Having not made the 25 minute journey, I was in no position to write the report for our match away at Bishop Auckland FC Reserves. I thought it would be fun to hear about the match, not only from someone who saw it first-hand, but from someone who was in the thick of it.
In his first year at the club, Charlie Bramwell has made quite the impression on the pitch, and he’s started early with his efforts off the pitch as well - enjoy!
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Written by Charlie Bramwell
Every Wearside game is a big game, with little room to manoeuvre as far as points go. I have taken over the match report to offer the on-pitch perspective of events in our away clash against Bishops Auckland FC Reserves.
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Mez [Freddie Merrett], Morgan [Lant], Phil [Kay] and I travelled in a car packed full of equipment, with the 80’s music on in the background and pre-game routines taking place on the move. As we got to the ground, we were greeted with some friendly smiles and a spacious changing room; you’d be forgiven for forgetting we were playing in the Wearside League!
The warm-up was buzzing as usual, with Tom Trace leading the first part, and Chris Maiello leading some small-sided games and final position-specific prep. The ground was rock solid and the ball skidded across the surface and ran out of play if we weren’t careful, so passes would need to be weighted to perfection.
One look over in Bishop Auckland’s direction and I knew what sort of contest this would be; the ball was on the ground, and there were no Copa Mundials in sight [Editor’s note: Absolutely nothing wrong with the Copa Mundial, aka football’s most iconic boot].
It would be a technical battle, a survival of the fittest and we had full faith in each other to work our socks off and get the win!
A jog inside, shirts assigned to each player and now we listened. Cam first this time, with a word on tactics and the type of set-up that would suit us best. Chris then came in and covered all of the other details.
At this point, pretty pumped up, Mez gave his trademark final remarks to get us fired up for battle, before COME ON LADS!!!! And we were out onto the pitch……
Although a team of technical players, we had size on our side this time round. We lined up with: Marko Porozovs in Goal; a backline of Ryan Cook, Ellis Challinor, Freddie Merrett, and Freddy Alcock; a midfield of Morgan Lant behind myself and Rory Edwards; Fred Walton took his place on the right flank, Phil Kay through the middle, and Ben Crew on the left. They had kick-off….
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Despite an even start from both sides, we progressed into the final third twice early doors, but weren’t able to get through their defensive line. After five minutes, they were looking tidy in possession with some technically gifted players to compete with, but that wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle, with a perfect mix of little and large to cover all eventualities.
Half-chances followed for both teams up until the 10-minute mark, but we were building momentum. Auckland cleared the ball and Crew latched onto it, finding myself in-between the lines.
One touch to turn and a second touch to flick it around the corner to Rory who shaped to shoot. Foul…. 20 yards out in line with the left post. A chance. Rory stepped up like it was nothing and wrapped the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and in! No celebration followed, he was only getting started and he knew it!
Bishop Auckland seemed unfazed and began playing it around the back, stringing passes together but, with our strong press, they couldn’t progress. They tried the throw down the line on a few occasions with little success but, on one occasion, it worked in our favour.
Ryan covered around, intercepted the throw in, and passed it to Walton, all with one touch. The ball then zipped from Rory, to Phil, to myself, as we attacked with speed. Driving through the middle I saw Walton curving his run along the back line and, with the outside of the boot, I put him in on goal. Their keeper made a good save, but it gave us confidence with our counter-attacking abilities!
Bishop Auckland knew they needed to try something different; their CM went wide replacing their full back and created an overload outside and they began to play through us. Nice play from their 8 saw Bishop progress up the field, but we were too strong at the back and Alcock cleared it.
The clearance turned into a pass, and they were wide open with the CM out of position. Their CB dived in and missed the ball, which sent Phil in on goal in the process; his eyes lit up and, sure enough, he finished it near post to make it two. Philthy stuff….. [Editor’s note: Author may have taken pun inspiration from outside sources…]
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Momentum was definitely on our side after the 2nd goal, and the ball was now being played around more freely, with the midfielders getting lots of touches and the front players enjoying some combinations.
Playing out from the back, we looked dangerous, and a simple passing progression from Ryan, into me, then Morgan and out-wide to Walton cut their back line open.
Walton had his man for pace and proved too hot to handle for their left back, as he skinned him on the outside. The best the defender can do is bring down the winger six yards from his own goal. That means one thing for Rory who steps up and slots it, sending the keeper flying the wrong way. 3-0
As their coach encouraged them to continue playing out from the back, we latched on to a loose pass and nicked possession. Crew intercepted, passed to Morgan, who slid in Phil with a delicate pass. Phil shaped to shoot before being sliced down by his opposite man.
Penalty time; Rory stepped up again and the result was the same, securing a first-half hat-trick. We jogged back to the halfway line having netted 4 times to end the half, ready to take on some half-time fuel and go again.
A celebration that Rory, thankfully (for all those watching), didn't pull out on Saturday...
But wait……. The clock ticks to 45 and Crew gets a little too excited, lunging through the air to nick the ball off their CB. Crew genuinely hadn’t seen the defender until it was too late, and caught him for a full set of studs to the face.
Allegations were flying from the Bishop Auckland players nearest the incident, one of whom ran up to Crew, finger wagging, for what looked like more than a gentle telling-off.
It became evident that the incident was purely accidental, as Crew crawled around the field on his knees, pleading his innocence to angry opposition, as he rushed to check on the man on the ground.
Within five seconds, everyone had come to an understanding and, shortly after, Crew was shown a yellow card (which seemed more than a little generous), the Bishop player carried on, and the half-time whistle was blown.
HALF-TIME: BISHOP AUCKLAND FC RESERVES 0 - 4 DURHAM UNITED
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After some powerful words from the skipper and some tactical advice from the coaches, we were back out for the 2nd half. The start was shaky to say the least as Ellis aimed a long ball into the midriff of their striker, who was then through on goal.
A great recovery and a slight pull on the shirt kept the clean sheet in-tact; Marko came to the rescue with a quality save, diving to his right - and catching the ball as well - to rub salt into the wounds for Auckland. After another close call was flagged offside, we knew we needed to get going again.
We were switched on now, with some commanding communication from Ellis and Mez at the back, and some strong words of encouragement in the midfield. No more mistakes was the message.
The team responded well as the press was strong and we were onto all of the second balls. We progressed up the pitch thanks to some intricate play from Phil, and then Rory shaped for the volley at the edge of the box.
With three already under his belt he must have been going for the spectacular, and it certainly was a spectacle seeing the ball blaze into the sky and out of sight for the second conversion of the game! Before I could give him too much chat, I added the third over the bar 5 minutes later…
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Marko did well to get a hand on a Bishop corner, and I hooked the loose ball on to the running Freddie Walton (with help from a defender). Whenever he gets on his bike, you get on yours, and I did just that. I sprinted the length of the pitch in the knowledge that he loves a cutback, and with him knowing that I love arriving late.
And, sure enough, he beat his man and dropped a perfectly weighted cutback into my path. I wrapped it from just inside the edge of the box into the bottom left corner and made it 5-0.
That was Walton’s last involvement of the game as he - along with Freddy Alcock - were substituted to a round of applause from the travelling fans (my parents and Rory’s family). A change to the positions of the players on the pitch meant that Chris Wild replaced Walton (not on the wing, don’t worry) and, club-captain, Ollie England made his first appearance of the season following his role at Adidas.
Phil and Rory were also substituted, as Adam Browne and Ben Pearson - looking to keep up his 100% record of goals from the bench - entered the action. Pearson was straight into the action as he had a shot blocked from 12 yards; it fell right into the path of Ollie, but he couldn’t quite find the bottom corner (what a start to the 2024/25 Wearside season that would have been).
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One of the good things about Mez is he will tell you straight. No beating about the bush, you don’t work hard enough, and he will let you know. With some shoddy defending in the middle of the park, and a ball through to their striker, they threatened on our goal.
Ellis made the all-important block, and Mez made sure everyone knew that even at 5-0 up, lack-lustre defending wasn’t good enough and the standard is 110% effort for 90 minutes, no matter the score.
This fired everyone up and, sure enough, the intensity was lifted another notch. After some hard work in defence, Ben Crew finally got his reward after latching onto a line-ball from Ollie England, nicking it past the defender and slotting it past the keeper into the bottom left.
The referee decided that was enough Wearside action for one day, and blew for full-time, confirming our 100% start to the (league) season so far.
I have, in jest, called it a ‘First-Years' masterclass’ - with 5 of the 6 goals coming from us 1st year lads - but, in truth, it was a complete team performance, both in keeping a clean sheet, and the creation of goals.
Having scored 22 goals in our last three matches, and having only conceded one (not bad), I’m looking forward to our trip to Easington Lane in Wearside on Friday under the lights away [Editor’s note: Hopefully, this time, ‘running the line’ will mean with a ball at his feet, not a flag in his hand!].
We know what they bring to the table, and we will have to match them. We have momentum and we’ll be ready!
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Player of the Match: Rory Edwards
Line-up: Marko Porozovs; Freddy Alcock; Freddie Merrett; Ellis Challinor (Yellow Card 46'); Ryan Cook; Morgan Lant; Charlie Bramwell (Goal 79'); Rory Edwards (Goal 11', 35', 40'); Fred Walton; Phil Kay (Goal 20'); Ben Crew (Yellow Card 45+5) (Goal 90+3)
Substitutes: Ossie O'Neill; Chris Wild (80'); Ollie England (80'); Adam Browne (83'); Ben Pearson (83')
Written by Charlie Bramwell
Edited by George Gompertz
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