| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League:Division 1 | |
| 14th January 2006 Barlia Sports Complex |
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| Windlaw | 1 |
| Nugent | |
| Shawbridge | 0 |
Star Man: Bruce Tierney of whom Manager Gary Wilson said “Bruce played that well that the absence of big Zanda was hardly noticed”.
Action Details
Both sets of managers had key personnel missing going into this one with Shaws missing talented front duo McElveen and Scally. Windlaw were missing Zanda Dougall, Darren Campbell and Jim Currie through work commitments and had three strikers missing due to injury and suspension. Gary Wilson and Martin Kerr drafted Bruce Tierney into right-back and put Alan Nugent upfront to partner Eck McCaig. The player shortage led to a dramatic reappearance of Windlaw's legendary Cambuslang duo of Martin Kearney and Shug Neeson on the bench.
Allan Dougall received a booking in two minutes for tripping Shaws player-manager Mark Dyer. This was to set the tone for a morning of cards despite the game having no real nastiness about it. The start was tense and nervy with neither side creating any real openings and basically cancelling each other out. Gradually though, Shawbridge were becoming more dominant and with their superior height advantage began to look likely to score from a set-piece. From one superbly flighted free-kick, captain Archie Bryce flashed a header off John Lunny's left hand post. Windlaw's Wullie Thornton then cleared a goal-bound header off the line following a corner. Windlaw were offering little going forward until Alan Nugent beat two Shawbridge defenders at the corner of the box and his deft chip was brilliantly clawed out from under his crossbar by the Shawbridge keeper. Windlaw were glad to get in level at half-time as Shaws were the better side and looked more likely to take the lead.
Half Time: Windlaw 0 Shawbridge 0
Two minutes in, Windlaw take the lead. Martin Docherty's through header finds Alan Nugent in space ahead of a dithering Shawbridge defence and he uses the time and space to full effect taking the ball to the edge of the box before crashing his shot high into the net past the advancing Shawbridge keeper who had no chance. Windlaw's joy was short-lived as three minutes later Shawbridge are awarded a penalty after Martin Docherty is adjudged to have held down a Shawbridge player after the ball broke free of them following a challenge in the box. The club will not comment on this award in compliance with the League's guidelines on match reports. The Shawbridge player pulled his left-footed kick two yards past John Lunny's left hand post to the home side's delight. Windlaw unsurprisingly took a lift from this and then enjoyed a good spell but spurned the chances made that would have made the game safe. Eck McCaig's audacious chip clipped the top of the bar and he then hit the side netting with a sliding effort. On 70 minutes Shug Neeson replaced Docherty in midfield. Minutes later his brilliant cross was met by the head of maurading full-back Thornton, who put it just wide. Thornton enjoying a fine game was then red-carded on 75 minutes for a second booking and you could sense a Shawbridge onslaught looming. Their best chance of the second half came when a ball to the back post beat Windlaw's offside trap but their forward headed into Lunny's grateful arms when he should have done better. Despite being camped in the Windlaw half for the last 10 minutes and getting six free-kick in good wide positions in the last three minutes, Shawbridge could not create the guilt-edged chance they needed and Windlaw's well-organised back-line held firm to hold onto the slender victory in a tough encounter.
Full Time: Windlaw 1 Shawbridge 0
Summing Up - A tense game with loads at stake predictably didn't show up the true strengths of both sides. Shawbridge will feel a little hard done by, but Windlaw took their one golden chance well and defended superbly. Chris Kerr marshalled his troops well at the back and the back five in general were excellent. Beating Shawbridge twice in the league this year is a great feat for Windlaw which most teams would do well to match. Shawbridge will be tough opposition for all league hopefuls and could yet win it themselves. Windlaw were delighted with the win and showed the strength of their squad is good by coping without key players.
