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.