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Greater Glasgow Amateur Premier League | |||
| League Division 3A | ||||
| Stepford Road Sports Complex | ||||
| Sat 12th December 2009 | ||||
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Alba Thistle |
1 - 2 |
Windlaw AFC |
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Scorers: |
Scorers: McCaig, OG |
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| Team: Wright, Noble, Trotter, Campbell, Barrack, Crawford, McNamee, Hillier, Chalmers, Creron, Redpath | Team: Lunny, Granger, Carr (Trialist - A.Dougall), Wilson (Z.Dougall), McCann, McInally, Simpson, Carmichael (S.McCann), Hepburn, Taylor, McCaig | |||
| H-T: 1-1 | Referee: David Roome | |||
A striking crisis hit Windlaw for this game with 47 goal duo Greg Johnstone and Danny McKenna both out. It resulted in three changes from last week’s win over Muirend with last week’s goalscorers Johnstone, McKenna and Ian Baird all missing. They were also joined by Liam McGeachy which meant a patched up side took the field. Midfielders Eck McCaig and Thomas Taylor both had to fill the striking roles and in midfield Colin Carmichael came in for his first start of the season. Paul McInally moved to right midfield to fill the gap there with Calum Granger coming in at right-back. On top of that Chris Hepburn was unwell but had to play given the lack of bodies. Allan Dougall and Steph McCann came in as trialists on the bench. Referee David Roome made the players wait fully 45 minutes on the pitch before finally showing up and ending the prospect of frostbite on a difficult surface which seemed overlaid with the black infill pellets making the bounce unpredictable.
Despite their problems Windlaw made a fairly reasonable start and fashioned some decent early chances. Alba’s central midfield though were in no mood to be dominated as both sides searched for supremacy. Kevin McCann and Chris Carr had decent early efforts well saved by Wright but it was Alba who then took the lead on 15 minutes. The move started down Alba’s right and as Windlaw failed to make a meaningful challenge the ball was worked to just outside the edge of the box when an Alba midfielder thumped a shot that brushed McInally’s shoulder and flew high past John Lunny for the opening goal. Eck McCaig missed a big chance to equalise when he somehow headed over from only 5 yards when a Hepburn corner found him completely unmarked. He atoned soon after though when Chris Hepburn’s shot from the edge of the box was only parried by Jamie Wright and McCaig following up rammed into the empty net this time. Windlaw then hit the post and the bar but endured a frustrating time with far too many individual errors and carelessness in their game.
Half Time: Alba Thistle 1 - 1 Windlaw AFC
The second half continued in the same frustrating vein. Alba weren’t cutting Windlaw open but they were never out of it in terms of possession. The best of the chances continued Windlaw’s way. Kevin McCann spurned a good chance when he headed wide from a corner then Chris Hepburn looked set to score but tried to round Wright and the chance was lost. Eventually the winning goal came on 66 minutes from a half cleared corner that Kevin McCann did well to turn and dink an awkward ball to the back post and an Alba defender trying to clear succeeded only in turning it over the line. There was a failure though to take a lift from this and drive on and Alba to their credit kept going. Substitute Allan Dougall almost made it three when his chip over Wright landed just over the bar but near the end Windlaw looked very edgy and John Lunny did well to turn a late long range effort over the bar as the away side held on for a precious victory
Full Time: Alba Thistle 1 - 2 Windlaw AFC
Verdict: A real day to forget for Windlaw. A combination of a number of things meant the only meaningful thing was getting three points and this was achieved. Next Saturday sees the biggest game of the season so far when league leaders Glasgow University visit Barlia, kick-off 2pm.
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Windlaw Star Man: |
