| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League:Division 1 | |
| 2 December 2006 Stepford Pitches |
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| Dunbreac | 1 |
| Windlaw | 7 |
| McCabe (2), McGinley (2), Carey (2), Baird | |
| Team: Lunny, McInally, Kerr, Thornton, Wilson, McGinley, Carey, Baird (S McCann), A Dougall (Tierney), Neeson (K McCann), McCabe Unused Subs: Sinclair | |
Allan Dougall, John McCabe and Ian Baird were restored to Windlaw’s midfield after last week’s disappointing defeat at Vale in place of Kevin McCann who was on the bench and Eck McCaig who was a very late call-off due to work commitments and Alan Nugent who has picked up a back injury. Colin Sinclair was also on the bench after a long-term injury beside returning striker Steph McCann. Wullie Thornton and Chris Kerr both shrugged off injury concerns to play in defence.
Windlaw dominated the opening spell with some neat build-up at times, however the final ball to strikers Carey and McGinley disappointed at times. It was a case of when and not if Windlaw scored, as headers from McCabe and Carey struck the post and bar respectively. A depleted looking Dunbreac side offered little threat with Tony Martin often a lone figure upfront trying to stem the flow of Windlaw’s attacks from defence. The opening goal came on 30 minutes when Davie McGinley fired home a low Wullie Wilson corner from 10 yards. He then smashed home his 11th of the season 5 minutes later, latching onto a Carey headflick and hammering past the Dunbreac keeper from the edge of the box. Minutes later, McCabe added a third when he struck from the edge of the box. Minutes from half-time, Dunbreac had a brief spell and Lunny miraculously turned Tony Martin’s goal-bound header round the post with his left hand.
Half-Time: Dunbreac 0 Windlaw 3
The pattern of the second-half was much the same as the first with Windlaw dominating. Ian Baird added a fourth goal on 58 minutes after a bit of a scramble in the box. Benny Carey added a fifth soon after and Shug Neeson then set up Carey for a well-worked sixth goal when Neeson played him in beautifully. The player-manager held the defender off well, nutmegged the onrushing goalkeeper and tapped home from close range much to the amusement of the Windlaw entourage. Neeson, Baird and Allan Dougall then made way for Kevin McCann, Steph McCann and Bruce Tierney as Windlaw made full use of a strong substitute’s bench. Dunbreac grabbed a late consolation goal after 83 minutes when the referee McGeechan generously refused to award an offside decision against the Dunbreac player who finished nicely past the exposed Lunny from the edge of the box, thus denying Windlaw their first eagerly awaited clean sheet since February. In the final few minutes, John McCabe grabbed his second goal of the morning that his second-half performance merited, when he slid home past the hesitant Dunbreac keeper to cap a decent morning’s work for Windlaw.
Full-Time: Dunbreac 1 Windlaw 7
Verdict: A decent performance from Windlaw that has to remain in context given the relatively poor standard of the Dunbreac side. Considering the fragility of Windlaw’s confidence, any victory is currently welcome and to score a few goals in the process was a real bonus. Much tougher tests lie in wait for a Windlaw side desperately trying to rescue something from the wreckage that has been the opening half of the season
Website Man Of The Match: John McCabe - On a day of few failures for Windlaw, his purposeful second half performance in particular just edged it for him ahead of Chris Kerr and Ian Baird to name a few.
