Hellenic Premier Division

Brimscombe & Thrupp1

Binfield 2

By Richard Joyce

Brimscombe and Thrupp surrendered sixth place in the Hellenic Premier Division to visitors Binfield on a frustrating afternoon in front of goal at the Meadow.

Two first half strikes from Binfield’s Brad Pagliaroli and Ian Davies were enough to help the Berkshire side travel back along the M4 with three points, with a late Chris Greenhough header proving to be just a consolation for the Lilywhites.

Sam Prior’s men had made a bright start after forcing Binfield goalkeeper Henry Craven into a save early on from Jack Smith’s effort inside the box.

And minutes later Brimscombe had a huge opportunity to go ahead from the penalty spot. Ollie Pitt was brought down in the box and the attacker stepped up to take the kick, only to see his hit from 12-yards smash against the bottom of the post.

Pagliaroli broke the deadlock on the quarter of an hour mark, hammering in via the underside of the crossbar, and the visitors doubled their advantage minutes later when Davies reacted to Ashley Gale’s initial save from a Pagliaroli driven effort from distance to poke in.

Brimscombe did have the ball in the net eventually only for the goal to be ruled out by the linesman’s flag for offside. Good work by the lively Ben Deakin set Pitt who was denied after finishing well.

Gale had to be sharp to react to Josh Howells’ early header in the second half as Brimscombe launched an attempt at a second half comeback that saw Craven make a crucial close range stop from Smith, and Deakin power an effort towards goal that hit the crossbar.

Craven again was called into action to stop a Greenhough header from creeping in and a Smith shot, while at the other end Gale ensured the gap between the two sides would remain at just two goals as he bravely kept out Davies’ shot when Binfield had flooded forward on a counter-attack.

The goal Brimscombe’s attacking play deserved eventually came five minutes from time. A Pitt corner was headed in by Greenhough, but it would prove to be the only goal the Lilywhites could muster.

A late Pitt shot that flew over the bar from inside the box was the final opening on a frustrating afternoon that confirmed back-to-back defeats and saw Ashley Caldwell sent off in stoppage time for a straight red card.

BRIMSCOMBE: Gale, Hill, Vadasz, Greenhough, Turner, Caldwell, Simpson, Evans (Nash), Deakin, Smith, Pitt

BINFIELD: Craven, Merrick, Tuttle, Knight, Smith, Broome, Howell, Gerrard, Davies, Pagliaroli, Santoro, Hayden, Griggs, Shaw

Subs not used: Skyers, Pates, Pass

Attendance: 67