| Greater Glasgow League Cup Section 7 | |
| 27th August 2008 Strathclyde University Complex,Stepps |
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| Alba Thistle | 6 |
| Windlaw | 5 |
| D.McGregor (3), Black, S.Lunny | |
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Referee:Brian Barbour |
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The game was switched at lunchtime to the bowling green like surfaces at Stepps and although the pitch was greasy, it’ll be difficult to play anywhere better all season. Windlaw made three changes from Saturday, with Kevin Black replacing Wullie Wilson, James Fitzpatrick in for Chris Kerr and Duncan McGregor replaced Anthony Larkin with a 4-4-2 formation to start the game.
Windlaw exploded into action and Duncan McGregor scored two inside the first five minutes. The first was well set up by Kevin Black and the second was a superb blast into the top corner from the edge of the box. He then smashed the outside of the post minutes later and with the football Windlaw were playing, it genuinely looked a case of how many. In twenty minutes though,the entire course of the game changed as tackles stopped going in and Alba started getting room to play in.
Alba then scored three times before half-time to leave Windlaw stunned. Kevin McCann had to go off injured and Bruce Tierney came on as a 3-5-2 was adopted. Thomas Taylor then had a shot brilliantly tipped onto the inside of the post from 22 yards after a corner was partially cleared and Paul McInally blazed the rebound over the empty net from 14 yards for the sitter of this or any other season.
Half Time: Alba Thistle 3 Windlaw 2
Windlaw again started sluggish in the second half and two further goals were conceded after more sloppy play. With Windlaw looking dead and buried,the game then took another twist as they began to push Alba back and pen them in. Kevin Black then struck to reduce the deficit and Duncan McGregor’s tidy finish got him a superb hat-trick.
Alba were again on the ropes and Windlaw were throwing everything at them and looked like getting an equaliser.
With six minutes remaining and from a rare corner gained on the break, an Alba player somehow drove a finish just inside John Lunny’s left hand post to effectively kill the game. Again though, Windlaw went upfield and Stuart Lunny scored his first goal for the club after a scramble in the box. There was however barely any time left to have another go for the equaliser.
Windlaw Star Man- Duncan McGregor - his best performance yet for the club. He had three brilliant finishes and worked tirelessly. Certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
Verdict - Individual errors probably caused five of the six goals in one of the most amazing games. Credit to Alba for recovering from an early pasting in this game and their attitude was superb throughout. This Windlaw side have much to sort out and must do it very quickly.