bedford again and won a corner on the left, which was taken short, leading to a close range left-boot volley by Parker, which flew just over Phillpott's bar, although maybe Parker would rue that miss. Dan Chilton was instrumental in foiling Bugbrooke as Badger 10 fed Badger 4, then Cross couldn't capitalise on Liversedge's provision for Bedford. A move involving several passing Eagles and a number of confused Badgers, ended with a neat turn onto his left foot by the tall Liversedge but his rising 18 yard shot was comfortably caught on his goal-line by the vociferous Phillpott.

The interval had been reached and the players mostly remained out in the sunshine, as the Eagles flapped about around their manager and the Badgers rested their short strong legs. They ate no rotting fruit though, as badgers are prone to do, which would have left them inebriated and legless. And then lots of changes were made by both teams for the second period…

Badger 17 pulled a weak early shot across the face of the Bedford goal and then Aaron King foiled the devious Badger-trap, the boars waving their short forelegs in the vain hope of an offside flag from a linesman but Parker shot off target for the Eagles anyway. Substitute Eagle 16 was next to go close, despite being challenged by Badger 5, and the 15 yard shot rose for Phillpott to leap for and turn over his crossbar. 

Jordan Jarrold's right-flank corner dropped between three Eagles, but they all fell over in the 6 yard box, Eagle 14 remaining prone with a hurt talon and Liversedge helplessly sprawling like he'd been caught in a zookeeper's net, allowing Phillpott to drop onto the loose ball, amused at the three visitors in disarray. 

Eagle 14 recovered from his ills and began to run at the Badgers, who found the speed galling but Badger 17 made a strong sortie forward too, only for the move to peter out. Jordan Cleghorn fed Liversedge for Town but the striker fired his shot over the protective netting behind the goal-frame, then Bugbrooke began to assert themselves again briefly, as Badger 16's free-kick was headed onto the roof of the net near the left upright by a rugged replacement Badger.

Eagle 17 was well involved again, first driving a shot too high then creating the third Bedford goal. Jarrold made an overlapping run on the left as 17 received Cleghorn's pass but the substitute clipped a pass towards the far post from inside-left, which a defender's head prevented Cleghorn from capitalising upon but Cross' right boot waited, like a bird of prey hovering over a rat and his volley from an angle, 5 yards out, smashed into the roof of the net for a spectacular goal. 

Eagle 14's electrifying run was stopped by a tripping Badger but Phillpott caught Jarrold's resulting 18 yard free-kick from inside-right with little trouble. Another nippy excursion by Eagle 14 saw him reach the right byeline close to the upright but Phillpott slapped Cleghorn's near post shot away for a corner, like he was taking evasive action from an angry girlfriend's fists.

Neat play by Cross, strong as a Belted Galloway bull, ended with a clipped effort over the goal-frame, before in the final moments of the match, Jarrold's pass through the centre saw Cleghorn escape the flimsy Bugbrooke offside-trap and the striker veered left past the 'keeper and served the ball into the empty net, like he was potting the easiest and only remaining red on a snooker table. 1-4 and although a possible rout had been avoided by Bugbrooke, certainly 1-4 seemed a reasonably fair scoreline, despite the wholehearted effort put in by the Bugbrooke cete, or clan of Badgers... 

Bedford were stronger, as they should have been, possessing some quickness after the break, which the Badgers, as 16-19mph runners at best, struggled to cope with. Impressive before the break, with his concentration and commitment was Dan Harmon of Bedford and Aaron King was always liable to cause a problem or two, but the replacement forwards for the Eagles were particularly effective.  

Badgers are generally fine when chasing down and engulfing hedgehogs but these were Eagles flying about... The game was enjoyable though, so I bought two club badges from the Chairman. 

Yes, I admit it, I purchased two Badger badges but I so wanted to say out loud to the Chairman: "Il y a un blaireau dans mon sac..." but I didn't. 

Instead, The Bodging remained in my bag and I drove back to Solihull relishing my eggs and chips, plus a bottle of Tangle Nook, a Badger beer. Well, it's what you do...

And the stuffed badger remained lurking in the loft at Bugbrooke...