Back To Earth With A Bump

Falkland skipper Ugo Maria Chiari yet again gets the better of Brook Street’s Charlie Benham,

If Wednesday was a “pretty good day at the office” for Brook Street Athletic, then this afternoon’s performance against Falklands F.C certainly wasn’t as Joe Anderson’s side failed to even register a single shot on goal during a miserable 3-0 defeat.

Going into the match Brook Street were sitting top of the league, flying and everything seemed to be going their way. Falkland on the other hand were coming in on the back of a shock 1-0 defeat at Long Shot, a game which had seen former San Marino international Aldo Segapeli dropped following a period of poor form.

Segapeli was restored to the Falkland line-up for this afternoon’s game while Brook Street were boosted by the surprise return of Kari Kienberger who was given the all clear to play this morning.

Brook Street knew they’d be in for a tough game either way, but facing a side who were hurting following a poor showing last weekend was always going to raise the stakes. That Brook Street’s players chose this afternoon to go missing in action themselves was however wholly unexpected.

Brook Street were put under severe pressure right from the first whistle with Falkland firmly on the front foot.

Falkland skipper Ugo Maria Chiari was giving Charlie Benham and Raúl Colen a torrid time down Brook Street’s left flank and it was from one of his crosses that the home side took the lead in the fourteenth minute when Dan Ionaşc volleyed home.

It was one-way traffic and poor finishing had kept the score at 1-0 until six minutes from the break when another Chiari cross was met by the forehead of Anthony Themdale and the ball ended up in the net.

Things would not get any easier for Joe Andersons side after the break and a combination of poor finishing, woodwork and the occasional intervention from Jeremías Marchena kept the deficit at two goals until the seventy-fourth minute when Brook Street’s midfield and defence were torn apart leaving Aldo Segapeli one-on-one with Marchena.

It looked like the Sammarinese midfielder had miss-hit his shot however it had enough on it to take it beyond the fingertips of Jeremías Marchena and into the net to put the home side three-up and out of sight.

Indeed, but for a superb Jeremías Marchena tip round the post eleven minutes from time, it could easily have been 4-0.

It was a miserable performance and Joe Anderson didn’t hold back at the post-match press conference.

“We’ve taken exactly what we deserved from that game. We had zero threat going forward, we made zero chances, we had zero shots on goal and we’re taking zero points home”, he ranted.

“We were shockingly poor today and I am utterly dumbfounded as to why so many players were totally off the boil at the same time”, he added.

“We never laid a glove on them and just didn’t get going. Falkland wanted the win and to be honest, they probably got it without having to get out of second gear. Nowhere near good enough from us”.

For his part, Falkland coach Grant Rough said, “Today we knew we were facing a top opponent playing well. We had to be at the races and we did our jobs well today”.

“The opponent didn’t seem to turn up today but they have obvious quality all over the park and the return fixture will be harder than at Long Shot” said the understandably delighted coach.

Elsewhere, Wick Academy ran out 6-0 winners at Danny’s American, Balvenie United came from behind to defeat Long Shots 2-1 at home, while Desired Opponent edged out Athletico Machrie by the odd goal in five.

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.

“We Knew The Goals Would Come”

With St Andrew keeper Lino Amaya stranded, Mait Peterson has the easiest of tasks to stab the ball into the unguarded net to open the scoring.

With a competent and assured display, Brook Street comfortably saw off the challenge of St Andrew Paisley at the LJG this afternoon in front of a capacity 60,000 crowd. It was the first time the ‘Sold Out’ signs had gone up at the ticket office since the capacity was increased at the end of last season.

Brook Street’s midfield trio of Diego Misuraca, Banin Jiménez Iniesta and Kari Kienberger bossing the game in the centre of the park, the home side quickly took control of the game. However it was the visitors who created the first clear-cut chance when a through ball on the right sent Enrico Bani through. Jeremías Marchena however was on his toes and raced out to pounce on the ball.

Within a minute, Brook Street were in front. Banin Jiménez Iniesta fired over a corner and under pressure Lino Amaya dropped the ball which dropped at the feet of Mait Peterson who stabbed the ball home from six yards out.

Amaya made amends almost immediately when at full stretch, he turned a Charlie Benham piledriver up and over the bar.

A minute later however he was caught in no-man’s land but Joe Anderson’s shot was just too hight and it rattled the crossbar on it’s way over.

Amaya was again the hero in the sixty-sixth minute when he forced Mait Peterson wide and the angle was too tight for him to hit the target.

Banin Jiménez Iniesta went close when he was played through on the seventy-ninth minute but his shot, having beaten the outstretched arm of Lino Amaya cannoned off the far post and away to safety.

With five minutes to go Mait Peterson should probably have doubled Brook Street’s lead but for some great goalkeeping by Lino Amaya who once again kept his side in the game.

This proved to be only a stay of execution as two minutes later as substitute Balázs Polyák finished off a free-kick routine to record his fourth goal of the season and secure the points for Brook Street Athletic.

“We took control of the game early on and but from another excellent performance by their keeper we would have won more convincingly”, said Fermín Romero afterwards.

“We stuck to the gameplan because we knew the goals would come, and they duly did”, he added.

He continued, “Our midfield was superb, winning everything and dominating the game. Banin Jiménez Iniesta is developing into an excellent player and showed that today”.

“It’s just a shame that we started the season so poorly”, he added. “Had we started as well as we have been playing for half the season, we would have been challenging for the title”.

He went on, “We can’t do anything about that now but to attempt to finish the season in top form and set ourselves up to start the new season strongly”.

In the other matches, Paisley Pirates romped to an 8-0 win at Oboy shot, Badger Loyal saw off Elgin by the same scoreline and Winbat had a 3-2 homw win over Inverness.

Two Hat-tricks As Brook Street Run Riot

Joe Anderson sets Brook Street on course for their third highest win ever with a third minute strike.

The small band of Oboy shot fans who entered the LJG this afternoon did so with no small degree of trepidation and fearing the worst. That fear proved to be well founded as Brook Street proceeded to systematically and quite brutally dismantle their side with a display that Fermín Romero later described as “absolutely sensational”.

Sensational it certainly was and the 11-0 win was the third biggest in the history of the Club, as well as the biggest since Brook Street’s record 13-0 win against Carlton Hill in Edinburgh fifteen seasons ago.

Brook Street declared their intent straight from kick-off when after only three minutes Joe Anderson broke through on the left and fired home.

The home side doubled their lead on fourteen minutes when Banin Jiménez Iniesta picked up the ball in midfield and took on the whole of the Oboy back line before firing past the unfortunate Al MacGlashan in the visitor’s goal.

Then three minutes later Kari Kienberger marked his return to the side following suspension with a break through the middle and thunderous drive high into the rigging.

With less than half an hour played, Kari doubled his tally for the game following a free-kick move straight off the training ground which had the visiting defenders chasing shadows.

Brook Street were playing well within their capabilities but were still too far good for their opponents, and this was apparent five minutes from the break when Charlie Benham sauntered down the left wing before cutting inside and curling a peach of a shot past Al MacGlashan.

After the blistering pace of the first half, the second started very sedately but Brook Street stepped up in pace in the fifty-seventh minute when Paul Hughes broke through and fired home. Within the next ten minutes Brook Street found the net three times as the roof caved-in on the visitors.

Two goals from Joe Anderson within the space of three minutes saw the skipper complete his hat-trick before Aldo Pellone nutmegged Al MacGlashan to put Brook Street 9-0 up with twenty-six minutes left.

That would have been Oboy shot’s worst defeat of the season, but worse was to follow ten minutes later when Kari Kienberger completed his hat-trick.

In the regular substitution with fifteen minutes to go Balázs Polyák replaced Joe Anderson, with the skipper receiving a standing ovation as he left the field. However it was Balázs who wrapped up the scoring six minutes from time when he rounded the keeper to fire home.

Speaking afterwards Fermín Romero rang the praises of his side, saying “The boys were absolutely sensational today and showed everyone exactly what we can do. They barely got out of first gear but showed just how good they can be”.

He continued, “I’ve never witnessed a performance like it and to have two players hit hat-trick’s was simply superb. They also recorded the third highest victory in the history of this Club and that is truly sensational”.

“We are now up to second place which, after the way we started the season, is phenomenal”, he added “but we have too much to do to overhaul Pirates’ lead at the top so we are building for next season”.

“I feel we have the nucleus of a side that can get us back to the third tier”, he said. “However we need to ensure that side will at worst keep us in the third tier and preferably win us promotion to the second for the first time”.

As Fermín Romero said, the win saw Brook Street go into second place in the league on goal difference from next weekend’s opponents Winbat wonderers who had a good 3-2 win away at St Andrew Paisley albeit at a cost, as first choice keeper Logan Rowbotham sustained an injury that looks to have him out of next weekend’s clash.

The defeat saw St Andrew drop to fourth, while Badger Loyal’s 3-2 defeat at Pirates sees them back in fifth on fifteen points.

Then there is an eight point gap back to Inverness who took the points back along the A96 from Elgin with a 4-1 win, Elgin in seventh place with three points and Oboy shot who look to be all but doomed on one point.

No Bus Too Strong

Adam Doyle fires Brook Street on their way to a 7-0 win the last time the sides met.

Oboy shot visit the LJG later this afternoon and will do so with damage limitation high in their priorities. The Highlanders have had a difficult time in the fourth tier since their promotion last season, and with forty-three goals already conceded and facing the third highest scoring side in the division it could make for an uncomfortable time for the visiting defence.

“We are in excellent form at present and playing some terrific football”, said Fermín Romero this lunchtime. “We are back to full strength too with Charlie Benham and Alex Marker available following injury and Kari Kienberger free from suspension, so will be looking to put this game to bed as fast as possible”.

“We know they’ll try to ‘park the bus’. but we have more than enough ability to break them down”, he added.

Kick-off is at 16:30.

A Good Afternoon All Round

Raúl Colen slams home the first of his two goals at Smith Stadium this afternoon.

Brook Street stormed into third place in the league this afternoon with a very comfortable 4-1 win over Badger Loyal Rangers at Smith Stadium.

Brook Street were 3-0 up at the break and in complete control of the game through goals from Adam Doyle, Raúl Colen and Joe Anderson, but it hadn’t all been good news for Fermín Romero’s side as Charlie Benham had been forced out of the game after twenty minutes having winded himself.

Joe Anderson went close and was only denied by the fingertips of Jorge Silva in the Gers goal with sixty-seventh minutes played, but this was only a stay of execution for the home side and just eleven minutes later Raúl Colen latched onto a through ball and buried it into the net.

With “Can we play you every week?” ringing out from the away section, many of the home ranks decided it was time to head home with the game clearly lost.

Two minutes later they were joined by even more home fans after Gers went down to tem men when Johnny Rollinson received his second yellow card and his ticket out of the game.

However with seven minutes to go the home fans who had remained in the stands at least had something to cheer when Kaniet Jenish Uulu swept through the middle on a counterattack before slotting home a consolation goal for the home side.

“We set about our task with confidence, the confidence of a side playing well”, said Fermín Romero afterwards. “The lads are annoyed that they conceded late on but we had more possession, more shots and more goals; a good afternoon all round and we’re now up to third place”.

Asked about Charlie Benham’s contition he replied, “Charlie was just winded. We weren’t sure if it was something more serious so he was taken off as a precaution. He’ll be fine for next week”.

As the Brook Street Coach said, his side are now up into third place in the league, two points behind St Andrew Paisley and five behind Paisley Pirates following today’s matches. In those other matches it proved to be a good day for the away teams , all of which went home with the spoils; St Andrew thumping Inverness 6-0 in the Highland Capital, Winbat headed south with the points following a 5-1 win at Oboy shot, while Pirates recorded the biggest win of the day, a comprehensive dismantling of Elgin by nine goals to nil.

Confidence Booster

With only three minutes on the clock, Adam Doyle fires Brook Street into the lead against Oboy shot.

Ahead of this afternoon’s match at Oboy shot, the Brook Street players certainly took heed of their Coach’s words as they rose to the occasion and dispatched the Highland side with aplomb.

While it was not the most important game they will face this season, Fermín Romero’s side set about their task straight from the kick-off and within three minutes Adam Doyle had Brook Street in front.

With only eleven minutes played Brook Street went two-up when Joe Anderson broke through the middle and slotted the ball under the advancing keeper.

Four minutes later and the game was all but over as a contest as defender Mait Peterson chipped the ball past the home keeper with the coolness of a veteran striker to make it 3-0 to Brook Street.

Fermín Romero’s side weren’t for letting up and in the twenty-fourth minute Diego Misuraca broke through and drove the ball low and hard into the net, sparking a mass exodus of the home fans to the local hostelries.

Those home fans that remained would not have liked what they had seen up until then, but it would only get worse when with only thirty-seven minutes on the clock Charlie Benham broke through before firing home to put Brook Street 5-0 up and send the fans in the visiting section into party-mode.

Understandably Brook Street eased up in the second half, but they still operated a shoot on site policy and this bore fruit just after the hour mark when Paul Hughes thundered a volley high into the home net for probably the best goal of the game.

As is now a regular occurrence, Fermín Romero withdrew skipper Joe Anderson with fifteen minutes to go with Balázs Polyák coming on to replace him, and it only took the young Hungarian striker four minutes to get his name on the scoresheet to wrap up the scoring.

“This was the kind of game we needed”, admitted Fermín afterwards. “It was a confidence booster for the lads and with seven goals from eleven chances, I’m certainly not going to be disappointed with that”.

“We dominated the game from the first whistle to last and we fully merited our win”, he said.

Fermín continued, “We face a very different game next weekend when Badger Loyal come to the LJG so it was important we got a good performance today. I can however confidently say we got a ‘very good’ performance today”.

That ‘very good’ performance takes Brook Street into the top half of the table for only the second time this season.

In the game of the day, a last minute Daniel Dyk strike saw Paisley Pirates snatch all three points away to Badger Loyal, Inverness secured their first win of the season, defeating Elgin 3-1 at home, and St Andrew Paisley had a 3-0 away win with all the goals coming in the first half.

So Badger Loyal now only lead Paisley Pirates on goal difference with both sides tied on fifteen points, St Andrew are in third three points behind while Brook Street leapfrogged Winbat on goal difference, both sides being on ten points. There is then a significant gap already back to Inverness who sit on four points, Elgin on three and Oboy who are rooted to the foot of the table with only one point.

Late Goals Stun Brook Street

Joe Anderson marks his 300th competitive match for the football club with the opening goal against Winbat wonderers this afternoon.

With five minutes to go this afternoon, Brook Street were 2-0 up and appeared to be cruising towards a second successive win and with it three valuable points. Two minutes later Winbat had scored twice to stun the LJG to silence and secure a share of the spoils that had looked unlikely just minutes before.

The late turnaround also dumbfounded Fermín Romero who was equally perplexed by the way his side managed to throw away two points in the space of as many minutes.

“Their first goal could have and should have been avoided, but the second you just can’t legislate for. It was a sensational strike”, admitted Fermín afterwards. “It was unsurprising that several of our lads collapsed to their knees when it went in, it was such a punch in the guts”.

“We may have come away with a point but to be honest it feels more like a defeat”, the coach added.

“Up to that point, we had played reasonably well and had scored two excellent goals of our own. We were looking comfortable on the ball and knocking it about well, but with four minutes to go we got hit with the double-whammy and it knocked the stuffing out of us”.

He concluded by saying, “We will dust ourselves down and go again next Saturday”.

Elsewhere Badger Loyal kept their 100% record with a 4-0 win at St Andrew Paisley, Paisley Pirates moved up into second place with a 7-0 dismantling of Inverness, while Elgin got off the mark in style with a 6-1 home win against Oboy shot.

Grounds For Optimism

Aldo Pellone fires Brook Street level but unfortunately it would be the home side who would ultimately take maximum points.

Brook Street’s stuttering start to the season continued this afternoon with a 2-1 defeat at St Andrew Paisley, but it was a far from poor performance from Fermín Romero’s side.

Indeed but for an inspired goalkeeping performance but St Andrew’s Lino Amaya, the match could have been over by half-time as time and again he denied what seemed to be certain goals.

Instead the teams went in tied, but the game appeared to have turned in Brook Street’s favour when long-time nemesis Kritsada Juntip had to go off with fifteen minutes to go.

However just three minutes later it was the home side who took the lead when Aleš Kranjec finished off and attack on the left, putting the ball beyond the reach of Benito Buda

With their tails up St Andrew went all out to kill the game and went close in the eighty-first minute but Augustin Rakoto rattled the upright and the ball bounced clear.

Brook Street got back on level terms in the eighty-third minute with a routine straight off the training ground. Charlie Benham lofted a free-kick into the box which was headed back into the path of the unmarked Aldo Pellone who side-footed the ball low into the net.

With Brook Street thinking they had secured a point, disaster struck with just five minutes to go when substitute Joshua Kingston fired home to secure all the points for St Andrew.

“It was a tough game and I think we were rather unlucky”, claimed Fermín Romero afterwards.

“I honestly thought we had done enough to secure a point, but we lost that late goal and couldn’t come back from it”, he added.

“Overall I was pleased with the performance, if not the result, but we are a team in transition so we’re always going to get results like this. On another day we might have won”.

The defeat leaves Brook Street down in fifth place, six points off the pace already, but the coach doesn’t feel there is any pressure on him.

“Look, we all want Brook Street Athletic to be successful and to get out of this Division, but to do so we need to keep building the team and that will take time”.

He continued, “Of course the fans want to see the side winning, so do I, but it’s also my job to balance between winning and building a side that will get us out of this and hopefully the next tier. If I do my job right, the latter will lead to the former. That’s what I’m working towards”.

In the other matches Badger Loyal remain out in front following an 8-0 thumping of Elgin on the road, while Pirates remained the only other unbeaten side with an 8-0 humbling of Oboy shot at Pirates Arena. In the other game Winbat headed back down the A9 with all three points following a 3-0 win in Inverness.

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.