| Strathclyde Saturday Morning League:Division 1 | |
| 18th February 2006 Crownpoint Sports Complex |
|
| Shettleston United | 1 |
| Windlaw | 3 |
| K.McCann,McCaig,Carey | |
Star Man: Shug Neeson of whom Manager Gary Wilson said "Shug was a real driving force in the middle of the park." Other noteable mentions went to Eck McCaig and Chris Kerr
Action Details
Windlaw made three changes from the victory over Forest last week with Allan Dougall, Zanda Dougall and Benny Carey replacing Tierney, McCabe and Nugent as Gary Wilson and Martin Kerr freshen the side up with a view to keeping all of his in-form squad in good shape. The conditions underfoot were good in most areas despite a heavy overnight frost as Windlaw took to the new astrograss park at Crownpoint for the first time.
Windlaw started the game brightly with Shug Neeson probing in midfield with Kevin McCann and Wullie Thornton threatening from the left wing. With Shettleston playing a fairly dangerous offside trap, it was no surprise when Windlaw opened the scoring in 12 minutes. Kevin McCann burst through from midfield brilliantly holding off a defender's challenge and expertly chipping over the advancing keeper for a fine opener. Inside two minutes Windlaw had doubled their lead when the industrious Windlaw top marksman McCaig took advantage of hesitancy at the edge of the Shettleston box before toe-poking past the Shettleston keeper who seemed to be in a strange position. This could have been the cue for a capitulation but the young east end side were made of sterner stuff and refused to buckle. On 35 minutes, Shettleston fired a superb free-kick from all of 35 yards just past John Lunny's right hand post with the big keeper looking struggling. On the stroke of half-time Shug Neeson missed two good chances to seal the victory, once lobbing just over and the other time, sclaffing wide with his left foot. On both occasions he should have netted.
Half Time: Shettleston Utd 0 Windlaw 2
The second half was a less fluent affair with Shettleston enjoying slightly more possession and Windlaw looking a touch nervy and at times careless in possession. Windlaw toiled for the killer third goal they needed and had to wait until 75 minutes before it arrived. A long throw from substitute John McCabe was flicked on and prodded over the line by the ever-green Benny Carey. At this junction, the points were safe. Benny Carey missed a good chance late on and several other half chances were spurned. In the dying minutes, Shettleston were awarded a penalty when Chris Kerr was harshly adjudged to have brought down a Shettleston forward after initially misjudging an attempted clearance. Despite the protests, the Shettleston player fired to Lunny's left hand side with the big keeper going right.
Full Time: Shettleston Utd 1 Windlaw 3
Summing-Up: A steady but unspectacular Windlaw performance which had a few nerves at times was always going to be enough to win this. It is impossible to criticise the efforts of the Windlaw players at this time as they've been superb of late. Undoubtedly, the team now has an improved chance of a top three finish behind favourites Greenhills and Blochairn who seem set to battle it out for the title. Four months ago, this scenario seemed impossible, therefore the players and management take great credit for turning round their season. Shettleston have some fine young players with a good spirit and the future looks good for them.
