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Germán Olmos Ribas slams the ball home to send us on the road to the Fourth Round.
Germán opened the scoring for the reserves in the sixteenth minute with a superb strike and Jake doubled our lead from the penalty spot three minutes before the break.
Jake got his second of the match just before the hour mark with a free-kick that left the home keeper rooted to the spot, and from then on the side were content to defend their lead.
Marcus was pleased with the result saying, “It was a very professional performance. We did exactly what we had to and didn’t do anything stupid”. He continued, “It was hot out there today, so it was important not to overdo things. We did everything right and got through a match that could have proved tricky for us”.
Brook Street will return to Lothian in the Fourth Round as we have been drawn against Division IV side Kobis.
“It looks like they’ve been fielding their first team in the Cup and they seem to always play 4-5-1. That makes them less of an unknown quantity”, said Marcus.
“We’ll be in for a tough game, but I’d expect nothing less in the Fourth Round”.
Maranaj Batusha looks on as his fourteenth minute strike opens the scoring against sooside.
Maranaj Batusha making his first start of the season opened the scoring with an excellent solo effort with quarter of an hour played, and Onésimo Murube made it 2-0 with the coolest of finishes ten minutes before the break.
Having been denied by sooside keeper Jamie Albuquerque in the first half, Paul O’Healihy was not to be denied in the sixty-first minute when he curled an absolute peach of a free-kick into the postage stamp.
Paul then made it 4-0 with a powerful header six minutes later before Elvis Vratanar fired in sooside’s consolation with seventeen minutes remaining.
“The lads were outstanding”, said a beaming Marcus Lövman afterwards. “We dominated midfield and took our chances. The best team won today, no-one can doubt that”.
HINKEBIE II keeper Jim Dailly is left grasping thin air as Emanuel Bohucký completes his hattrick.
The scoreline only told half the story as the New Home Park side dominated the match form start to finish and only some wayward finishing and bad luck prevented them from winning by a greater margin.
Emanuel Bohucký was justifiably awarded the Brook Street man of the match award by the match sponsors with a fine hat-trick, with the other goals coming from strike pair Andy Hunter and Rab Henderson.
“Manny put in an excellent performance, and was rightly named man of the match”, said Marcus at the post-match press conference. “He took his goals very well, but his link-up play was first rate, and it’s things like that which can go un-noticed”.
Recent signings Matt Cocker, Phil Mullally and Zsolt Baboss all made their debuts for the club in what was a very young Brook Street side, a fact that Marcus was quick to point out.
“Taking Yann [Schories] out of the calculation, we fielded a team with an average age of only around 20 years old. That must be amongst the youngest for quite a while”.
He added, “We also had three lads making their debuts for the club, so all things considered, the team performed admirably”.
In the draw for the Third Round, which was made at lunchtime, Brook Street have been paired with Division IV.36 side SambaJustice.
“They seem to be on a good run at the moment so their tails will be up”, admitted Marcus. “They had a good win at the weekend, but it’s hard to know just how ‘good’ that win was given the opposition”.
He added, “It’s also hard to know who we’ll be up against as they’ve got a pretty big squad so they may rotate, play the reserves or field the first team”.
“We’ll have them watched at the weekend and take it from there”.
Despite being put under considerable pressure, Nemanja Jankovic heads the ball clear.
A clearly disappointed Marcus Lövman commented at the post-match press conference, “We just didn’t turn up today. We had plenty of the ball, but just didn’t do anything with it which makes the defeat all the more frustrating”.
“We had been given a huge boost by our play-off performance, but we couldn’t translate that into a winning start to the season. Rucking were far hungrier for the win and it paid dividends. We didn’t even manage a shot on target which is simply unacceptable. We need everyone pitching in with goals, but we’re not going to achieve that if we can’t even create the chances. This is something we’ll have to rectify fast.”
The home side opened the scoring in the ninth minute through Giorgio Giannantonio, and the same player added the second goal ten minutes after the break.
Attila Gyöngyösi knocks the ball into the net to round off the scoring.
“We totally dominated the match and got through our first game of the season without too much effort”, said Marcus afterwards. “More importantly, we got through without picking up any bookings or injuries”.
He added, “We were never going to be tested too much, so it was a gentle curtain-raiser to the new season for us. Things will be much different on Saturday though when the new league season kicks off!”
Paul O’Healihy punished a poorly lined-up defensive wall just eight minutes into the game to open the scoring, and Nemanja Janković doubled our lead four minutes later.
Onésimo Murube twisted the knife further just sixty seconds later as the home side threatened to implode, and added a fourth before even twenty minutes had been played.
Then, with Brook Street in complete control, Paul O’Healihy fired home the fifth goal just before the half-hour mark.
Yann Schories was playing up front alongside Onésimo, and it was the German who thundered an unstoppable volley into the net ten minutes after the break to make it 6-0.
Brook Street were upping the pace again and a desperate last-ditch goal-line clearance denied Nemanja Janković his second goal of the game a minute later. However there was nothing the home side could do to prevent Andy Harte from knocking home our seventh goal with fifty-seven minutes showing on the clock.
Nemanja Janković was having a field-day down the right giving the home defenders a torrid time, so it was of little surprise that the Serbian left them in his wake and powered the ball into the Bams net with twenty-two minutes remaining.
Athletic were raiding at will now, and Attila Gyöngyösi opened his account for the season with a well taken goal midway through the half, before with the game long won, the pace dropped markedly as the game turned into a training exercise for the Brook Street players.
Onésimo Murube was named the sponsors Brook Street man of the match, but this was a good all round team performance, and it was difficult to single-out individuals.
Or reward is a Second Round trip to the Highlands to face FC HINKEBIE II, the new club having disposed of fellow Division V side Satan Team FC.
“They’re something of an unknown quantity”, admitted Marcus on hearing the draw, “but we’ll have them watched in their opening league fixture at the weekend and form our gameplan then”.
This evening marked a real ‘end of an era’ moment in the history of Brook Street Athletic as long-serving record holder José Eransus ended his association with the club.
It was widely anticipated that the veteran Argentine midfielder had played his final game for the club in the Division III play-off, but the news that he had completed his transfer to German Liga VIII side HUE-BOH Kickers for a fee of £120,000 will no doubt be greeted with a real sense of loss amongst the supporters.
Indeed it was an emotional departure, as was only to be expected, but nonetheless José took the time to speak to the Official Website before leaving for Germany.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I say farewell to Brook Street”, said José. “I have had so many great memories of my time here, and the club will always have a special place in my heart”.
He continued, “My biggest regret is not being able to say goodbye to the fans. They have been great to my family and to me, and I would have liked to have the chance to acknowledge that to them in person. Unfortunately, I’ll not get that chance, but I want them to know that they mean so much to me”.
He ended by saying, “Brook Street have some superb young players coming through, and I see a very bright future for the club”.
Paying tribute to José, Marcus said, “Letting José go is without doubt the toughest decision of my life. José is not only a superb professional, but also my friend. I have absolutely no doubt that he will do very well in Germany. He leaves Brook Street with everyone’s very best wishes for the future.
During his time at the club, José made a total of 218 appearances, a record number which is unlikely to be beaten.
We all wish him the very best of luck with his new club. Thanks for the memories José!
Athletic welcomed Hungarian defender Zsolt Baboss to New Home Park this morning after the teenager completed a surprise £370,000 move from Finnish side FC Wilenius last night.
Speaking of the signing, Marcus said, “Zsolt is definitely one for the future. He’s a bit raw round the edges at the moment, but it’s abundantly clear that he’s got potential. We can work on that in training and I think that, in time, he’ll be a very good player for us”.
He continued, “The fact that we’ve got also got Attila [Gyöngyösi] here too will hopefully also help him settle in quickly”.
Zsolt will go into the squad for the forthcoming Scottish Cup tie with Bams XI.
Brook Street face a trip west in the Scottish Cup First Round, having been drawn away to bot Division V side Bams XI. The match takes place on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 at Bams XI arena. Kick-off is at 1030 BST.
The reserves were given a real lesson in finishing by a very strong MUSICMEN side who fired home four goals without reply in Macedonia this morning.
“It was really tough for our lads out there as they were facing what appeared to be their first team”, admitted Marcus afterwards. “For us, we had two teenagers making their debuts in midfield, and only two of us were over the age of twenty-three, so it was always going to be a tall order to expect us to take anything from the game”.
He continued, “On the whole, I think we played reasonably well, and the younger players will have gained valuable experience. Now we can start to prepare for the new season in earnest”.
Onésimo Murube reacts first to knock home our third goal and confirm our win.
Marcus named an unchanged starting eleven from the side that took to the field in the final match of the regular season against jabbathehut, but while the New Home Park side were clearly taking it easy last Saturday, they came charging out of the blocks this afternoon against Pathetic Athletic.
Brook Street had their opponents on the back foot right from kick-off, and only some smart goalkeeping denied Paul O’Healihy the opening goal from a tenth minute free-kick.
Nemanja Janković’s cross four minutes later then caused chaos in the visiting defence, but Oleg Zhigalov dwelled on the ball too long and the chance was lost.
Brook Street were clearly ratcheting up the pressure on the visitors’ defence, and it finally paid off in the thirty-third minute when Oscar MacVarish shrugged off his marker and buried the ball in the opposition net.
Marcus has instilled a steely determination as well as great patience in his side, and this was evident as they repeatedly probed for an opening to exploit in the second half.
This finally bore fruit in the seventy-fourth minute when Eldvinas Šumlinskas played a killer ball over to top scorer Onésimo Murube who was never going to pass up an opportunity like this, and slammed the ball home to edge Brook Street closer to safety.
Two minutes later and the game could have been wrapped up, but Paul O’Healihy’s free-kick whistled just over the bar. However it was another O’Healihy pile-driver which lead to Brook Street’s third and decisive goal with nine minutes left.
Abel Soffia had charged down the left wing before cutting the ball back to Oleg Zhigalov, who in turn laid the ball off to the on-rushing Irishman who blasted the ball goalwards. Matias Patrakka in Pathetic’s goal pulled off a great save, but was only able to parry the ball. Onésimo Murube, showing all the predatory instincts of a striker was the first to react and calmly knocked the ball into the unguarded net to secure the win, and with it Brook Street’s Division III status.
A delighted Marcus Lövman joined his players on the pitch for the celebrations at full-time before facing the assembled press.
“This result is easily the most satisfying of my career”, admitted the coach who then added, “I’m absolutely delighted for those lads who’ve given their all for this club. They deserve this result as much as anyone”.
Then in a sideswipe at a small section of the support who had questioned the capabilities of the coach and commitment of the players, he said, “Today’s result proves that I did know what I was doing. It’s a shame they weren’t here to witness it”.
He continued, “This is not the time for them though. I want to concentrate on the real supporters who have followed us through thick and thin this season and given us one hundred percent backing all the time. I want to dedicate this result to you. You are the best!”
This is Brook Street 