International Challenge Match 2008
The weather in Glasgow was surprisingly warm and bright as the two teams lined up for what had been labelled the Battle of Britain. The Scotland side were eager to gain revenge for last season's defeat and they looked determined not to let down the enthusiastic Tartan Army fans watching from the stands.
Saturday 31st of May
2008
Scotland
vs Rest of the World
Hampden Park
KO: 14:00 pm
Match Officials: Alan Butler, Colin Steven and Paul Salina
Legends: Scott Booth, Pat Nevin and Trevor Steven
The match was to begin at a hectic pace, after just 2 mins a chase for a through ball ended in a collision between the Rest of the World (ROW) keeper and Scotland's No 9 Tim Bowerman and the ROW's goalkeeper Enright was perhaps a little lucky to stay on the field after loud shouts for a hand ball.
It wasn't long before the fired up Home side were in the lead and the 6th min goal could certainly be described as a family affair! Michael Bowerman caught the ROW defence in possession and slipped the ball through to his brother Tim Bowerman, he looked like being foiled by the ROW defence only for the ball to fall to his strike partner and 3rd brother Joe Bowerman who made no mistake from 8 yards to make it 1-0.
The Home side continued to press and the ROW side were thankful that their keeper Nick Enright was displaying the same impressive form that earned him the MOTM award in 2007's match. At this stage he was keeping the Home side at bay with a succession of great stops.
The ROW side did show some attacking intent, with a move started by their Playing Legend Trevor Steven from defence, his pin-point pass set in motion a dangerous attack that ended with David Thorpe's shot being gathered comfortably by Home No 1 Stuart Robertson.
The competitive nature of the contest was certainly in evidence with players not holding back from any 50-50 challenges and this determined attitude was to see the Home side make it 2-0 on 20 mins. Their No 6 Nick Somerville latched onto a throw in on the left, evaded the ROW defence and prodded the ball across goal, despite their best efforts the ROW defence couldn't clear the danger and it was left for the unmarked Michael Bowerman to slam the ball home at the back post.
The ROW side wasted no time in trying to get back into the game, pushing straight up field they won a free kick on the left and when the ball was swung into the box their Captain Dennis Johnson was first to react to a near post flick and headed past the despairing dive from the Home keeper. However their joy was to be short-lived as the goal was chalked off for offside.
However Scotland were looking to increase their lead and would have done so except for an excellent recovery tackle by David Marsh on the Home side's No 9 who had broken clear of the offside trap. The ROW side responded in style and were unlucky not to pull a goal back, the move started with good attacking play by Stuart Jarrett down the left, cutting inside he fed Johnson whose shot was charged down and fell to the other Jarrett brother Steve, who was unlucky to see his left foot shot drift narrowly wide.
The Home side remained in the ascendancy, with MOTM David Alexander marshalling their defence expertly and their midfield and attack continuing to link well it was to take another excellent save from Enright to thwart Michael Bowerman, who was unlucky not to score when played in on goal. However it was to be the impressive Home Captain Philip Spencer who was next on the score-sheet for Scotland, latching onto a Scott Booth through ball, he drove into the box from the left wing and unleashed an unstoppable effort high to the keeper's left making it 3-0 to Scotland.
With the Scotland team trying to press home their advantage it took another inspirational piece of goalkeeping from Enright to deny them. The ball found itself at the feet of Somerville on the edge of the box and after doing well to make space for a shot he unleashed a low drive that looked destined for the bottom corner until Enright flung himself Gordon Banks-like to turn it round the post.
Half Time - Scotland 3 - 0 Rest of the World
The 2nd half was to start with another Home attack resulting in a penalty, the ball was played into the box and as No 9 Tim Bowerman attempted to turn he was tripped by Thorpe. Bowerman stepped up to take the kick he earned but his low effort was saved by Enright diving low to his right.
Next up was a big shout for a hand ball, the tireless Adrian Alcock tried to get on the end of a well weighted chip from Steve Jarrett but Booth did well to stop him in his tracks, the Away side claimed handball but the referee waved away the appeals. The Away side were still pushing hard to get back into the game and it was Alcock again who threatened only to be denied by a brave save by the Home keeper, blocking his advance into the box after he'd cleverly beaten the offside trap.
Back came Scotland with a spell of fine attacking play and but for resolute defending from the ROW side they would have extended their lead. It was end to end stuff at this stage and the ROW's No 15 Bruce Jackson-Fayle was extremely unlucky not to pull a goal back, running onto a through ball from Stuart Jarrett he evaded the defence only to see his effort saved excellently by Robertson.
However, again it was to be Scotland who demonstrated they were the more clinical of the two sides. Booth picked out Joe Bowerman free on the left and he had time to hold the ball up and square it to Spencer who coolly despatched a high curling shot into the top corner to make it 4-0.
With the ROW side pushing forward, gaps were inevitably appearing in their backline despite the determined efforts of MOTM Thorpe in defence and 2nd half sub Ross Donald was to take advantage by latching onto Alan Morton's through ball to run clear and deftly chip the advancing keeper. The score-line read 5-0 to Scotland at this stage but the ROW side were perhaps a little unlucky not to be closer to their opponents after a determined 2nd half fight-back.
The Home side increased their lead soon afterwards however, again it was a well worked goal Joe Bowerman fed his brother Michael on the right side of the box, he then cut the ball back for Anton Gallagher who evaded the defence and deftly back-heeled the ball into the net to extend the score to 6-0 by the 75th min.
And it was Scotland who were to make it 7-UP almost immediately, Gallagher found Donald in space on the left, he in turn cleverly squared it for the unmarked No 6 Nick Somerville who made no mistake in despatching a powerful drive high into the net.
It was end to end stuff by this stage despite the energy sapping conditions and the Home side were still not satisfied with their tally and the ROW side were pushing to get that elusive goal. It looked like they had broken their duck in the 84th minute when Steve Jarrett's expertly weighted long ball found David Marsh in the box, he took it in his stride and fired a volley that looked destined for the far corner but Robertson showed great agility to get a strong hand on the shot and keep it out.
Scotland came right back at the ROW team and Gallagher was unlucky not to add to his tally when his shot from the edge of the box was tipped over by Enright. However they were to make no mistake from the resulting corner, Spencer's side-footed shot crept into the far corner through a mass of bodies to make it 8-0.
With minutes to go the ROW team were to get at least some reward for all their efforts. A controversial decision resulted in a penalty when Marsh was "fouled" in the box and after prolonged discussion on who was to take the kick Paul Lees stepped up to convert low to the keeper's right.
The ROW team were still keen to add to their tally and
Jackson-Fayle and Stuart Jarrett were both a little unlucky not to get on the
score-sheet shortly after. But that was to be the last action of the match,
with the Scotland
team running out deserving winners of what had been a fantastic match from
start to finish. 
Full Time: Scotland 8 - 1 Rest of the World
Man of the Match (Scotland): David Alexander
Man of the Match (ROW): Robert Thorpe
Moment of the Match: Philip Spencer
Home Team: S. Robertson, A. Page, S. Booth (Legend), D. Alexander, A. Morton, N. Somerville, M. Bowerman, A. Gallagher, T. Bowerman, P. Spencer (Captain), J. Bowerman, D. Cargill, C. Porteous, G. O'Hagan, R. Donald
Mascots: Scott Robertson & Finlay Bowerman
Away Team: N. Enright, C. Robertson, T. Steven, R. Thorpe, D. Johnson, P. Holland, A. Alcock, S. Jarrett, D. Thorpe, D. Marsh, S. Jarrett, P. Lees, B. Jackson-Fayle
Mascots: James & Christopher Park-Johnson & Freddy Alcock
EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY AND DVD/FILMING DETAILS
There are a wide selection of fantastic action photos available from Matt Nuttall Photography for this match, please visit his www.mattnuttallphotography.co.uk website for full order details.
In
addition there is a superb DVD available, it includes footage of the
pre-match build up as well as full match action and can be ordered by
contacting Shane Wilkinson on tel - 07976 509335, or by e-mail at - wilkie002@ntlworld.com
© COPYRIGHT 2007 FOOTBALL AID