Friendly League

Bentley Memorial
Spectators: 36 (Terracing: 28, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Damian Lind started the match with the kick off. The supporters of Vera Cruz booed when Wheatmore High School was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 4 match minutes in a wonderful position. Sergio Sharpe didn't get a good kick on the ball. Garry Valentine showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sidónio Peralta, who was totally free with the ball in the 5th minute. 5 minutes into the match, Sidónio Peralta had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Garry Valentine. Wheatmore High School's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Sidónio Peralta was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. After 8 minutes, Lionel Naylor mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Wheatmore High School and the Vera Cruz players grew even worse after the yellow card. Sidónio Peralta struck a weak shot in the 9th minute. Garry Valentine didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Vera Cruz. Scott Farrar hit a great freekick 13 minutes into the match. In the 14th minute, Sidónio Peralta ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Garry Valentine was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-2. 17 minutes into the match, Sidónio Peralta had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Garry Valentine. Wheatmore High School's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Sidónio Peralta was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-3. Garry Valentine showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Sidónio Peralta in the 24th minute of the match. Wheatmore High School's Roger Aldrich managed, thanks to a brazen rush, stole the ball on a throw-in made by Aldo Câmara in the 25 minute of the game. The supporters of Wheatmore High School booed when Vera Cruz was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 27 match minutes in a wonderful position. Vasco Gaspar didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 29th minute, Filipe Serpa hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. A hard shot by Wendell Walton from long distance, 29 minutes into the match, got António Correia's attention. Through a fast twist with his body, he could stop the ball from going in on his right side. Gastão Gago hit a great freekick 32 minutes into the match. Adriano Serpa hit a great freekick 39 minutes into the match. In the 42nd minute of the match Wheatmore High School got a corner. Vera Cruz's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Wendell Walton ran over to the corner to take the kick. Wheatmore High School's Wendell Walton was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but António Correia in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. In the 43rd minute, Sidónio Peralta left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Vera Cruz fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-4. After the first half Vera Cruz were leading 0-4. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Sidónio Peralta to make the kick off. In the 51st minute, Vera Cruz's Sidónio Peralta ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Garry Valentine. Garry Valentine yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 0-5. When the match had gone on for 56 minutes, Sidónio Peralta took a quick shot and it went in 0-6 without a chance for Garry Valentine to make any attempt to save it. In the 59th minute, Vera Cruz's Fábio Ribeiro ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Garry Valentine. Garry Valentine yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 0-7. Vera Cruz's António Correia played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Damian Lind in the 65th minute of play. In the 68th minute, Vasco Gaspar hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Wendell Walton fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 75th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without António Correia having to interfere. António Correia showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Wendell Walton in the 77th minute of the match. Wheatmore High School's Garry Valentine played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Fábio Ribeiro in the 78th minute of play. In a very dangerous position, a player in Vera Cruz fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 79th minute. Penalty! Wendell Walton walked up to take care of the penalty kick. He was aiming for the top corner, but the ball went just outside the post. An unexpectedly hard shot by Wendell Walton in the 81st minute of play forced Vera Cruz's goalkeeper António Correia to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Garry Valentine was out of position in the 83 minute of play, and Fábio Ribeiro capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Fábio Ribeiro really showed his touch with that goal: 0-8. 89 minutes into the match, Wheatmore High School's goal looked a bit too open when Sidónio Peralta came free, but Garry Valentine reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When the match had gone on for 91 minutes, Sidónio Peralta took a quick shot and it went in 0-9 without a chance for Garry Valentine to make any attempt to save it. After 98 played minutes Vera Cruz got a freekick which was hit by Gastão Gago. António Correia showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Wendell Walton, who was totally free with the ball in the 99th minute. The Wheatmore High School supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching Vera Cruz's performance. The match ended with a win for Vera Cruz.