16/10/2004
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Wilkinson, Davison, Churchley, Walker, Kennedy, Paterson, Hinks, Creighton, Haigh, Bull, McGurk (Ho 70). Subs not used: Mitchell, Katirai, Bernstone.

A majestic performance from an almost full-strength Brazil took then 3 points clear of bottom spot in the league. From the start Brazil were the better team, dominating in all areas of the field. Shaun Haigh put the hosts ahead when his cross from the left was punched back to him by the keeper, way off his line, leaving Brazil’s flanker an open goal to volley his side ahead.

Brazil’s pressure produced many more chances. Jon Hinks had a header cleared off the line and Ewan Paterson and Matty Bull both forced the visiting keeper to make smart stops but it was Haigh that missed the best opportunity of the half. He was played clean through, avoiding the tight offside trap, but tried to be too clever. His attempted lob skewed off the outside of his boot and went limply out of play.

A good counter attacking goal, against the run of play, brought Wardley back into the game before a freak goal gave them an undeserved lead. Lee Wilkinson, back-peddling, made a fantastic save as he clawed a long range shot out of the top corner and onto the post. As he rolled over, the ball ricocheted off his knee and over the goal line. Brazil responded well and got back on level terms before the break. Bryan Walker’s deep free kick was flicked on by Matthew Creighton and Mark Kennedy controlled it on his chest before blasting a volley past the helpless keeper.

In the second half Brazil took control even more. Ste McGurk, who was lively throughout, managed to cannon the ball off the centre back into Wardley’s goal to give Brazil the lead and even up the own goal score. Midway through the half, McGurk claimed a goal for himself. The ball smashed into Bull’s face and into Hinks’s path. McGurk met the low cross and his deflected shot just crept over the goal line.

Although Brazil were two goals up, they were not resting on their laurels. Some excellent defending throughout the team meant that Wardley hardly had a chance to speak of. In particular, Hinks made a sliding tackle just as a midfielder was about to shoot from the edge of the box and Dave Churchley (whose cheek was so swollen from an earlier elbow that it was beginning to obstruct his view), sprinting back towards his own goal, managed to slide in to deny Wardley’s star striker.

Wardley always struggled to deal with Wilkinson’s long clearances and the game was made safe when Bull got on the end of one and buried it confidently into the back of the net. The result was marred slightly with an incident late on. The way in which a Wardley player reacted to Steve Ho’s sliding tackle resulted in both players getting booked. Creighton picked up another man of the match award as the race for player of the year begins to get more interesting.