Match Report: St Joseph’s, Hebburn 3 - 6 St John’s

20/1/12

Someone once said revenge is a dish best served cold, and St John’s served their dish straight from the freezer. Ruthless, skilful, energetic and full-blooded are merely a few of the adjectives you could use to describe ‘The Eagles’’ performance against a side who had inflicted upon them their only defeat of the season thus far, by 6 goals to 2.

Fireworks were anticipated as these two Catholic giants were to lock horns in another semi-final, it was even rumoured that Pope Benedict may make an appearance to cheer on the teams! Alas, he did not, however, the loyal St John’s fans/parents made a terrific turnout to cheer their team on and their support has not gone unnoticed.

Eyebrows were raised at the team selection, formation and tactics and at one point on Thursday Mr Swindells and Mr Rhodes had to quash a minor rebellion and players were asked to put trust into the new system. The system was a flexible 4-5-1/4-3-3, which involved Aiden Hart having to be disciplined in the holding midfield role, Charlie Wigley playing wide right and Harry Coulthard moving to centre forward.

The team talk before the game pointed out the vast length of the pitch as opposed to its narrowness; this would play graciously into the hands of the new system. The two wide men and the centre forward were instructed to stay as high up the pitch as possible in order to nullify the threat of the full backs and this would play into our hands as the extra man in central midfield would allow us to dominate. The team and management were quietly confident of victory.

This was until the home side took the lead inside 10 seconds, the first St John’s player to touch the ball was poor Zach Hemming when he picked it out of his net. Amazingly St John’s picked themselves up brushed themselves down and with their first attack of the game the restored parity. Wigley charged down the right and beat arguably the home side’s best player- the left back- to fizz a ball across the edge of the 18 yard box. The ball found Ben ‘Arfa’ Lowthian who with astonishingly quick feet beat three men and hit a low rocket into the corner of the net. St John’s second followed soon after as provider Wigley turned scorer, his pace left the defence for dead and he coolly slotted home to give the away side the advantage going into the break.

The red ‘n’ blacks were warned that they would come under the cosh in the opening minutes of the half and it was important to sit tight and defend well. This information must have been lost in translation as the lads had no intention of sitting back and they quickly added a third through Wigley. The high forward line was working a treat and Wigley was found with a long through ball from midfield and he dispatched the one on one with ease. Shortly afterwards, the pendulum swung the other way and the St Joseph’s were back in the game after a long distance effort from their central midfielder.

Then to the sheer delight of all involved and for the second time in the game St John’s banged in a quick fire response and this goal was the pick of the bunch. A free kick was awarded to the Eagles midway inside the oppositions half and whilst the home side complained to the referee and each other, Leon Sides-Roe seized the chance to take a quick free kick to catch out the whole defence. Lowthian received the pass, reached the by-line and squared towards Coulthard who dummied the ball between his legs outfoxing the one defender who was alert enough to track back, therefore allowing Wigley to claim yet another hat-trick with a far post tap in. With the home side’s frustrations getting the better of them St John’s kept on task and managed to add two more impressive goals to the 4 they had already accumulated. Firstly Harry ‘Ji’ Coulthard raced away from his markers and tapped the ball home past the helpless goalkeeper and secondly substitute Jonathon Partridge, who replaced Coulthard, smashed home a half volley from outside the area into the roof of the net to complete St John’s scoring. St Joseph’s bagged a late consolation and should have been awarded a penalty. But it was clear that lady luck had shined upon Bishop Auckland that day.

When people tell stories they often say things like- ‘It was a one of those be there moments’ or ‘you had to see it to believe it’ and whilst writing this report I thought that a lot, there aren’t enough superlatives to explain how well the boys played and conducted themselves, they were credit to the school, their parents and to each other.

We hope we can count on everyone for support when the big day comes!

Well done to the team and good luck in the final!