Stunning Extra-Time Win

Charlie Benham celebrates his extra-time goal which sends Brook Street into the Third Round.

There were certainly no smiles from the visitors at the end of extra-time after Brook Street Athletic had surprisingly dumped them out of the Tartan Cup.

Joe Anderson’s side had twice been behind and survived the visitors hitting the post in the eighty-ninth minute before equalising in stoppage time to take the game into the extra half-hour.

With nineteen minutes of extra-time played and Brook Street’s youngsters wilting badly, Charlie Benham stepped up to score what proved to be the winning goal with no shortage of showboating thrown in for good measure.

That didn’t go down well with the away bench, but the home side certainly weren’t going to be bothered with that as they shut up shop and rode out the last eleven minutes.

Joe Anderson admitted afterwards that he had taken a risk putting that side and formation out, but even so the result had left him somewhat bemused.

“We knew playing 4-4-2 was not our best formation and having Ryan [Caldor] and Tom [Sandman] on for the entire game was asking a lot of them, especially when it went to extra-time, but I asked them both at full-time if they were ok to do the additional half hour and they were more than up for it”.

“They had good lads round them to keep them going and it all worked out well. They’ll feel it tomorrow, but they have gained invaluable experience”.

Asked about Charlie Benham’s rabona finish he replied, “If he had screwed it up I would have throttled him. Fortunately for us both it went in. He’s been told however to keep it simple in future”.

“We scored terrific goals today; Callum Ironmonger’s was a brilliant play and Alex Marker put a vicious curl on that ball to score the equaliser late on. I must admit I thought he’d put it well wide but it kept on bending. It was unstoppable”.

“We also avoided any injuries or cards and Gillis Jacob came through unscathed, so all in all it was a pretty good day at the office”.

Brook Street will now face a tougher challenge in the shape of Division III side Uli Town in the next round.

Borderers Put To The Sword As Brook Street March On

Callum Ironmonger slams home the opening goal and his first of the game. He would score a second later in the match.

Brook Street eased into the Second Round of the Tartan Cup with a 5-2 win at King’s Own Scottish Borderers this afternoon. The match was probably much closer than the score would suggest.

Brook Street were quick into their stride and took the lead in the sixth minute when a cut back from Charlie Benham reached Callum Ironmonger who had stayed up following a corner, and the big defender slammed the ball into the net.

Play raged from end to end with no side taking advantage until a quarter of an hour in when Gaspar Mouta got his head to a well placed ball from the left and powered it home to tie the game.

The game continued to be finely balanced until the thirty-fifth minute when Brook Street re-took the lead when Remmel Demarsin sent Jackie Underhill through and the striker wasted no time and blasted the ball home.

Borderers were still a threat though and went close just after the restart but the shot was too high, but this miss came back to haunt them just after the hour when Janko Fila was played in and fired home.

Callum Ironmonger had looked to have wrapped things up when he volleyed home with four minutes to go, but back again came Borderers and Mark MacLeary set up a grandstand finish when he fired home with two minutes of regular time remaining.

However any hope of a late comeback were killed off right as the game entered stoppage time Jānis Graubiņš fired home to make the final score 5-2 and take Brook Street through to the Second Round.

“Despite it being an unfamiliar formation and a largely inexperienced line-up, the lads performed exceptionally well and they thoroughly deserved to progress to the Second Round”, said Fermín Romero afterwards.

“Although there probably wasn’t much between the sides I’m naturally glad that we are in the second round and I think we did enough to just about warrant the win”.

In the Second Round, Brook Street will make the short trip over the Tay to face old rivals Much Rucking in the Marsh next Wednesday with the kick-off being 11:00 at Mile Deep Stadium.

Brook Street Storm Into Second Round

On his competitive debut for Brook Street Athletic, Jānis Graubiņš score his first senior goal.

Brook Street Athletic stormed into the Scottish Cup Second Round with a systemmatic demolition of Gorgie’s XI at Powderhall this morning.

Fermín Romero had surprised a number of onlookers by fielding a predominantly young reserve side with an average age of only 21 playing a 3-4-3 formation, however the players leapt at the opportunity to impress and quickly took control of the game.

The capital side didn’t do themselves any favours though and already trailing to Balázs Polyák’s twelfth minute opener, saw their numbers reduced when Hamish Standfield was ordered off after felling Gillis Jacob with a tackle verging on assault and more suited to Murrayfield.

Gillis was unable to continue and Brook Street were forced to make an early substitution with Jake Ward coming on to make his senior competitive debut at only 17-years of age.

With an advantage in numbers Brook Street seized the initiative and despite the home side ‘parking the bus’ Brook Street finally added to their lead in the twenty-eighth minute when Jackie Underhill powers his way into the home team box before firing the ball under Roy Wilson in the home goal.

Brook Street upped their lead to 3-0 in the thirty-eight minute when Jānis Graubiņš, who was making his debut, picked up a pass from Banin Jiménez Iniesta before rounding Lee Haggard, drawing the keeper and lobbing the ball into the empty net. Simply sublime!

Banin Jiménez Iniesta turned from provider to finisher a minute later when he found himself free on the left. Having received the ball he proceeded to cut inside the defender before curling the ball into the net with the outside of his boot to make it 4-0.

Gorgie’s XI were spent by this point and Brook Street Athletic killed the game stone dead in the forty-fourth minute when Janko Fila launched a cross over from the right. Jackie Underhill looked to have over-run the ball before turning and launching himself into the air and battering the ball into the net with a spectacular scissor kick.

This was the cue for many of the home fans to head for the local hostelries.

Things went from bad to worse from the home side eleven minutes into the second half when Callum Ironmonger broke through and dispatched the ball past Roy Wilson with a superb low drive.

Brook Street were toying with their opponents and the outcome was almost inevitable when Remmel Demarsin carved his way through the home defence in sixty-second minute; 7-0 to the visitors.

In the sixty-fifth minute Mait Peterson beat the home side’s poor attempt at an offside trap to be left one-on-one with Roy Wilson. The home keeper did his best to put the Estonian off but the finish was clinical and the score was eight without reply.

Janko Fila went close to making it 9-0 a minute later but his lob was cleared off the line, and with that Brook Street eased off and freewheeled to full-time knowing they were safely in the Second Round draw.

Asked why he had gone with an a young line-up and an unfamiliar formation Fermín Romero said, “These are the kind of games we can do this. We can try out new ideas and do ‘something different’. I went with the players who had not had gametime this week and this was the line-up that fitted the players best”.

Turning to the match itself he said, “We took control of the game early on and eventually turned our dominance into goals”.

He continued, “My players did everything I asked of them and we produced an superb team performance, and achieved an excellent result with individual milestones. We had Jānis Graubiņš score his first goal on his competitive debut for us and Remmel Demarsin scored his first competitive goal for the Club and Jake Ward making his competitive debut”.

He concluded, “At the end of the day we are in the draw for the Second Round and that’s what we wanted”.

In that draw Brook Street Athletic were rewarded with another away tie against fourth tier side Whisky Barrel Football Club.

Kick-off at Moonshine Arena next Wednesday will be at 10:30.

A Day Of Braces

Janko Fila celebrates scoring his first competitive goal for the club. His second was only seventeen minutes away.

Brook Street Athletic made it two league wins from two with a comprehensive 8-1 win over Eilean Donan Devils at the LJG this afternoon, a result which took them to the top of the table.

Brook Street coach Fermín Romero took the opportunity to rotate the starting line-up and reverted to our normal 3-5-2. As expected Jeremías Marchena came in for Benito Buda, with Nat Wallace coming into centre defence and Callum Ironmonger in for Raúl Colen while Aldo Pellone held onto right-wingback spot. Janko Fila replaced Kalle Konkka and teamed up with Diego Misuraca and Kari Kienberger in the middle with Adam Doyle on the right and Charlie Benham making a rare start on the left.

Up front Connor Hutton took the armband and was partnered by Paul Hughes whose recent performances merited the overdue starting place.

Brook Street were quickly into their stride and went 1-0 up after only three minutes. Surprisingly though the scorer was Janko Fila netting his first competitive goal for Brook Street.

Paul Hughes weighed in with his first goal of the season after only twelve minutes however just to emphasise that Brook Street weren’t going to have things all their own way, the Highlanders pulled a surprise goal back in the nineteenth minute through Angus Redcliff, his second of the season.

This served as a reminder that Devils are not to be treated lightly but within two minutes Janko Fila had recorded his second competitive goal to restore the two-goal advantage. Five minutes later it was 4-1 as skipper Connor Hutton got on the mark.

Brook Street were operating like a well-oiled machine and it was one-way traffic after the break.

Adam Doyle found the net six minutes into the second half and nine minutes later Paul Hughes netted his second goal of the game to make it 6-1.

The roof was caving-in on the visitors when Connor Hutton fired home from an acute angle to record Brook Street’s seventh goal with sixty-three minutes played, and Nat Wallace completed the misery eleven minutes later with his first goal of the season.

Afterwards Fermín Romero said, “I think we were worthy of the big win although I’m disappointed that we conceded a sloppy goal”.

He continued, “That however spurred us on and we hit back straight away before running away with the game”.

“We had a number of very good performances and Janko Fila was a relevation in the centre of midfield. It looks like we’ve focussed on playing him out wide when attacking midfielder might suit him better. We tried him there in training and he did ok, and today’s game gave us the opportunity to put it into practice in a competitive game. He rose to the occasion and it’s now for him to push on”.

“Our front two got four goals between them but goals came from all areas of the pitch and that is a huge bonus for us”.

He concluded by saying “We’re building a solid foundation on which to build a serious championship challenge”.

Elsewhere St Andrew Paisley went two games unbeaten with a 6-1 win at Livilions, a result that anchored the West Lothian side at the foot of the table; Bonnybrig Eagles are on maximum points following a 4-0 home win against Winbat while Paisley Pirates demolished Badger Loyal at Smith Stadium to pick up their first three points of the season; Gers on the other hand remain pointless.

Brook Street Win Classic Cup Tie

With his first goal for the seniors, Garth Wallace confirms Brook Street’s passage to the Third Round.

On occasion there are matches that typify the ‘end to end Cup tie’ narrative and this morning’s Saltire Cup Second Round clash between Arci Turano and Brook Street Athletic certainly fitted the bill.

To say the match raced from end to end is only part of the story as this was a far more tactical game than simply ‘kick and rush’. Yes, the play raced from end to end, but the build up play and the tactics being employed made it so much more.

It was the visitors who struck first when Craig Smart and Joe Anderson dragged their respective markers out of position before playing in the unmarked Kalle Konkka to slide home the opening goal with only seven minutes played.

Back came Arci and goals from Scott Simpson and Imran Avdić had them 2-1 up heading towards half-time, but Brook Street struck within minutes of going behind through Nat Wallace who finished off a move on the left with aplomb.

Arci made a double change at the break but Brook Street raced out of the blocks to capitalise on any uncertainty amongst the home players. One of the subs was keeper Władysław Ciosmak and his first involvement in the game was to pick the ball out of his net, Callum Ironmonger rifling home a beauty from distance to put the visitors 3-2 up two minutes after the break.

Ciosmak pulled off a magnificent save just before the hour mark to deny an Alex Marker free-kick, but the Polish stopper blotted his copybook minutes later when he dropped a Connor Hutton corner at the feet of Kalle Konkka who duly planted the ball in the net.

Arci were far from spent though and Herbert Anneser reduced Brook Street’s lead back to one goal thirteen minutes from time to set up a grandstand finish.

However, Brook Street having recently been criticised by coach Fermín Romero for not defending well have certainly been practicing as they shut down any avenues and home side just could not find a way through. Then with the classic sucker-punch Brook Street broke out just as the game entered stoppage time and Garth Wallace became the unlikely hero firing home his first goal for the senior side to send Brook Street into the Third Round.

The Brook Street coach was however much more satisfied with his side’s battling qualities saying, “We had to dig deep today as we were up against a very good side. At the end we were forced to defend strongly and that’s exactly what we did”.

He continued, “We came here with a set game plan but to leave with a win against another Division III side is a huge boost for us. We can match and beat these sides, it’s just a case of us escaping Division IV now”.

Fermín added, “It was a good game for the spectators, but it’s just a shame there were so few of them in this huge stadium”.

Brook Street will now face another Division III side in the next round with RHINO HORN the visitors next Wednesday, although it will be played on a neutral ground.

Young Guns See Brook Street Through

The visitors’ anguish is clear to see as Balázs Polyák fires Brook Street into the Scottish Cup Third Round.

With the notable exception being Craig Smart, it was a young Brook Street side who took to the field against The Muskoka Warriors at the LJG this morning. However it was Fermín Romero’s youngsters who won through against a very good Warriors side after extra-time.

“The boys had to dig deep but they showed huge character to get the win and I am delighted for them”, he said. “Warriors were very tough opponents and played exceptionally well, especially after losing the lad through injury”.

He continued, “I don’t know why they never had anyone on the bench, but it didn’t seem to make any difference to them being down to ten men, they were that good”.

Indeed, at times it was difficult to tell which side was down to ten men.

It had been a typical end to end Cup tie as both sides tried to gain the upper hand, however the game really exploded into life two minutes before the break when Brook Street finally broke the deadlock.

Adam Doyle swung over a tempting corner which Charlie Benham nodded on at the front post. The ball landed at the feet of Banin Jiménez Iniesta and the young Spaniard wasted no time in sweeping the ball into the Warriors net.

For the remaining two minutes of the half, the game raced from end to end with chances for both sides, the closest falling to Balázs Polyák who rattled the top of the crossbar in the forty-fourth minute.

However, what could have proved a pivotal moment occurred seconds later when a bad challenge by Róbert Ungvári resulted in Warriors’ Malte Tögel having to leave the field. With no substitutes listed, Wariors would have to play the rest of the game with ten men.

Warriors however upped their game considerably in the second half and at times it was difficult to tell which side was short-handed, such was the Warriors players’ workrate. Indeed, Warriors could have been level three minutes after the restart but Carlo Noferi’s flick bounced off the post and away to safety.

This should have sent the alarm bells ringing in the Brook Street rearguard but they failed to take heed and in the fifty-fourth minute Warriors got a well-deserved equaliser. Counter-attacking swiftly through the middle, Sattar Ariamanesh got to the through ball just before Dylan MacIttrick and rolled it under the keeper and into the net.

MacIttrick kept his side in the game twelve minutes from the end of regulation time when he made himself big and blocked Jack Brotherstone’s effort with a terrific save.

Brook Street almost snatched the winning goal five minutes from time when Craig Smart intercepted a low cross ball as Warriors looked to switch wings and blasted it goalwards first time. Fortunately for Warriors however it was rising all the time and only took a coat of paint off the crossbar.

With no further goalmouth action the game went into extra-time, and with little between the sides and neither wanting to risk conceding, the first half was something of a stifled affair.

That is until the last minute of the half when, just as the home fans were growing frustrated, Balázs Polyák burst through on the Brook Street left.

Adam Doyle was screaming for the ball to be played through to him but Balázs kept pushing forward while avoiding challenges. In a last ditch effort, Warriors’ keeper Murdo MacClair raced out of his box in an attempt to halt the Hungarian striker, but Balázs deftly nutmegged him before finishing off with a rabona into the empty net much to the delight of the home fans behind the goal. He got a ticking off from the referee for that, but he wasn’t caring.

Warriors were by now a spent force having played so long with ten men, so were incapable of making another comeback. Indeed, Brook Street went looking for a third goal straight from the restart and Callum Ironmonger was unlucky to see his effort thunder off the crossbar.

So it’s Brook Street who progress to the Third Round where they will face Aqua Boogie Men at the LJG next Wednesday.

St Andrew Made To Pay

On for Aldo Pellone, substitute Callum Ironmonger drives the ball home to increase Brook Street’s lead.

It is often said that the outcome of a match can pivot on a single event or decision, and that can most certainly be said of this afternoon’s match at the LJG where St Andrew Paisley were the visitors.

It was the away side who made the early running and Brook Street were fortunate in only the second minute when Benito Buda managed to block Kritsada Juntip’s shot.

Brook Street were quick into their stride however, and with only four minutes played Bogusz Cacek’s early cross caught out the St Andrew defenders allowing Connor Hutton a free run onto the ball which he calmly rolled past Lino Amaya and into the net.

St Andrew roared back and three minutes later Brook Street’s defenders were left chasing shadows leaving Enrico Bani unmarked, and the Italian midfielder made no mistake to draw his side level.

What exactly was going through St Andrew winger Augustin Rakoto’s mind in the tenth minute only he will know, but head-butting Aldo Pellone in the chest earned him a straight red and a ticket out of the game.

To their credit, St Andrew kept their shape initially at least while Brook Street were happy to knock the ball around and make their opponents do all the running. However complacency from the side with the man advantage is always a danger, and Nat Wallace typified this in the twenty-fifth minute when he totally switched off and failed to see Rafał Paul as he passed the ball across the defence. Fortunately for him, the St Andrew man was not expecting the ball to come to him and blazed it wide.

This gave Brook Street a kick up the backside and they stormed right up the pitch before Connor Hutton slammed a shot against the crossbar.

This was only a reprieve for the visitors though and in the twenty-ninth minute Connor was fed the ball on the right hand side of the box. He cut inside before unleashing a fabulous curling shot that bent into the postage stamp at the far post. Lino Amaya never stood a chance of reaching it.

Brook Street had their tails up now and with thirty-four minutes played Callum Ironmonger, who had come on for the injured Aldo Pellone, broke up the park. With defenders dropping back he kept running until he unleashed a drive which Lino Amaya just couldn’t reach, making it 3-1 to Brook Street.

Three minutes after the break any thoughts of St Andrew holding out or getting back into the game were extinguished when Kalle Konkka counter-attacked up the middle of the park, and having left everyone trailling in his wake drilled the ball low into the St Andrew net.

It was all about damage limitation for the visitors now as the way Brook Street were playing, they were in the mood for goals and this could get messy.

They held out for another eleven minutes but shot themselves in the foot when their defenders lost the ball to Nat Wallace, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home.

Brook Street were exploiting the space left by the departed Rakoto at every opportunity, and with players tiring, it was only natural that gaps in the defence would appear.

Finally, two quickfire goals down the right from Joe Anderson in the seventy-fourth and seventy-seventh minutes killed the game to seal Brook Street’s biggest win of the season thus far and their biggest ever win over St Andrew Paisley.

Asked about the condition of Aldo Pellone, Balz Deitz said, “It’s early, but we think he will be out for a week, maybe two. We’ll just have to wait and see”.

“I thought we were clinical in our finishing today and professional in our performance”, he added. “We resisted the temptation to go into all-out attack chasing goals, but we achieved the same result by sticking to our game plan”.

He continued, “On the whole, we kept our concentration at the back, although Nat [Wallace] ‘got a rocket’ at half-time for switching off when he passed the ball across the back line”.
“Most importantly”, he added, “we got the three points that keeps us in touch with the top two. It’s an added bonus that we’ve opened up a five point gap over St Andrew in fourth place”.

Elsewhere, The Highlandian Braves lost 0-2 at home to Red Star, Stirling eased to a 4-0 win over bottom side mussy and Badger Loyal lifted themselves out of bottom place with an 8-0 away rout of saints are coming.

Brook Street Given A Fright

Callum Ironmonger fires in his first senior goal for Brook Street to open the scoring this morning.

Brook Street are safely through to the Scottish Cup Third Round and a home tie against Paisley Pirates, but they were given a real fright by gunner bairns’ never say die attitude.

Everything seemed to be going to plan as Brook Street raced to a 3-0 half-time lead with goals from Callum Ironmonger, Joe Anderson and Adam Doyle.

The home side pulled a goal back on the hour, and two minutes later Brook Street were forced into a change when Dylan MacIttrick sustained a foot injury, being replaced by Benitto Buda.

Before Brook Street could reorganise themselves, they had conceded again, giving bairns renewed hope of an upset.

Balz Deitz changed personnel replacing Paul Hughes with Davie McKallon in a bid to freshen up the attack, but it was Joe Anderson who increased the lead in the seventy-first minute when he powered in a header from Adam Doyle’s corner kick.

Back came bairns and three minutes later they were awarded a penalty which Manuel Portabales duly dispatched, despite Benito Buda’s best efforts.

Buda came to Brook Street’s rescue a moment later when he turned away Birol Gündogan’s point-blank effort with an instinctive save.

It seemed as if Brook Street had luck on their side as a minute later they then went 5-3 up when Adam Doyle’s free-kick deflected off the last man in the wall, sending the home keeper the wrong way and the ball spinning into the net.

The home team were still not down and straight from the restart they broke down Brook Street’s right flank before the ball was floated in to Patricio Gonzales who powered it behind Benito Buda.

It was all set up for a grandstand finish, but try as they might, bairns just couldn’t get that equaliser to take the tie into extra-time.

Brook Street had defended resolutely for the last quarter of an hour and as the home side tired they also ran out of ideas.

“They gave us a fright for sure”, admitted Balz Deitz afterwards. “I think at half-time we thought the job was done, and on any other day it probably would have been. We mentally switched off as a result and it was difficult for us to get going again”.

He continued, “They pulled the goal back then when Dylan MacIttrick went off injured, they hit us again before we had settled”.

“That put all the pressure on us, but although we scored again, they kept pressing and were never out of the game”.

“Our fifth goal had a good slice of luck about it, but over the piece we probably did enough to merit the win. Bairns however deserve the plaudits for sticking to their task”.

The win will see Brook Street face Paisley Pirates at the LGJ next Wednesday, but before that Brook Street have their first home game of the new season on Saturday when dundeFC come calling.