| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League Cup Quarter Final | |
| 4 November 2006 The Murray Playing Fields |
|
| Greenhills Dynamo | 1 |
| Kerr (OG) | |
| Windlaw | 3 |
| Carey, McCaig (2) | |
| Team: Lunny, McInally, Kerr, A.Dougall, McCann, Baird, McCaig, Carmichael, McCabe, Carey (McKenna), McGinley (Williamson) Unused Subs: Nugent, Tierney, Docherty | |
| Referee: Davie Bisland | |
Windlaw manager Benny Carey was forced to shuffle the team yet again due to the unavailability of Shug Neeson, Darren Campbell, Wullie Thornton and Wullie Wilson. Allan Dougall, Ian Baird, John McCabe all came into the side along with Davie McGinley who was returning from a 6 week lay-off. Alan Nugent was on the bench on his comeback match for the club. The most pleasing sight of the pre-match came in the shape of Scott Williamson, who finally returned to competitive action and made the bench after an 18month lay-off.
Windlaw were keen to make amends for the preceding week's result, where they felt they should have taken all 3 points. Obviously there were no points at stake in this game, merely a semi final spot in the league cup.
The match was barely 5 minutes old when the first goal of the game arrived. McInally was in possession on the edge of the 18 yard box when an unfortunate slip let the Greenhills attacker in. He duly took advantage and squared the ball to his strike partner. Chris Kerr tried desperately to clear the danger but, under pressure from the attacker, only proceeded in knocking the ball past Lunny and into his own net. Windlaw were under serious pressure now.
The match was being played in true cup tie spirit with play raging from end to end.
Greenhills lost the influential Eamonn Duggan through injury during the first half, and this was certainly a blow for the home side as his intelligent runs were causing Windlaw some problems.
Windlaw got themselves back in the match through player/manager Benny Carey. Allan Dougall flighted a free kick into a dangerous area of the Greenhills box, and Benny converted by powering above the defence and heading into the far corner of the net.
Duggan's absence clearly interrupted Greenhills game plan as Windlaw were taking charge of the game. Davie McGinley, recently back from injury, was getting into good positions but the bounce of the ball seemed to continually elude him and he never really got a clear cut chance.
Windlaw went ahead in stunning fashion midway through the first half. A dangerous in-swinging corner was contested by McInally and the Greenhills defender however it wasn't taken advantage of and seemed to be heading out of play as it headed for the by-line. Eck McCaig clearly had other ideas as he chased the ball down and hit a stunning effort on the half volley and into the far corner of the net. A sublime finish from the diminutive front man from such an acute angle!
Windlaw were ahead now and were determined not to lose the lead. They duly rolled up their sleeves and dug in for the remainder of the first half.
Half-Time: Greenhills Dynamo 1 Windlaw 2
Windlaw went out hoping to avoid a repeat of the second half from the previous week's match, where they blew a one goal advantage.
The pitch was starting to cut up slightly and neat, pretty football was now low on the priority list. It was now a case of putting in a solid, battling performance, holding the result and getting through to the next round of the cup.
Much of the second half was scrappy as Greenhills tried desperately to stage a comeback and Windlaw sat in and played on the counter attack.
The final and decisive goal came with 20 minutes remaining. Colin Carmichael, under pressure from 2 opposition players, played a
pass behind the supporting Eck McCaig. The current players' player of the year adjusted his body to control the ball and unleashed another unstoppable shot past the Greenhills keeper. The Windlaw camp erupted as their first victory over Greenhills in a long time was on the cards and a semi final place was all but theirs.
Greenhills were deflated by this goal and gave the impression they had no way back into the game.
The frequency of attacks from Greenhills lessened and Windlaw were content to play possession football now.
Then came the moment we were all waiting for. Scott Williamson came on as a substitute and made his first appearance for the club in 18 months. He replaced this season's current top scorer Davie McGinley. Williamson almost made a significant impact on the game when, with 5 minutes left on the clock, he produced some tidy footwork to beat the Greenhills defender and squared the ball to John McCabe, who was having his finest match for a long time. McCabe hit the ball first time towards the bottom corner, and only a fine stop by Whyte in goal prevented it from being 4-1.
Eck McCaig almost made it a hatrick after some neat play in the Greenhills box, but his attempt flew high and wide. Had he squared it to Dougall or Carmichael who were waiting at the edge of the box it surely would have been 4-1, but who can blame him for trying to get his hatrick.
Full-Time: Greenhills Dynamo 1 Windlaw 3
Verdict: A pulsating cup tie which saw Windlaw finally defeat Greenhills and march into the semi finals. Adeserved victory and some retribution for the slip up the preceeding week. At the home of your biggest rivals and without availability of two of your star men of the season so far, it needed a brave and battling performance and that's exactly what every single player produced. On a slightly different note, it was great to see Scott Williamson make his long awaited comeback. Once fully fit, he will be an excellent addition to the squad
Website Man Of The Match: Eck McCaig . Outstanding shift on the right of midfield and produced two of the finest goals he's ever likely to score. Another consistent display and will no doubt be among the end of season honours if he keeps up this level of performance. Forging a good understanding with Dougall on the right hand side.
