ARDAGH AYRSHIRE SECTIONAL LEAGUE CUP
Section 4 : Match 3
Wednesday 03 August, Loch Park, New Cumnock
GLENAFTON ATHLETIC 4 (0)
LUGAR BOSWELL THISTLE 0 (0)
An inspired performance by Lugar keeper Ronnie Davis kept the Glens at bay in the first half. Time and again the home side got behind the Boswell defence to set up chance after chance only for Davis to demonstrate a sumptuous selection of stunning point-blank saves. His counterpart, young Ryan Dunsmuir, in for the recovering Ally Semple who sustained a head injury against Cumnock at the week-end, enjoyed a much less frenetic but assured debut.
Man-of-the-Match Ronnie Davis
On 5 minutes Paul McKenzie skipped down the right wing and cutback from the bye-line for Gareth Campbell but his point blank shot was blocked by Davis in a flash. McKenzie was then the recipient of a cross from the left by Craig McEwan, who it seemed had run the length of the pitch with the ball, but his powerful downward header from six yards out was guided over by the tall yellow jerseyed goalie. Seconds later Gareth Armstrong headed wide from close range. Lugar never seriously tested the Glens’ debutant keeper but this young new team, Davis was the only survivor from last season in the starting eleven, showed great compusure in taking the ball from box to box with simple short passes and now and then pulled off some exquisite defence splitting balls.
At times the Glens were perhaps over elaborate with several cross field passes going astray but nevertheless they continued to create chances at will. With 20 minutes gone Craig Potter was next to get to the dead ball line with McKenzie the target but good defending at the expense of a corner secured the stalemate. On the half hour mark Campbell squared the ball to the unmarked Lewis Sloan but his shot lacked the pace to worry Davis who smothered the ball with ease. Five minutes later Kris Mitchell rose from the glare of the low sun but his blinding header skimmed over the bar. The half drew to a close with Lugar, despite being on the back foot for much of the game, still very much in the game. H/T Glens 0 Lugar 0
Gareth Campbell breaks the deadlock
The game resumed and within 30 seconds Davis pushed a Sloan shot, from the corner of the six yard box, over the bar. A minute later a Mitchell strike from 20 yards whizzed past the keeper’s far post and soon after a Cammy McKinnell header from a corner kick glanced over the bar. The siege continued and with 10 minutes of the half gone a McEwan thunderbolt from 25 yards crashed off the post, a let off for Lugar and the windows of Lochside House Hotel! A minute later however the home side made the breakthrough. Sloan slipped past two defenders on the right hand side of the box and rolled the ball across the goalmouth for Gareth Campbell to beat a third defender to the ball and blast home from the corner of the six yard box. Armstrong missed from close range and Davis bravely blocked a McKenzie effort before Campbell doubled his tally on 62 minutes. Beating the offside he burst into the box and coolly fired an angled shot from 15 yards out beyond the advancing Davis into the far corner of the goal. Eight minutes later Davis denied McKenzie again from a few yards but a tiring Lugar failed to clear lines and the ball arrived at the feet of Lewis Sloan who made no mistake drilling the ball low and hard through the keeper’s legs. The Glens introduced fresh legs with Armstrong, McKenzie and McKinnell replaced Jim Wilson, Steven Greenlees and Ryan McChesney respectively. In the closing minutes the Glens were awarded a penalty kick for a offence that eluded me. Jim Wilson completed the scoring from the penalty spot despite the best efforts of Davis who got a hand to the ball. F/T Glens 4 Lugar 0
Glenafton: Dunsmuir; Bell, McKinnell (McChesney), Henderson, McEwan; McKenzie (Greenlees), Potter, Mitchell, Sloan; Armstrong (Wilson), Campbell
Other scores: Auchinleck 3 Kello 2, Muirkirk 1 Cumnock 2
Glenafton Athletic 