MATCH REPORT

County Cup 2nd Round, 14th October 2007

Final Result – FC Brimington 6 (Away) vs Owlerton Old Crown FC 0 (Home)

Venue: Parsons Cross Park Pavillion, Buchannans Road, Sheffield.

MANAGERS VIEW

Today was the 2^nd round of the Sheffield & Hallamshire junior challenge cup the opponents being Owlerton Old Crown FC from with the look of local Hallamshire nomads league. The weather overcast and rain seemed imminent but the rain never came. The pitch had a slight slope but  was of a good standard and the changing rooms too.

Team formation today 4-3-3

The starting line for today's match was as follows:  

First Half 

The game kicked off at 10.57 am. FC Brimington soon got into the tempo we have worked on in recent weeks playing quick passing football which soon carved out a chance a minute into the game with a pass from centre midfield with Connor who found Gordan free on the right who step passed the opposing defender and crossed to Bathie whose shot went over the bar. 2 mins with the momentum in our favour so early, we win a throw-in on the left near the 18 yd box Tom Simpson takes a quick throw-in which finds Bathie again but his shot is wide of the mark. 4 mins Gartlan wins the ball 30 yds out and runs at the Owlerton defence only to be brought down 20yds out on the left,  Collier our freekick specialist takes the freekick but puts it into Owlertons keepers hands. FC Brimington are now dominating possession and are looking for the first goal. 6mins Collier who has found his form again gathers the ball 10yds into Owlertons half and runs past three players sucking out the Owlertons centre half who sees the danger but Collier then sees the run of Gordan and plays an inch perfect pass into Gordans path, who then glides past the Owlertons leftback and delivers a great ball into the box to the far post finding Gartlan unmarked who heads wide. 8mins FC Brimington wins another corner from the right which is taken by collier who delivers a cross 10 yds outside of the near post Tom Simpson meets the cross with a venomous volley which only just goes over the bar. 10 mins Owlertons first real attempt on FC Brimingtons goal which is wide of the mark. 12 mins the ball is played into Bathie from Collier some 22yds out Bathie receives the ball and turns towards goal and unleashes a bullet of a shot the Owlerton keeper saves the shot but spills it right in front of the poaching Gordan who followed in superbly to smash the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 fcb. 13mins the  game restarts and buoyed by gordans first goal for the club, we should now see more goals from this improving striker who recently has been unlucky in front of goal, FC Brimington gain a freekick which Collier takes which Elliott gets on to the end of but the chance goes begging. At this point of the game we have 70% of the possession and are moving the ball precisely. 14 mins Connor is fouled some 30 yds out  and collier takes the freekick but their keeper gathers. 15mins Owlerton break out from the pressure and create a chance but the shot is way off the mark. 19 mins another foul on Elliott leads to a freekick some 27yds out and Collier steps up again to dispatch but this time the kick is in range and central. Owlerton set up their wall and the keeper moves over to the side that the wall does not protect Collier recognizing that if he gets it up and over the wall the keeper will not get across in time Collier despatches the freekick with precision speed and a technique he worked on in preseason to perfection the ball was in the back of the net before you could blink 2-0 fcb view the goal here. We happen to capture this pure act of genius on camera. 21mins collier gets onto a cross from Gordan on the right and shoots and only just misses as the ball skims past the post. 23 mins fcb wins another corner on the right which Collier delivers in Bathie meets the cross at the near post and  heads towards goal only for Elliott to intercept and stab the ball into the back of the net. 3-0 fcb. Thomas the right wing back is having an awesome game making up good ground to support Gordan on the right and linking up play superbly with Collier and Bath. The next 7 minutes the game ebbs and flows fcb concede some possession as Owlerton fight back. Owlertons best chance came on 30 mins when a ball delivered into FC Brimingtons box found their striker with his back to goal he turned and struck the ball and fortunately it went agonizingly wide. 31 mins Gordan makes a run into Owlertons box and skips past the right back and strikes the ball across the oncoming keeper but the shot is off the mark and it trails just wide of the post. Best move of the game did not lead to a goal but boy was it close Thomas makes a run from deep into Owlertons half and passes to Collier inside of him, he then delivers to Nathan just right of him who crosses into the box which Elliott meets the shot only just flashes past the post . Newton is called into action a little bit more as Owlerton put more pressure on but he saves from their corner by punching away. Newton then on 35 mins thwarts another attempt when Hirons who is carrying a groin strain lost the ball some 4 yds out from our own box and their striker chases the loose ball only for Newton to race off his line and smother the strike and gather. 37 mins Bathie gathers the ball some 5yds near the half way line and dinks it over the top to Elliott who rises above the Owlerton defender shadowing him and flicks it on to Gartlan who is waiting and gartlan runs into their box with the keeper racing out Gartlan calmly shoots the ball across the keeper into the bottom right of the goal 4-0 fcb. 44 mins Bathie receives the ball centrally and runs past two Owlerton players he had options either side of him with Thomas unmarked on the right and Gartlan with space on the left but Bathie chose the shoot some 20yds out which was wide of the mark. 45 mins Collier flicks a lovely weighted ball to Elliott in their box who overhead kicks just over the bar. What a goal that would have been.

Half time 4-0 fcb

Second half

With Hirons carrying an injury he is substituted on 49 mins for Towers who takes up the centre half role with Dave Simpson. 51 mins Collier delivers another great ball into the box but no one is alert. 52 mins Elliott is fouled from a throw-in and a freekick is given Collier delivers in another good ball but Owlerton somehow manage to clear when fcb had 4 attempts to put it into the net. 53 mins Tom Simpson is up ended by the Owlertons striker who comes in late with the studs showing, the referee deals with it by issuing a yellow card. 59 mins Fadiga comes on for Gartlan and assumes the same role on the left of the frontline. We win a corner and Collier takes but is cleared by Owlerton. Owlertons goal kick catches FC Brimington out and releases Owlertons striker onto goal but his first touch is bad and this gives Newton the opportunity to race out of goal with such speed that he gets there first and strikes the ball with accuracy straight down field towards Elliott who brings the ball down with control and crosses for the incoming Gordan to score his 2^nd of the game 5-0 fcb. This goal was created by Newtons quick reaction and vision to find Elliott in space. 61 mins Wragg comes on for Connor and assumes the same position in the centre of the park. 63 mins  Fadiga is put through on goal from 20 yds out he accelerates past the defenders and shoots wide from 10yds out. 64 mins Thomas races into the Owlertons half and plays a one two with Gordan he attempst to cross but shoots instead forcing their keeper to make a save at the nearpost. 67 mins Elliott receives a ball down the line from Tom Simpson and races towards the corner flag he beats the right back and the centre half who comes to assist and squares it to Fadiga who is 3yds out from goal unmarked but the shot does not represent the hard work by Elliott  beforehand  their keeper saves as the ball comes sdtraight at him. another freekick to fcb is taken by bathie who strikes over the bar, Bathie who has scored in every game upto now is eager to get on the scoresheet to maintain is record. 80 mins a lose ball across their 18 yd box gives Elliott a chase he gathers the ball and faces the defender, Elliott skips pass the defender and squares to Fadiga 4yds out Fadiga receives the ball and turns on to his left leg with the keeper guessing wrong and moving to the nearpost Fadiga had far side of the goal gaping but he shoots wide. 81 mins another freekick is awarded to fcb on the half way line Tom Simpson takes the kick and delivers a ball into Owlertons box Elliott rises early some 12 yds out and flicks the ball with his head backwards seemingly knowing wher the goal is and beats the stranded keeper 6-0 fcb. 85 mins Owlerton mount an attack and attempts to strike but Towers is wise to it and blocks the attempt excellent. 90 mins final whistle

Full time

Summary

We are getting back to playing good football its no coincidence that we have more players returning from injury and the form is returning. The football today was sublime in most parts but we are nowere near our peak. Competition for places will heat up has the squad improves.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Kieran Maloney who leaves us to join Miners FC of Chesterfield we wish him all the best as he was one of the original members of the club. I would also like to thank Luke Read who also leaves us to join Butchers Arms of Chesterfield. Luke also being an original member of the team was a valuable part of the club inception and we wish him well. I would like to welcome Andrew Crossland who signed this week  as a striker, Andrew being a former Sheffield Wednesday academy player and Sheffield FC player and most recently a Derby University player returns to live in Sheffield and joins us to further strengthen the squad, I am sure his quality will help the squad achieve our aims. Todays man of the match was Ben Thomas who showed a self-less display for the team.

Cliff Thomas