| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League Cup Semi Final | |
| 31 March 2007 Loretto |
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| Kelvinbank Star | 0 |
| Windlaw | 0 |
Penalties: McGinlay, S.McCann, K.McCann, McKenna |
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Windlaw made two changes from last week’s victory at Hogganfield. Benny Carey withdrew from the Squad on Friday through injury and Danny McKenna replaced him in attack after his recent good form. Zanda Dougall replaced John McCabe, with Allan Dougall reverting to the wide right position and Zanda slotting into the three-man defence.
A sunny but cold morning greeted the teams and a pitch that looked good from the outside, was very poor in condition underfoot as the ball was to bobble unevenly throughout. Windlaw kicking up the slope, struggled early on against Star’s pressure. Both sides looked nervous though and chances were at an absolute premium. Kelvinbank had the ball in the net on 15 minutes, however the goal was correctly ruled out after a clear offside decision. Gradually Windlaw forced a way into the game and on 23 minutes, Danny McKenna came closest to scoring. A cross from the right caused mayhem in the Kelvinbank defence and as keeper Shanks came to collect the loose ball, McKenna fired his snapshot off the base of the post much to Star’s relief. Windlaw didn’t build on this though and towards half-time, Star again looked threatening with a free header from a corner going wide then a fine Shug Neeson tackle in his own box on 44 minutes averted some more danger. Windlaw looked fairly relieved to see half-time still on level terms.
Half-Time: Kelvinbank Star 0 Windlaw 0
A dour almost chanceless battle ensued with both teams looking terrified of making a mistake that would surely lead to the one decisive goal the game needed. Windlaw again had the best chance though on 70 minutes, when Eck McCaig blasted over from close range after battling for possession from a corner-kick. Chris Kerr could also have done better with a free header from a free-kick. Kelvinbank offered little in an attacking sense in the second half and their talented front duo of Grant Garden and David Laverie had only scraps to feed on. With both teams anticipating spot-kicks, tactical substitutions were made with an eye on potential kickers and Kevin McCann replaced Colin Sinclair with moments remaining. Despite some late pressure Windlaw failed to breach the Star defence who were well marshalled by David
Full-Time: Kelvinbank Star 0 Windlaw 0
Penalty Kicks
Windlaw skipper Shug Neeson stepped up first but his decently hit kick was well saved by Kelvinbank keeper Donald Shanks at his left-hand side. John Lunny then responded immediately though for Windlaw diving to his right to save Star’s opening spot-kick. The next five kicks were all converted then with Steph McCann, Davie McGinlay and Kevin McCann all converting well for Windlaw. Next up was Kelvinbank Player-Manager Peter Savage whose right footed shot was brilliantly diverted by Lunny onto his right-hand post and out to safety. That left Danny McKenna with the chance to seal it with Windlaw’s fifth penalty and despite Shanks getting a good hand to his kick, he was unable to prevent it hitting the corner of his net much to the relief of a delighted Windlaw camp.
Verdict: A stereotypically dour semi-final that was gripped by nerves if ever there was one. Both sides will probably feel they could’ve played better and it was a game where neither side really did enough to win. Windlaw’s creative players strangely didn’t function despite their recent good form. Fortunately, John Lunny maintained his recent good form and he again stood up to be counted when he needed to. Kelvinbank are a really well organised solid unit and will certainly be a difficult side for anyone to beat in the seasons to come as they’ll surely progress through the divisions. We wish them all the very best for the remainder of the season.
Website Man Of The Match: John Lunny- the words thin and Lunny will not appear too much in the same paragraph but the keeper was undoubtedly the reason that Windlaw just crossed the very thin margin between success and failure in this game due to his two penalty saves in the shoot-out. With the big man in goal in these situations, Windlaw usually only need to look after their own penalties, safe in the knowledge that he’ll save one or two from the opposition.
