22/11/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Davison (Mitchell 75), Churchley, Greenshields, Kennedy, Gurney, Paterson, Toward (Slack 65), Clark, Haigh, Harrison.

Brazil, playing with a five-man midfield, looked the better team from the start. Ewan Paterson and Chris Toward worked extremely hard to protect the defence and Ian Greenshields, making his debut at centre back, looked a good, solid addition to the side. Brazil’s midfield had a lot of possession and it was just the final ball that was lacking. Ben Gurney put in several good crosses from the right wing but, with Mark Harrison up front on his own, there were not enough bodies in the box to trouble the visitors.

Gateshead took an unexpected lead when a long ball over the top was hit first time on the volley and just snuck into the bottom corner. Brazil responded well, though, and increased the pressure on the away side’s goal. Gurney was involved in most of the chances; he cut inside but couldn’t get enough power on his left-footed shot; his cross from the right, after a superb passing move involving most of Brazil’s attacking players, was headed just wide by the diving Paul Clark; and, following a short corner, his cross, again from the right, was headed over the bar as Shaun Haigh and Dave Churchley collided due to a lack of communication. Apart from the goal, Brazil’s defence was coping well with everything Gateshead had to offer. By half time, the score was still 1-0.

Brazil continued to dominate in the second period but still struggled to get the clear opening they needed to equalize. Gateshead scored against the run of play to double their lead with a nice chip over Al Andrew rounding off a good passing move. Brazil shifted to a 4-4-2 formation in an attempt to get more bodies in the box when they were attacking. This left them more exposed at the back and Andrew was forced into making a couple of saves. It did, however, serve to create more chances for Brazil. Mark Kennedy fired wide with his left foot as he ran onto a loose ball, Churchley volleyed narrowly past the post as he latched on to a poor clearance from a corner and Greenshields couldn’t quite hit the target as he turned and shot in the area at another corner. Tom Mitchell was brought down just outside the box as he turned cleverly with his first touch of the game. From the resulting free kick, Paterson fired the ball against the cross bar. For once, Brazil’s players in the box did the right thing in following the shot in for the rebound, but it was so well struck that it bounced back over Harrison’s outstretched leg. A free kick from a similar position, a couple of minutes later, was taken by man of the match, Paul Clark. His shot knocked over the man on the end of the wall as he jumped (with his hands out) to stop the ball as it headed for the top corner.

As Brazil threw men forward to try to get something out of the game they were heavily outnumbered on the break and were helpless as they conceded a late third which led to a very flattering score line for the visitors. Brazil travel to Gateshead for the reverse fixture next weekend, and will be hoping that they can put away some of their chances, having now scored just seven times in eight league games.