| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League: Division 1 | |
| 1st December 2007 Lochend Community School |
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| Tynecastle | 2 |
| Bruce, Jordan | |
| Windlaw | 1 |
| McGinlay | |
Team: Lunny, A.Dougall, Logue (Larkin), Sinclair, Z.Dougall, McCann, McCaig, Carmichael, Baird (Taylor), McKenna (Stevenson), McGinlay |
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It should be of no surprise to anybody that this match finished 2-1, as all 3 encounters last year finished with the same scoreline. However, this season the odd goal advantage went Tynecastle’s way in another tight game at Easterhouse.
Windlaw brought in Craig Logue for Wullie Thornton who was missing through work commitments. Thomas Taylor made a welcome return to the bench with Carey, Larkin and Stevenson.
Windlaw started well and a neat move almost gave the visitors an early lead, however Ian Baird couldn’t direct Davie McGinlay’s lay off towards goal.
McGinlay put Windlaw ahead with a strike that, unbelievably, equalled his stunning strike against Shawbridge the week before. A neat ball down the channel released big Davie and with seemingly nowhere to go, he hit a first time piledriver into the opposite corner of the net from the angle of the penalty box.
This should have signalled a good spell for Windlaw, but it was actually Tynecastle who came into the game strongly. James Jordan should have buried a shot from 8 yards and McAteer put a diving header wide when it seemed easier to score.
Tynecastle deservedly equalised when Steve Bruce evaded a few Windlaw tackles and powered home an unstoppable shot high into Lunny’s near post.
The game took a dramatic turn on 25 minutes though when John Lunny was sent off for a last man tackle on a Tynecastle forward. The referee awarded a penalty and he got both decisions correct. Kevin McCann stood up to be counted as he took the gloves from Lunny and made himself a hero immediately when he came up with a fine save from the penalty.
Windlaw reorganised to 4-4-1 and Davie McGinlay now had a hard task up there on his own.
Half-time Tynecastle 1 Windlaw 1
Windlaw started the second half brightly despite their numerical disadvantage. Colin Carmichael was causing problems with his fierce free kicks into the box, and even rattled the Tynecastle crossbar during the second half.
Eck McCaig should have scored when his shot was destined for the corner of the net, but ‘Castle keeper produced a top drawer save by somehow touching it around the post.
Tynecastle weren’t just defending though and will feel they should have went ahead when Jordan hit a brilliant shot on the turn, with it seemingly heading goal bound. McCann was equal to it though and managed to tip it onto the crossbar. For a man who wasn’t a natural goalkeeper, he was doing excellently
The decisive moment came on 85 minutes though. Tynecastle split the defence with a nice pass and Sinclair and Paterson fought for possession. As McCann came out, the ball broke to James Jordan and the prolific frontman made no mistake from 12 yards and tapped into an empty net.
Tynecastle were destined to take the points now, but not before a long range effort from Dougall gave them a brief scare, as it went narrowly over the bar.
Full-time Tynecastle 2 Windlaw 1
Verdict –A cruel ending to a match Windlaw felt they didn’t deserve to lose. The commitment and effort displayed despite going down to 10 men epitomises the team spirit within the camp at the moment. Despite losing the match, each player can be proud of their efforts as they never let the numerical advantage stop them from trying to win the game. But for the crossbar and some great goalkeeping, we could’ve taken all 3 points. Credit to Tynecastle though, they made it very difficult for us when we went down to 10 and asked a lot of questions of the Windlaw defence. They are the best Tynecastle team I’ve saw in a long time and will not be far off winning the title if they can put a good run together and ourselves and Blochairn lose points along the way. As for the ref, he called the sending off correctly but otherwise turned in a weak display, willingly handing out petty bookings for nothing incidents.
MOTM –Kevin McCann stood up to be counted when he volunteered to take the gloves after Lunny was sent off. He turned in an excellent display and kept Tynecastle out with two brilliant saves. He should be proud of his contribution and effort.
