| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League:Division 1 | |
| 3 March 2007 Barlia Sports Complex |
|
| Windlaw | 9 |
| Carey(2), McGinlay(2), A.Dougall, K.McCann, S.McCann, Kerr, Nugent | |
| Peterson Park | 1 |
Windlaw made only one change from last week’s victory over Tynecastle with Wullie Thornton replacing Shug Neeson who was on the bench. Kevin McCann moved into central midfield while Thornton moved into the left wing-back role, vacated by McCann. John McCabe also returned on the bench after coming back from injury as was Colin Carmichael. Peterson Park were clearly struggling for players and only emerged for kick-off at 10.20am with no substitutes.
Despite their problems, the visitors took a shock lead in the fourth minute. Slack marking at a throw-in allowed the Peterson Park midfielder to evade two Windlaw defenders at the edge of the box and his cross along the six yard box was bundled over the line by a grateful centre-forward to stun Windlaw. Clearly, a 40 second warm-up as opposed to a 40 minute one was more beneficial. Windlaw eventually woke-up and raced into a 4-1 lead just after the half-hour with a double from Benny Carey and single strikes from Kevin McCann and Davie McGinley doing the damage. In between, the Peterson Park keeper was lucky to escape a red card as he fouled Kevin McCann at the edge of the box as he bore in on goal. Referee Davie Bilsland sensibly gave him only a booking. Just before half-time, Chris Kerr scored a free-kick from 20 yards that the keeper looked suspect with. Windlaw had also contrived to miss numerous chances during the half and had recovered well from their nightmare start.
Half-Time: Windlaw 4 Peterson Park 1
The second half was predictably one-way traffic with Windlaw chasing double-figures in a game for the first time in a long time. Davie McGinley got his second and Windlaw’s sixth on 49 minutes. Two goal Benny Carey was then replaced by striker Steph McCann. Allan Dougall then set up the substitute with neat play before he rounded the keeper and rolled the ball home. Dougall himself got the eigth as he scored from close range from a chipped pass which exposed Peterson Park’s woeful offside trap for the umpteenth time. Substitute Alan Nugent, who had replaced Wullie Thornton, got the final goal also rounding the goalkeeper after receiving a defence-splitting pass. With 13 minutes remaining, Davie McGinley ran through on goal for number 10 and was upended by the goalkeeper at the edge of the box for the second time. This time, referee Davie Bilsland had no alternative but to show a second yellow and a red card as the keeper lay injured on the ground to cap a horrendous day for him. At this point, with Peterson Park already a man down after one player limped off, the remaining nine players decided they didn’t want any further punishment and left the field. A rather bizarre ending to a football match indeed.
Full-Time: Windlaw 9 Peterson Park 1
Verdict: A difficult game to gauge given the poverty of Peterson Park’s display. Windlaw seemed to pass the ball better in this game but to be brutally honest, they had loads of time and space to do so. Many tougher tests lie in wait for the champions and they will rarely receive a morning as easy as this one. The ease of the victory was shown in leaving two of our top performers this season in John McCabe and skipper Shug Neeson as unused subs.
Website Man Of The Match: Davie McGinley- the club’s top goalscorer this season was at the heart of many of the goals and also helped himself to a couple. Honourable mentions also go to Kevin McCann, Ian Baird, Allan Dougall and Benny Carey.
