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Joe Anderson celebrates his 100th competitive goal for Brook Street Athletic, his only club since graduating from the Academy as a teenager.
He continued, “I feel we sat back at 6-0 when we should have kept going forward and we were fortunate to get a seventh from the penalty at full-time. We needed to get as many goals as possible to improve our goal difference”.
He was however pleased with individual performances and by the fact he will go into next weekend with his first string free of injury and suspension.
“It was important that we had our strongest squad available for next weekend which is why I benched or rested players on two yellow cards; the last thing I wanted was for anyone picking up a card which would have seen them miss the title decider”.
The coach also commented on Joe Anderson going ‘ton-up’ with his goal just before half-time this afternoon.
“Joe scored his one hundredth competitive goal for the club today which is a phenomenal achievement, and he cemented his place as one of the club’s greats. I am delighted for him”, he said before adding, “He has been a terrific player for me and a model captain. He does so much of his work off the ball but seldom receives acknowledgement of this from outwith the club”.
Looking forward to next weekend he said, “We know exactly what we need to do against Paisley Pirates; avoid defeat and we win the title. There is no alternative”.
Brook Street, urged on by a very vocal travelling support, were slow to get going but the growing nerves on the terracing eased in the eighteenth minute when Kalle Konkka slammed the ball into the net to put the visitors one-up.
Balázs Polyák staked a claim for a starting place next weekend with his second goal in successive league matches in the thirty-seventh minute before Janko Fila added Brook Street’s third goal three minutes later with a spectacular scissors kick.
However the loudest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for the goal two minutes before the break when Joe Anderson netted his one hundredth competitive goal for the club.
So Brook Street went into the second half four goals to the good and with Fermín Romero demanding more. However it took until just after the hour mark before Charlie Benham fired in the fifth. True to the saying, you wait a quarter of an hour then two come along at once as Adam Doyle fired in a thunderbolt just two minutes later.
With this the players thought their work was done much to the coach’s visible frustration, but despite all his urging the momentum had clearly slipped.
Brook Street were in total control but, playing for pride Eilean Donan Devils were determined to keep the score down. This blunted Brook Street’s attack until the ninetieth minute when Balázs Polyák finally broke through and was tripped but a mistimed challenge just inside the box. The ever-reliable Adam Doyle made no mistake from the spot to wrap up the scoring.
With the 7-0 win today Brook Street now know that a win or even a draw next weekend will secure the title and with it a place in the Division III play-offs.
Elsewhere, Paisley Pirates romped to a 6-0 win at home to Badger Loyal, Winbat and Bonnybrig shared the spoils with a 1-1 deaw and St Andrew Paisley ruthlessly swept Livilions aside with a 9-0 route.
Joe Anderson sits just one goal short of a century of goals for Brook Street Athletic. There’s no doubt he will want to face Eilean Donan Devils tomorrow.
“These games are free hits for us”, said Fermín this afternoon. “We would normally use them for trying out different routines, formations or to give fringe players gametime, but tomorrow we will be going into the game at maximum strength”.
“For us tomorrow, it’s all about scoring goals”, he continued. “We want to go into next weekend’s game with a much better goal difference than we have today”.
“There is no place for sympathy at our opponents’ plight. I want us to score as many goals as possible and the more the better”.
Timimg is everything and Joe Anderson who was rested last week goes into the game sitting on ninety-nine competitive goals. If anyone had an added reason for scoring tomorrow it’s the club captain and he’s likely to be in the starting line-up.
Fermín Romero has a full squad to select from but he may prefer to rest Paul Hughes who picked up a knock in Wednesday’s friendly.
Kick-off tomorrow is at 16:30.
After less than thirty seconds on the pitch, Balázs Polyák fires Brook Street into a 3-0 lead.
Gers’ new £1.5M signing Johnny Rollinson made his debut and it was clear that they would be focussing their attacks on the wings. However, Brook Street were far too disciplined to be pulled out of position and it quickly became clear that there would be no repeat of Gers’ shock win of last weekend.
With six minutes played the ball broke to Raúl Colen at the edge of the Gers box. The Brook Street wing-back was quickly surrounded in an attempt to close down the move, but with quick feet he evaded all the challenges and broke through before firing the ball across the keeper and into the far corner of the net.
Brook Street were turning the screw and gaining control of the match, and this became even more evident in the twenty-first minute when Kalle Konkka picked up the ball in midfield and steamrollered his way through the Gers defence before thundering the ball high into the net.
The visitors kept trying to break through without any joy and in one such tussle in midfield in the thirty-fifth minute, Paul Hughes fell awkwardly and injured his collarbone. The game was over for him and he was replaced by Balázs Polyák.
Straight from the restart, the ball was fed through to the young Hungarian who proceeded to dribble the ball through the Gers defence before slamming it past keeper Vicente Olivos to sensationally put Brook Street three-up less than thirty seconds after he had come on.
Gers came out for the second half looking to put pressure on the home side and while Brook Street were happy to surrender possession, they ruthlessly snuffed out any attemps to break forward.
With time running out Gers became more and more desperate to claw themselves back into the game, and while they managed to create a couple of chances, poor finishing saw them slide away.
Brook Street had soaked up a lot of pressure and Gers were getting closer to scoring so Fermín Romero ordered his players to push up the pitch as full-time approached.
With just over a minute of regular time to go, the home players camped around the visitors’ eighteen-yard box looking for an opening until eventually Kari Kienberger lost his marker. He received the ball thanks to a superb pass by Janko Fila and took a touch before sweeping the ball into the net to complete the scoring.
“That was an important three points and four goals”, said Fermín Romero afterwards. “After last weekend it was essential that we got three points today. We couldn’t afford any more slip-ups and it’s a relief to get this fixture out of the way”.
He continued, “We can go to Eilean Donan next Saturday looking for goals and set us up for the final match against Paisley Pirates at the LJG the following week”.
Asked about the injury sustained by Paul Hughes he replied, “He’s injured his collarbone and might miss next weekend. We’ll just have to see how it responds. You can’t rush these things in case you do more damage, but I’d be surprised if he wasn’t available for the Paisley game”.
Elsewhere, Livilions gave themselves an outside chance of avoiding automatic relegation with a 3-2 home win over Eilean Donan while failure to convert chances did for Winbat wonderers who lost out 1-2 at home to St Andrew Paisley. Finally, it was a case of ‘What if?’ at Ochilview as with ten minutes to go Bonnybrig Eagles were 2-1 in front against Paisley Pirates. Had it stayed the same, Brook Street would have headed to the Highlands next weekend knowing that a point would be enough to secure the title. Alas it was not to be as two goals for Pirates in the remaining time saw that dream evaporate. To the final week it goes…
Paul Hughes fired in the opening goal as Brook Street headed to a 7-0 win in the reverse fixture.
With five games to go Fermín Romero’s side have a six point lead over second placed Pairley Pirates but the Renfrewshire side face all but doomed Eilean Donan Devils tomorrow and are certain to score highly. This in turn could therefore spell bad news for Livi.
Speaking this afternoon Fermín said, “Although we are six points ahead at present we have difficult matches ahead of us and we have to be mindful that goal difference could be important if we were to drop points in the run-in”.
“Games against Livilions and Eilean Donan therefore become more important as they are easier games offering the opportunity for big wins”, he added.
Brook Street go into the game at full strength following the return of Adam Doyle and Joe Anderson from suspension.
Kick-off is at 16:30.
Janko Fila celebrates scoring his first competitive goal for the club. His second was only seventeen minutes away.
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.
Jeremías Marchena will be between the sticks tomorrow when Brook Street take on Eilean Donan Devils at the LJG.
“We have an easier game tomorrow an it’s a chance for us to get goals on the board while rotating the squad”, he said this afternoon.
“No disrespect to Devils, but having just come up from Division V everyone will be seeing them at the whipping boys”, he said. “However Bonnybrig might have underestimated them last weekend and got a fright, so we certainly won’t be treating them lightly”.
He continued, “We’ll go about our business professionally and by sticking to our game plan we’ll get the all important three points.
Fermín confirmed that Benito Buda will be on the bench tomorrow with Jeremías Marchena getting the starting place. “Benito picking up the injury on Wednesday made the decision for me”, the coach said.
He will however make the final decisions on the other positions tomorrow prior to kick-off.
Kick-off is at 16:30.
The league fixtures have been released and Brook Street Athletic will travel to face newly relegated Paisley Pirates on the opening day of the season this Saturday.
Brook Street’s first home game will come a week on Saturday when Eilean Donan Devils make their first visit to the LJG, before Brook Street travel to face St Andrew Paisley.
Badger Loyal visit the LJG on 11 November with Livilions following them a week later.
“We are becoming used to facing sides who have just been relegated, so hopefully this season we will actually beat them in the opening fixture”, said Fermín Romero this afternoon.
The sides have met on only one occasion previously with Pirates running out 1-0 winners in a Third Round Scottish Cup tie four seasons ago
Fermín Romero’s Brook Street Athletic will head for Fife in the First Round of the Scottish Cup.
In other news, the First and Second Rounds of the Scottish Cup have been drawn. In the First Round we will travel over to Fife to face Jambo FC on Wednesday, while a victory there will see us on the road again to either the Highlands to face Inverness FC of the fifth tier or to the Lothians where we would take on fellow fourth tier side Stucastle United.
This is Brook Street 