15/11/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Davison, Churchley, M McClure (Gurney 65), Kennedy, Paterson, Belcher, Clark, Mitchell (Peake 75), Harrison, Bull.

The muddy pitch and windy conditions were not suited to Brazil’s flowing style of football, however it was the visitors that made the better start, enjoying a lot of the early possession. Just a couple of minutes into the game a nasty late tackle on Paul Belcher set the tone for what was to come. Belcher inflamed the situation by retaliating with a dangerous two-footed lunge but the referee didn’t seem to mind the seriousness of the fouls. It took a goal to calm the game down, although there were still several unnecessary fouls, mainly committed by the home side.

The opening goal came when Ryton cleared a corner only as far as Mark Kennedy. His hard, low drive into the box was cleverly diverted past the fat goalkeeper by Ewan Paterson. Ryton responded well and Brazil’s game seemed to drop off slightly. It wasn’t long before a quick counter attack from a Brazil corner resulted in an easy equalizer. Brazil could have gone back ahead, again from a corner, but Dave Churchley’s powerful left-footed volley was diverted away from the top corner by Paterson’s inappropriately positioned head.

Two more counter attacks gave Ryton a 3-1 lead at the interval.

Brazil upped their game slightly in the second half but it was still the home side that were creating more chances. Al Andrew was finding it difficult to hold onto the ball in the swirling wind but he made a number of good blocks. On one occasion he fell back into the net as he stopped the ball on the line. Churchley reacted quickly and managed to get to the ball just ahead of the Ryton striker, who fouled him as he cleared. A few minutes later, the same striker was sent clear by a ball over the top. Andrew managed to delay his shot as the forward rounded him and thought he had an open goal. As he looked up though he realised that Churchley had got back. The visiting captain then made a goal-saving tackle before he could shoot.

Brazil’s injured full back, Anand Charge, said of his skipper, “… just consistently the best player on the team …”.

Debutant Ben Gurney had an excellent chance to bring Brazil back into the game when man of the match Paul Clark sent him clear. He appeared to rush his shot though and dragged it wide of the post. The result was virtually beyond doubt when Ryton scored their fourth with ten minutes to go.

The last ten minutes were scrappy with more dangerous tackles being committed, particularly by Ryton’s centre back. After his fourth in three minutes (all possible worthy of a red card on their own), the referee had a quiet word with him. With five minutes remaining, a collision between Churchley and Kennedy, on the edge of the Brazil box, momentarily knocked out Brazil’s skipper and left him with a dull headache for the next three days. As the game came to a close, with just twenty seconds left on the clock, Belcher was the victim of yet another unacceptable challenge. It was late, vicious, over the ball and deliberate and left Belcher with a broken leg and dislocated ankle. The culprit, Ryton’s centre back was finally dismissed and the game was abandoned. Due to league rules, however, the result will stand as more than 70 minutes of play had elapsed.

Luckily for Belcher, Gurney and Mark Harrison are practising medical doctors and they took charge of the situation immediately. They reduced his ankle and made a temporary splint from some wood and tape. There was a risk that he could have lost his foot had they not done this, as the ambulance took so long to arrive. Belcher has since had an operation and is currently waiting for the swelling to go down before he can get plastered and go home.

08/11/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Kennedy, Churchley, Toms (Davison 70), Haigh, Toward, Belcher (Slack 65), Clark, McGowan, Paterson, Bull.

Brazil looked sloppy from the start. Killingworth looked confident and dominated the early stages of the match. Just as Brazil were starting to get into the game, Killingworth’s centre midfielder fired them into the lead from twenty five yards. For a moment it seemed that Al Andrew would keep it out but a collision with the post prevented this and also left him with a dead leg which he had to struggle on with for the rest of the match.

The home side pushed forward seeking an equalizer and almost got one from the first corner of the game. Steve Toms and Dave Churchley went up from the back and Ewan Paterson put over an excellent cross. It was Toms that lost his marker but his volley, from eight yards out, was misdirected wide of the left hand post. After this, Brazil never really looked like getting anything out of the game. Killingworth were the better side, forcing Brazil to rush whenever they gained possession and outnumbering Brazil at the back when they broke from midfield. By half-time the visitors led 5-0, perhaps being aided by the wind and Andrew’s leg injury.

The second half was a lot more even but Brazil still failed to create any openings. It wasn’t until Killingworth had scored their sixth (again aided by the wind) and both Brazil’s subs were on that the hosts had a shot on target. Peter Slack cut inside from the left and sent a curling shot goalwards. Killingworth’s keeper was worried momentarily but managed to make the save. Late on, Matty Bull tried an extremely ambitious thirty five yard volley as the ball came across him and over his shoulder. Although it didn’t trouble the keeper, it wasn’t too far off target. Paul Clark was the man of the match for his hard work and tackling in the centre of the midfield. This result leaves Brazil stranded at the bottom of the table with some extremely important games coming up over the next couple of weeks.

25/10/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Davison, Churchley, M McClure, Haigh, Toward (Slack 65), Belcher, Toms, Clark, McGowan, Paterson.

Brazil started very sloppily and could easily have been behind in the opening minutes of the match. Dave Churchley blocked a shot from inside the area and then made an excellent goal-line clearance moments later to keep the scores level. After these early scares, Brazil began to get into the game. The diminutive Ewan Paterson was playing as a lone striker for Brazil but still managed to cause problems for the Westerhope defence with some clever runs.

The home side had a lot of pace up front and you could sense the frustration growing as Brazil’s defence was coping well. The centre of the pitch was fairly congested but Brazil found a lot of space for Shaun Haigh and Jonny McGowan to attack down the left flank. Paul Clark, making his first appearance of the season, played competitively in the middle of the pitch.

Brazil’s defending at corners was excellent. This has been a weakness in the past but not during this match. Churchley, Mike McClure, Chris Toward and Steve Toms all made headed clearances and, on the one occasion Westerhope won the header, Gary Davison cleared off the line at the back post.

Brazil were creating chances too. Paul Belcher’s chipped free kick was just out of the reach of McGowan. Paterson also put McGowan through but the goalkeeper narrowed the angle well and smothered the chance. Haigh’s long throw-in resulted in Toward being shoved in the back and Brazil were awarded a penalty. McClure stepped up and dispatched it perfectly into the top right hand corner to give Brazil the lead. Brazil could’ve gone further ahead before the break when Paterson skilfully turned and slid the ball across the face of the goal, off balance and left-footed. The keeper was stranded and it looked as though Toward couldn’t miss until the fullback made a sliding block just inside the post.

The second half was scrappier as the young Westerhope side were becoming ever more annoyed at the score, at themselves and at the referee. The official seemed to have no control on the game and allowed the home side to continually swear at and abuse him loud enough to be heard on the golf course. These frustrations then turned into fouls and a few scuffles evolved around the pitch.

There was some football played too, however. With the wind against them, Brazil defended deeper and, whilst this helped to combat Westerhope’s pace, it meant that they caused much less of a threat going forward. There were chances to extend the lead, though. Clark’s corner from the right was met by a great run from Churchley. His header was powerful and downwards but the wrong the wrong side of the post. Peter Slack, playing up front when he came on off the bench, failed to realise how much time he had after the keeper had fumbled a headed back pass. He did well to get to the ball but rushed his shot and it went across the face of the unguarded goal.

Paterson and Churchley both made good sliding blocks and Al Andrew came out well to make a fine one-on-one save but all this was in vain as Westerhope broke quickly to score two late goals and snatch victory. The hosts were reduced to ten men in the closing stages of the game as their full back kicked Toms in retaliation to a late tackle. McGowan was man of the match.

With Newcastle Rutherford Reserves dropping out of the league, Brazil now have to wait a fortnight, when they play host to Killingworth, before they can attempt to climb off the bottom of the table.

11/10/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Davison, Churchley, Kennedy, Haigh, Toward (Slack 70), Belcher, McGowan, Hinks, Paterson, Bull.

Brazil went into the game confident of recording their first league win of the season against a side that had never won a Tyneside Amateur League match. The visitors started well with a lot of early possession. Paul Belcher was trying to pull the strings in midfield and he made some exciting runs with the ball. Matty Bull and Ewan Paterson worked hard up front and showed some good touches, but they never received the support the needed to make the break though and the final ball was never quite there.

After about 20 minutes, P&G started to get into the game. After last year’s 6-0 thrashing in this fixture, it appeared that some of the Brazil players were taking the result for granted and not putting in the work required for such a victory. Mark Kennedy and Dave Churchley, at the heart of the Brazil defence, were kept busy but both players had excellent games and didn’t allow the P&G strikers any chances. Kennedy was strong and enjoyed carrying the ball out from the back whilst Churchley was quick, both with the feet and in the mind, as he covered behind his partner. The biggest threat to the Brazil goal came from P&G’s midfield runners who kept pouring forward unmarked. It was one of these runners who came closest to opening the scoring with a 20 yard effort. Al Andrew, who sometimes has an unfortunate tendency to get lobbed, pulled off a stunning one handed save as he leapt upwards and backwards at the same time. He was quickly back to his feet to parry the follow up shot, too. The half-time score was a fair nil – nil, although Brazil had been slightly the better side.

In the second half, P&G were more dominant. Brazil’s back line was kept busy throughout the half but they were always up to the task. The only goal of the game came about ten minutes into the half. A clean tackle was adjudged to have been a foul by the referee, who was about 60 yards away, and the resulting free kick found its way into the net. This should have been just a minor set back as Brazil still had plenty of time to win the game but they didn’t respond in the required manner. Belcher tried to lead the recovery but he was not getting a lot of help. Jon Hinks made a couple of excellent blocks at corners but lost a lot of his effectiveness after going over on his ankle in the first period.

Brazil did have two good chances to deny the home side victory but they were snatched at and ended up off target. Both came from good passing moves and fell to firstly Jonny McGowan and then Bull. Going into the last ten minutes, it didn’t look as though Brazil would score and several players were just going through the motions. Churchley, who was man of the match on the weekend he celebrated his birthday, tried to get some urgency into Brazil’s game but the last seven minutes disappeared to leave a very frustrated Brazil at the bottom of the league.

20/09/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Bancroft, Churchley, Toms, Davison, Slack, Paterson, Hinks, Haigh, Mitchell (Robinson 80), Bull.

Brazil began well and dominated possession in the early stages of the match but without creating any clear cut chances. Tom Mitchell managed to find some space between South Beach’s defence and midfield and got a couple of shots in but both were saved by the keeper. Shaun Haigh’s through ball towards Mitchell was well cut out but, as the two defenders collided, Haigh regained possession and ran towards goal. He let fly from 20 yards but his shot was high and wide.

Midway through the first half South Beach scored against the run of play. A low cross from the Brazil left was inadvertently bundled into his own net by Brazil’s full back. Brazil responded well though and continued to create chances of their own. Slack made a good run round the left back. He tried to pick out Mitchell’s run into the box but cut the ball back just behind him.

The equaliser came following a foul on Brazil’s left wing. Haigh’s free kick was flicked on by Matty Bull to Peter Slack who fired a low cross through the crowded box. Mitchell stabbed the ball goalwards but it was well saved by the keeper’s legs. Jon Hinks was following in well and scored only his second goal for the club. Brazil continued to play the better football and their confidence was increasing. Goalkeeper, Al Andrew let a 30 yard shot scrape the outside of the post because he could see it was going wide. At the other end, a corner was headed clear but only as far as Steve Toms. He caught his left-footed volley sweetly but it was just wide of the upright. At the interval, the scores were level but Brazil had been the better side.

South Beach started well after the break but Brazil soon regained their composure. Slack tried a 25 yard lob which was only a couple of inches over the crossbar, much closer than a similar effort he had in the first half. Bull, making his debut, worked hard and looked very promising but, as the lone striker, was not receiving as much support as he would have liked. Hinks and Ewan Paterson were working extremely hard in central midfield for Brazil, a role with which neither of them is familiar. Toms, the man of the match, and Dave Churchley were winning a lot of headers as South Beach tried to play in their forwards over the top. They were also tackling well, as was Alan Bancroft who was playing at right back this week. Bancroft put in a lot of very hard challenges and began to do more attacking work as the match progressed, putting in some decent deep crosses.

Brazil almost took the lead when Paterson’s driven corner was met by the head of Haigh. He managed to get in front of his marker but, although his header was firm, it was misdirected and just cleared the crossbar. During this seemingly crucial passage of play, Brazil nearly conceded a second own goal. Andrew and Bancroft both went for the same ball and, as they collided, the ball bounced up and hit the bar before being cleared to safety. Brazil capitalized on this let off and went on to take the lead themselves after 70 minutes.

As Bancroft placed the ball to take a free kick from midway inside the South Beach half on the right hand side of the pitch, Churchley jogged up slowly from the back. The defensive line was just inside the penalty area so Churchley positioned himself at the left corner of the box. He ran along the line as Bancroft ran up to take the kick before turning towards the goal to lose his marker. As the cross came into the box Churchley jumped. He saw the keeper approaching, looking to punch the ball, so he turned in the air and managed to get his body between the keeper and the ball. He flicked the ball into the net with the back of his head and ran back to his jubilant team mates.

With just twenty minutes left, it looked like Brazil would take something out of the game but it was not to be. South Beach levelled the scores when a bouncing shot squirmed in at the near post. The dismissal of their second striker seemed to make them play better. Their captain moved up front and they suddenly seemed to be much more dangerous. He scored twice to seal the victory for the home side. Firstly, with a good goal as he coolly finished off a one-on-one and secondly with some good fortune; Andrew blocked a low cross-shot with his feet but it rebounded straight to the skipper to round off the match.

06/09/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Davison, Churchley, Kennedy, Charge, Hinks (Mitchell 75), Bancroft, Toms, Haigh, Paterson, Greenwood.

On a wet, skiddy surface, the game started quickly with a lot of dangerous sliding tackles from the Social midfield. Alan Bancroft responded with a couple of his own and was booked for his trouble. This served to calm the game down slightly (but only slightly). Brazil came closest to opening the scoring following some good work by Jon Hinks, Gary Davison and Ewan Paterson down the right wing. Jon Hinks was free inside the area and hit a fierce shot from a tight angle. The keeper managed to take some pace off the ball to allow a defender to clear off the line. Andy Greenwood, following in, was just inches from the rebound. A few minutes later it looked like Brazil would open the scoring. Ewan Paterson, Brazil’s top scorer so far this season, flicked the ball over the head of the last Social defender and it was clear that his pace would take him through for a one on one with the keeper. The defender, however, had other ideas and deliberately tripped Paterson as he sprinted past. The resulting free kick was too far out to be dangerous and the defender got away with just a talking to.

It took an unnecessary penalty to break the deadlock. There could be no argument with the decision (although Al Andrew didn’t seem to agree with it 100%) and Social made no mistake with the spot kick. Taking the lead seemed to spur them on and they became more and more dominant. Mark Kennedy and Dave Churchley won a lot of tackles but the whole of the Brazil defence was too stretched and it was only a matter of time until Social scored again. Their striker spun away from his marker and smashed a volley into the top corner. Shaun Haigh tried to reduce the deficit with a curling free kick but an effort at the other end came even closer and it took a very good tip over by Andrew to keep the score at two at the break.

The second half wasn’t much different and the chances kept coming for Social. They scored three more, all of which were excellent finishes. Steve Toms earned his man of the match award by working hard in the midfield but he seemed to be fouled before he could ever do anything creative with the ball. Bancroft and Anand Charge were both involved in altercations with opposition players but members of both teams quickly prevented them from getting out of hand.

Brazil nearly grabbed a late consolation when Kennedy flicked on Greenwood’s free kick. Churchley controlled the ball on his chest but fired wide as he shot on the turn, under good pressure from his marker.