13/11/2004
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Wilkinson, Davison, Churchley, Walker, Kennedy, Paterson, Freath, Creighton, Mitchell, Haigh, Katirai. Subs not used: Slack.

With both strikers pulling out on the morning of the match, Brazil’s manager was worrying where the goals might come from. He decided to play a five-man midfield and it seemed to work as they overwhelmed their hosts from the start. Despite their all round superiority, the closest Brazil came to scoring early on was a long range effort from Matthew Creighton which the keeper fumbled but Shaun Haigh was flagged offside as he followed in.

The petulance of the strikers didn’t help New York and both of them got a severe talking to by the referee within the first twenty minutes. When the opening goal finally came midway through the half there was virtually no doubt about the outcome of the match. Haigh’s long throw fell perfectly into Mark Kennedy’s path, as he made a run from deep, and the Brazil left back hit a first time shot into the back of the net. Just a few minutes later Brazil were two up in somewhat controversial circumstances. New York had a man lying injured on the half way line but the referee waved for play to continue. For a couple of minutes both sides were playing on but whenever Brazil were in possession New York were shouting for them to put the ball out. When Mark Freath nicked the ball off a defender and curled it just inside the post from the edge of the box heated arguments ensued. Just before the interval, Creighton followed the flight of the ball from Lee Wilkinson’s long, long freekick, spun à la David Platt, and volleyed Brazil into a 3-0 half time lead.

With Wilkinson’s dominance of his area and Bryan Walker and Dave Churchley winning everything in the air, New York looked to have no way of getting back into the match. A rare goalkeeping error, however, gifted them a goal early in the second period. Brazil pushed on though, determined not to throw away a vital three points and soon restored their three-goal cushion. Haigh’s weak, left-footed freekick came back to him from the first defender and he tossed in a much better cross with his right foot. With both attackers and defenders struggling to see the ball in the low sun, the experienced Freath timed his run into the danger area perfectly and headed the ball into the net to take his personal tally to three goals in the last two matches. Ewan Paterson, who had promised his manager a goal, was lurking just behind Freath to score if he had missed the ball, just as he had been when Kennedy had opened the scoring.

With the result wrapped up, Brazil started to relax and got some really nice short passes flowing through the midfield. Tom Mitchell and Creighton even started bringing out a few tricks as the New York tackles slid in around them. When Paterson’s corner fell to Creighton, he appeared to have all the time in the world to compose himself and fire Brazil ahead further. Brazil, to their manager’s disappointment, relaxed a bit too much and allowed New York to score an undeserved breakaway goal.

In the final quarter of the match, James Katirai, who had started off the second half quite quietly, started to make a real contribution. He was holding the ball up well, linking with the midfield and winning freekicks. He nearly capped his performance with a goal but was denied by a smart stop at the near post. Brazil’s sixth and final goal also came from a set-piece. Churchley’s vision and quick-thinking enabled him to pick out Creighton with an early freekick and the man of the match then rounded the game off with a superb goal to complete his hat trick. He sidestepped a defender and blasted the ball into the top corner from thirty yards. New York picked up as many yellow cards as goals and Brazil picked up three points, to move them above their opponents in the table.