07/10/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Wilkinson, Mitchell (Cooper 60), Churchley, Walker, Liddell (Siddle 75), Paterson, Johnston, Freath, Haigh, McGowan, Katirai (Goodliff 45).
Subs not used: Honeywood.

With a strong eleven and a full complement of substitutes for the first time this season, Brazil went into the match full of confidence. For the first quarter of an hour, Brazil passed the ball around well and didn’t give the home side a look in. Playing into a strong wind, defending was extremely difficult and the home side went into the break with a two goal advantage.

Brazil were hoping that RVI would find it equally difficult in the second half but the wind dropped considerably. Immediately the second half began, however, Brazil had a good chance. Gordon Johnston got onto the end of Lee Wilkinson’s long clearance and lobbed the keeper with his first time shot. Unfortunately, the ball just cleared the crossbar.

As Brazil committed men forward, RVI scored twice on the break to put the result beyond doubt. Brazil did score their first league goal of the campaign for themselves. Shaun Haigh’s long throw in was headed home by the impressive Jonny McGowan. Moments later the trick was almost repeated. This time, McGowan flicked on Haigh’s throw and Les Goodliff headed over the bar.

Bryan Walker was man of the match.

23/09/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Wilkinson, Paterson, Churchley, Walker, Liddell, Cooper (Freath 55), Creighton, Honeywood, Haigh, McGowan, Katirai.

A much-improved Brazil performance saw the hosts match their visitors for large parts of the game. In the first half in particular, Brazil worked hard at the things they had talked about. James Cooper impressed on his debut and Henry Liddell continued his excellent start to the season but it was promotion favourites Forest Hall that had the better chances. Brazil required some solid defending, a couple of fine saves by Lee Wilkinson and a goal line clearance onto the underside of the bar and away by Shaun Haigh to keep the visitors at bay. Jonny McGowan’s return to action after a long injury lay off almost gave Brazil the lead going into the half time break. After some good work down the left, the ball was played into the box where James Katirai squeezed it through to McGowan. Had he not been off balance he almost certainly would have scored but as it was he couldn’t get enough power into his shot to beat the keeper.

Immediately after the break, Katirai created himself the best chance of the match. Chasing down a back pass, he managed to tackle the keeper. As he scuffed his shot with the outside of his right foot, it looked like the chance had gone but he battled with two defenders to gain another opportunity. This time his shot was cleanly struck but just wide of the post. With only one substitute, Brazil suffered as the team tired in the second half and two quick goals around the hour mark killed off the game. Two more goals flattered the visitors who had been made to work extremely hard for their victory.

Dave Churchley was man of the match.

16/09/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Andrew, Mitchell, Churchley, Ellis, Mandalia (Ling 60), Paterson, Creighton, Freath, Haigh, Harrison, Katirai.

Sachin Mandalia and Andrew Ling made their debuts in the match where club captain Shaun Haigh became only Brazil’s third player to make 100 appearances. For the fourth game running Brazil failed to score; their consolation goal was an own goal.

Dave Churchley was man of the match.

09/09/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Katirai, Mitchell, Churchley, Ellis, Siddle (Dickson 55), Paterson, Honeywood, Johnston, Liddell, Harrison, Egan.

A tough opening league fixture awaited Brazil. With Blyth Spartans currently topping the Conference North, it was always going to be a safe bet that their ‘A’ team were going to be pretty good. Brazil were missing several regular players but this gave some of the new players a chance to establish themselves.

Blyth took the lead in the first minute as they broke down the right and scored after a lack of communication in the Brazil defence. Brazil steadied themselves and held their own for most of the rest of the first half (despite conceding an own goal midway through the half). Gordon Johnston was superb in midfield and Henry Liddell continued to impress on the left. On the few occasions Brazil got the ball forward, Mark Harrison and Matthew Egan linked up quite well. Egan’s pace scared the defence and they were forced to bring him down on several occasions.

James Katirai made a sharp save diving to his right and Craig Ellis slotted in well at centre back alongside Dave Churchley. However, two goals just before half time ended the game as a contest as the visitors went into the break leading by four.

In the second half, Brazil were better, not allowing Blyth to get in behind them on the flanks. A bizarre refereeing decision (by the otherwise very good official) gifted the visitors a fifth goal. After stopping play for an injury, he allowed Blyth to play on. With players out of position they ended up with three on one against Katirai. After superbly tipping the first shot onto the crossbar, Katirai could only watch as the rebound also hit the bar before the second rebound was put into the back of the net. The appeals for offside were disregarded.

Egan picked up a yellow card for a rash challenge (probably more due to the scream of the player he caught than the recklessness of the tackle). Simon Honeywood worked himself some space for a shot but the keeper held onto it comfortably. The closest Brazil came to scoring was after Ewan Paterson had been pushed up front. He returned a one-two to Honeywood who had his and Brazil’s second shot of the match.

Despite initially indicating that Egan would be the man of the match, the decision was changed and the accolade was awarded to Johnston for the first time as a Brazil player.

10/05/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Wilkinson, Ellis, Churchley, Walker, Kennedy, Paterson, Creighton, Honeywood (Hinks 45), Freath, Haigh, Katirai.

Brazil started well and took the lead after half an hour with a superb goal. Ewan Paterson dismissed an Inter Dental defender and fed Matthew Creighton, just outside the box, on the left hand side. Creighton waited for the ball to bounce kindly in front of him before lifting a sublime left footed volley over the keeper and under the bar.

Two defensive lapses (including the cardinal sin of stopping when the whistle hadn’t gone) allowed Inter Dental to take an undeserved lead into the half time interval.

The introduction of Jon Hinks in the second half gave Brazil more bite but, with two strikers dropping out of the squad before the match, there was not much support when the ball was played forward. The hosts were restricted to attempting to use their forwards’ pace in counter attacking with long balls but Brazil’s defence held firm.

A 90^th minute header from a corner gave Inter Dental a flattering scoreline.

Lee Wilkinson’s man of the match award prevented Creighton and Dave Churchley from sharing the Player of the Year trophy with Matty Bull.

06/05/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Wilkinson, Ellis, Churchley, Walker, Paterson, Creighton, Honeywood, Freath, Haigh, Katirai, Bull.
Subs not used: Sharples, Davison.

With the ground hard and uneven and the grass quite long, conditions were not conducive to a good game of football. The match started quite evenly with neither side finding a way past either defence on the small pitch. Unsurprisingly, it was a mistake that led to the first goal. Surprisingly, it was a mistake by the (otherwise) excellent referee. A shot from well outside the box went wide of the box and straight out of play without anyone getting a touch. The referee must have thought that it had taken a deflection or that Lee Wilkinson had got a hand to it as he gave a corner. A free header put the home side ahead. A few minutes later, the same player scored again from another corner from the same side.

Brazil responded well and created some chances of their own. Matty Bull won the ball off his brother (who was playing in defence for New York), beat the next defender and laid it off to James Katirai. His shot was well struck but blocked. Ewan Paterson gained possession and fed Matthew Creighton on the edge the box. His attempted lob left the New York keeper stranded but the ball came back off the crossbar. A deep corner by Bull was turned back into the danger area by Katirai. Bryan Walker met the ball firmly with his head but couldn’t keep it down.

After the break, Brazil continued to have the better of the game. Bull and Creighton both went close with free kicks before it looked like Shaun Haigh would continue his recent excellent goal scoring form. A superbly timed run beat the offside trap and, with just the keeper to beat, Brazil’s skipper looked odds on to score. Just as he was about to shoot he was carelessly hauled to the ground from behind by a defender. A red card was almost inevitable for the initial offence but it became even more certain after the defender reacted badly to something Katirai said. The New York player raced over to Katirai (his ex-team mate) pushing, hitting and threatening him. Katirai conducted himself superbly and didn’t react at all. Mark Freath and Dave Churchley quickly separated the players before any damage was done. The New York player was dismissed.

Brazil were starting to dominate with their numerical advantage until Bull went over on his ankle and was forced out of the game for a while. This lost Brazil’s momentum and New York grabbed a third on a counter attack. After Bull was back on the field, he nearly scored a late consolation. He got on the end of Wilkinson’s long clearance but saw his first time shot rebound back off the inside of the post.

After the game, New York’s dismissed defender was still looking to start a fight with Katirai (or anyone else that spoke or was even nearby) but Brazil’s players just left him to rant on on his own.

The most exciting Player of the Year race in Brazil’s history edged in Bull’s favour as his man of the match for this game takes him one clear of Churchley and Creighton with just one match left to play.

29/04/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Katirai, Garry, Churchley, Walker, Harrison, Paterson, Creighton, Mitchell, Haigh, Allen, Dunkley.

With several regular players unavailable and two dropping out on the day of the match, Brazil did well to get 11 men on the field. Mark Garry reclaimed his record as Brazil’s oldest ever player and Guy Allen and Paul Dunkley became Brazil’s 99^th and 100^th players to either register or play for the club in the four seasons since they joined the Tyneside Amateur league.

The opening exchanges were fairly even but the wind, sun and slope favoured the visitors and justified their increasing possessional dominance. James Katirai was twice called upon to make good saves before an incredible refereeing faux pas turned the match. As the cross bounced and bobbled just inside the edge of the Brazil box, the defender lunged at and missed the ball. The forward also lunged at and missed the ball and crashed into the back of the defender, sending both players to the ground. At this point, both sides were happy to continue playing on but the referee’s whistle was blown. A couple of Forest Hall players started arguing against what they thought was free kick given to Brazil, as they were still in a promising area of the pitch, but the referee bemused everyone by signalling to the penalty spot. Katirai was only centimetres away from bringing justice to the situation, as he dived to his left. Forest Hall then scored another controversial goal to double their lead. As one forward pulled the Brazil defender away from the ball by his shirt, the other forward ran onto the free ball and smashed it into the net. A third goal followed for the visitors, before half time, as they put away and unmarked header from a corner.

With the change of ends it appeared that Brazil may have a change of fortunes as they struck back immediately after the interval. Matthew Creighton’s sliced shot fell kindly for Shaun Haigh. After a poor first touch on his thigh, he redeemed himself by firing the ball into the top corner with his left foot to continue his goal scoring run. After this, however, it just got embarrassing as wave after wave of Forest Hall attacks overwhelmed an outnumbered Brazil defence. Brazil would have had a consolation goal late on but, after beating two defenders, a bobble on the pitch defeated Dunkley and he shot high and wide.

Creighton was man of the match again.

05/04/2006
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Wilkinson, Rothwell (Smith 45), Churchley, Walker, Kennedy, Ellis, Freath, Creighton, Haigh, Katirai, Bull.

For the second time in five days an under-strength Brazil team lost to by a single goal to a side they really should be beating. Scott Rothwell made his debut for Brazil, who took while to get going in their first evening game since August. Wardley had more of the ball in the opening period but Brazil’s defence was solid and didn’t let them get a clean shot on goal. In the second quarter of the game, Brazil started to get the ball down and play football. The best chance fell to the experienced Mark Freath but instead of shooting with his left foot, he tried to cut back inside onto his right and the chance was lost.

Two errors combined to gift Wardley a goal in the second half. Brazil fought back but couldn’t find the breakthrough they needed to get back into the game. Matty Bull worked tirelessly up front and had a couple of good shots well blocked around the edge of the box. Matthew Creighton’s long range free kick was well saved by the diving goalkeeper down at the foot of the right hand post. As darkness descended, Lee Wilkinson made a couple of very good saves. Player/manager Dave Churchley was man of the match.