| Greater Glasgow Premier AFL: Division 3 | |
| 5th April 2008 King George V Pitches, Renfrew |
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| Moorpark | 2 |
| Windlaw | 3 |
| Murtagh(2), Carey | |
Team: Lunny, Stuart, McInally, Tierney, McCaig, Black, Wilson, Murtagh, G.McGregor (D.McGregor), Carey, McKenna |
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Loads of personnel problems for Windlaw as Larkin, Paton and Thornton were late withdrawals leaving only 12 players available to travel. Of those players, five had featured in the morning meaning a huge ask again of these players. The pitch was far more bobbly than it looked and a strong wind was behind Moorpark in the first half.
Windlaw’s game plan was to battle hard against the wind and try to hit on the counter attack. The plan was working well and on 17 minutes Windlaw took the lead. After a free-kick was awarded 25 yards out, Barry Murtagh stepped out and smashed a free-kick under Shaw’s grasp and into the centre of the net. Moorpark tried to respond and Lunny was forced into an outstanding save from a 20 yard free-kick from Kerr which he somehow tipped over the bar as he flew through the air. Next, a cross into the Windlaw box caused confusion and the miscued clearance was fired goalwards forcing McInally to clear off the line. On 33 minutes, Moorpark equalised when Windlaw failed to shut down a short corner after a commotion and an excellently driven cross was head-flicked home from close range. Just before the break, George McGregor missed a great chance to restore Windlaw’s lead when Benny Carey’s pass put him clean through. He went for power rather than accuracy and blasted past the right hand post.
Half Time: Moorpark 1 Windlaw 1
Windlaw started poorly in the second half, seeming to think the wind itself would conjure up a goal. They did go close however again through George McGregor. Kevin Black was also causing Moorpark problems on the right wing when he was going forward and there was real purpose behind his surging runs. Both teams were going for the victory and Windlaw took the lead on 74 minutes. A free-kick was awarded just outside the left hand corner of the penalty area and again Barry Murtagh stepped up and fired an unstoppable shot high into Shaw’s left hand corner for a stunning strike. The joy was short-lived though and within a minute, Moorpark were level. Neat play down Moorpark’s left-wing saw the ball played to the edge of the Windlaw box and the lay-off was brilliantly despatched into the bottom right hand corner of Lunny’s net giving him no chance at all. It was game on again and the stakes had been upped. The match was threatening to boil over and at one point, tackles were flying in all over the place. Windlaw looked like they were beginning to tire. Duncan McGregor replaced George McGregor as Eck McCaig and Danny McKenna in particular tried to keep going after almost two full games on the same day. With barely a minute remaining, a huge Lunny kick-out to the edge of the Moorpark box was totally misjudged by Moorpark’s Donachie who had headered everything all day. Danny McKenna was lurking behind him and he brought the ball down before firing a magnificent shot which looked to be searing into the net. Somehow, Shaw kept the shot out with a brilliant parry but Benny Carey was following up to knock it home from 4 yards out to send the small visiting camp into ecstasy.Full Time: Moorpark 2 Windlaw 3
Summing-Up: An excellent victory for Windlaw. Not the greatest performance ever but again the attitude of a tired group of players was different class. They fought to the very last whistle with a threadbare squad and deserve much credit. They seem to be continuing to learn how to gain points in this league.
Star Man- three main candidates today. Bruce Tierney and Kevin Black both continued their excellent recent form, however Barry Murtagh just shaded it for a performance full of energy and purpose. His two free-kicks were superb strikes and he impresses in every outing.
