| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League:Division 1 | |
| 8th October 2005 John Brown Pitches |
|
| Forest | 0 |
| Windlaw AFC | 1 |
| Carey | |
Star Man: Zanda Dougall. Excellent performance from the big centre half.
Action Details
This top of the table clash with Forest was a much-anticipated game for various reasons. Firstly, both teams occupied the top 2 places in the league table, so Windlaw didn't wanted lose and cut short their advantage and Forest didn't want to fall further behind the league leaders. Then there was also the ‘Nugent' factor to consider. Former Forest stars John and Alan Nugent were facing their former team for the first time since joining Windlaw, so this added extra spice to an already hyped up fixture. Unfortunately for Alan, he was still nursing a back injury from when the sniper shot him at Clydebank a few weeks ago, and was ruled out through injury.
Recent encounters with Forest at Clydebank suggested that Windlaw faced a hard battle to come away with all 3 points and maintain their 100% league record, and that was very much the case as a fired up opposition and a truly awful pitch ensured a difficult opening spell for the league leaders. The John Brown pitches have never been conducive to free flowing football, however Windlaw knew this and had the sleeves rolled up prepared to dig in and grind out a result.
Windlaw controlled the game from the first whistle till the last, gradually increasing the pressure as the game went on. Forest offered very little with their negative 4-5-1 formation, and only had one chance of note where keeper Lunny was forced into a good save at his near post midway through the first half.
The league leaders could not turn their dominance into goals as the ‘shots off target' stat was increasing at a great rate, as the headers and shots frequently went wide or over the top. No need to worry though as there was plenty of time for a goal.
Windlaw should have taken the lead when Benny Carey pounced on a spill from the opposition keeper, but a great point blank save saw the keeper quickly redeem himself. Windlaw had a few strong penalty claims, firstly when a long range Kevin McCann effort was diverted by a trailing arm inside the box, and secondly when Tommy McCall nudged Benny Carey in the back, however the ref didn't see it that way and waved away the protests on both occasions.
As far as the action goes, that was it for the first half, which ended 0-0.
Windlaw regrouped at half time and became refocused on the job in hand, and quickly increased the pressure on the Forest goal. Forest were camped in their own half for the entire second half as Windlaw goalie Lunny became a mere spectator for the remainder of the match. The only time they got a breather was when their hugely talented NFL linebacker, deployed at centre half, hoofed the ball up the park into John Luuny's hands. However it only thwarted Windlaw temporarily, as they came right back at the Forest defence, all 10 of them.
Windlaw were missing too many chances in the second half, as Benny Carey and Gary Wilson saw 2 efforts each go close. It was getting to the stage where it looked like it wasn't going to be Windlaw's day.
Their efforts to claim all 3 points were helped when one of Forest 's players lost their discipline and was sent packing for foul and abusive language towards the referee. Forest really were up against it now.
As the minutes ticked away and with the match still goalless, Windlaw threw a centre half up front in hope of a scrap of luck, luck that had deserted them for the previous 85 minutes. The bold move paid dividends when in the 88th minute, Windlaw grabbed a sensational winner. A cross into the Forest box wasn't dealt with by the defence, signalling the start of a penalty box stramash. The ball whizzed about like a pinball before Benny Carey somehow managed to get the final touch and prod it over the line. Huge relief for Windlaw, which was clearly seen in their celebrations, however any level-headed spectator would say it was justice as Windlaw dominated the match and thoroughly deserved all 3 points.
Full time: Forest 0 – 1 Windlaw
Summing up: a hard fought but one-sided match which seen Windlaw leave with all 3 points. It was not a pretty performance, it was a result we had to grind out, but you have to get the sleeves rolled up and dig in to win some matches now and again. It is without doubt matches like these that win titles. 5 out of 5 now for Windlaw, let's keep it up and make sure we repeat this type of performance when it's required again
