| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League:Division 1 | |
| 4th February 2006 Barlia Sports Complex |
|
| Windlaw | 2 |
| McCabe,Neeson | |
| Vale United | 0 |
Star Man: Windlaw Manager Gary Wilson said "I don't want to single anyone out and would give it to the team. It was a great team effort to see off last year's champions."
Action Details
An unchanged Windlaw side, with Benny Carey, Allan Dougall and Zanda Dougall returning to the squad as substitutes after suspensions and injuries, lined up against an anxious Vale side who appeared desperate to start the game before the scheduled kick off time, presumably so they could dash away to watch Rangers against Hibernian in The Scottish Cup at lunchtime.
Windlaw gained the upperhand after a fairly subdued start with neither keeper being seriously tested. After building up some good pressure though, Windlaw took a deserved lead on 25 minutes. An excellent move involving McCann and Neeson saw McCann's slide rule pass through to John McCabe whose fine angled run had beat the Vale offside trap. McCabe composed himself before angling his shot across the Vale keeper's right hand and landing neatly just inside the post from close range. Vale claimed for offside, but it looked more like an excuse to vent their rapidly increasing frustration. The current league champions tried to respond and had a couple of decent free-kick opportunities, from one of which Moran fired just over, but nothing of note to really tempt goalkeeper John Lunny. Windlaw were forced into an early substitution when McInally's troublesome calf injury flared up again. The influential sweeper was unable to continue and was immediately replaced by the towering Zanda Dougall. The big man made his mark on the game almost immediately with a crunching, but fair tackle on Vale hitman Brian Smith. If he didn't realise he was in for a tough time before it, he did now! Windlaw could have grabbed a second after a neat move saw a crossed ball flash across the face of goal, only for two efforts to be cleared off the line. Vale were in command of possession, however they never really threatened the Windlaw goal, as the back three continued their solid form which had seen 3 consecutive clean sheets prior to this match.
Half Time: Windlaw 1 Vale United 0
The second half saw Vale pen Windlaw back again slightly, however Lunny was dealing quite comfortably with any long range shots and cross-balls that were coming his way and Kerr, Sinclair and Zanda Dougall were performing well in front of him, keeping Smith fairly quiet. Alan Nugent then missed a sitter to make the game safe when John McCabe squared superbly to him. The big striker merely succeeded in hitting his shot tamely back at a stunned McCabe when it looked much easier to score. The winner however was merely delayed until the 70th minute and what a fine goal it was. Alan Nugent brilliantly jinked around his man just inside the box and when it looked as if he might shoot, he slid in Shug Neeson who had timed his run to perfection arriving from midfield. He took the pass in his stride and as the keeper advanced, he smashed it high into the roof of the net. Barlia erupted! For the final 20 minutes, Vale had plenty of the ball but did nothing effective with it. Windlaw were quite happy to let them have it as they never really looked like scoring, so Windlaw were content to hit Vale on the break in hope of a third, and it almost came in the closing minutes as McCaig missed a fine chance to make it three when put clean through but his attempted chip didn't have enough height on it and landed in the arms of the grateful Vale keeper.
Full Time: Windlaw 2 Vale United 0
Summing-Up: An excellent result for Windlaw but again, the performance was far from vintage and there is a lot more to come from us you feel. Vale will feel they had a decent amount of possession but in truth it was all in the wrong areas as Windlaw backed off them at times.They huffed and puffed without once carving the Windlaw rearguard open and they are now discovering how difficult it is to retain a championship when everyone is out to beat you. They remain in the race however and have many big games left to play. The home side are picking up points without hitting top form. The attitude and commitment right now though is superb and could even earn us a top four finish behind Greenhills and Blochairn, the title favourites.
