10/01/2004
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Davison, Churchley, Kennedy, Paterson, Hinks, Mitchell, Haigh, Smith.

With the game called off and then ordered to be played, Brazil struggled to find available players at such short notice and were therefore forced to play with just nine men. The conditions were virtually unplayable, with large areas of the pitch covered in water, fully justifying the original cancellation of the match.

Unsurprisingly, Social dominated right from the start and it didn’t take them long to take the lead. By half time, the visitors had scored six and had a penalty well saved by Al Andrew. Brazil had played well though, with every player working extremely hard. Debutant Paul Smith looked lively up front and caused some problems for the away defence, despite the lack of available support. Dave Churchley, Mark Kennedy and Gary Davison made numerous tackles and interceptions at the back but were outnumbered on every attack. Shortly before the break, Brazil produced their best move of the match. Tom Mitchell played the ball out to Jon Hinks who curled a perfectly weighted pass round the back of the defence for Shaun Haigh to run onto, as Ewan Paterson watched approvingly from the right wing. Haigh struck his shot well, forcing a good, one-handed, diving save from the goalkeeper.

As the match resumed, Brazil created their best chance. Hinks’s lobbed ball forward was completely missed by Social’s centre back, leaving Smith one-on-one with the keeper. Both the ball and Smith got stuck in the mud resulting in a weak shot that was comfortably saved. From the rebound, however, Smith made an audacious attempt at an overhead kick which only just went wide of the post.

The home side inevitably tired as the second half progressed. This was made even more apparent when Social brought on their substitutes. The visitors scored another six goals, with the last two being the pick of the bunch. They were a curling left-footed free kick into the far bottom corner and a diving header following a late run into the box which was perfectly picked out by a fast, swinging, left wing cross.

This was Brazil’s worst ever defeat but it could have been a lot worse had the players not given as much effort or been as committed as they were. It turned out that one of Social’s goal scorers (the player who made the difference between the sides) was actually suspended so the result will not stand and the match will have to be replayed (hopefully between two teams of 11).