Friendly	19/06/21 KO 1:00pm	Loch Park New Cumnock
Glenafton Athletic	2 (2)	Sherrie (28), Ryan (36)
Girvan	0 (0)

The second friendly of the season saw the Glens host Girvan with several changes to the side that faced Kello Rovers the week before.

The home side were quick off the mark after Mark Gilmour pushed into Girvan’s half before clipping a high ball into the box for David Blyth to get ahead of two defenders only for his glancing header to be blocked by keeper Sam Gibson.

Play quickly settled into an end-to-end pattern without either keeper being tested.  Glens won a corner kick that went just beyond the reach of Craig Pettigrew at the back post while at the other end Martyn Brown attempt from distance flew over the bar.

Finn Taylor broke down the left to whip a great ball into the box for Mark Curragh only for Ross Fisher to win the aerial battle and Stuart Bennie mop up the loose ball. Midway through half and Fisher won the aerial battle in the Girvan box but his header from a Scott Sherrie corner kicked looped high over the bar. Blyth then found Sherrie wide on the right and his floated ball to the back post for the incoming Leon Murphy was cut-out by the leaping Gibson.

Girvan countered with a quick break down the right before Craig Harvey cut inside and threaded a perfectly weighted pass for Stephen McLelland to gather and drill a low shot from the edge of the box that although it beat the advancing keeper the ball slipped wide of the far post.

Back came Glens with Blyth driving to the by-line to whip a wicked ball across the goal mouth only for the keeper to get a hand to it and Keiron Balfour clear hit it behind for a corner-kick as Murphy threatened at the back post. Sherrie clipped the kick into the heart of the box and although Orr appeared to beat Pettigrew to the ball the Glens captain (and others) claimed the Girvan defender had handled the ball. Play continued and Sherrie recovered the ball only for the unperturbed Orr to block his cross and clear the ball.

Girvan won a free-kick some 28 yards from goal which Orr blasted into the wall and after recovering the rebound playing a neat one-two before leathering the ball high and wide of target.

On 28 minutes the home side broke the deadlock. Sloan launched a long goal-kick up the right hand side which Girvan recovered only for Curtiss to rob Taylor of the ball and slot a measured pass up the line for Scott Sherrie to gather and cut inside past one defender before cracking a low angled shot  between two defenders past the diving goalie at his near post.

Both sides had a couple of decent attacks repelled before the Glens doubled their lead on 36 minutes after a period of patient possession. Pettigrew picked up the ball in the middle of the park and squared to  Curtiss on the left who quickly turned his marker to feed Gilmour tight on the touchline who quickly rolled it up the line to Murphy in space to curl a cross to the edge of the six yard line and although Orr beat Ryan to the ball in the air it fell to Sherrie on the far side of the box who killed it dead allowing Blyth to promptly dispatch it back into the danger area where Jordan Ryan got the better of Orr on this occasion, to coolly side-foot the ball into the back of the net.

Glens finished the half with the better of the few chances on show. Pettigrew tried his luck with a thunderous shot from 30 yards out that dipped over the bar, albeit the keeper had the top corner kick. Ryan, back defending, nicked the ball from the feet of Orr on the 18 yard line and slipped it to Curtiss to strike a great ball up the middle for Blyth to chase by the alert Gibson sprinted out his box to clear the danger.

The home side won another couple of corner kicks before the break that were well defended.

H/T Glens 2 Girvan 0

The visitors enjoyed an early spell of pressure through pushing men forward. A long throw deep into the box by substitute Sean Millarvey was headed back out by Ryan McChesney and Millarvey then floated the ball to the back post where Fisher headed clear. Ross Clark then managed to squeeze a shot through a ruck of players that dipped over Sloan’s bar and soon after Mark Curragh won a corner-kick that was mopped up by the Glens defence.

Pettigrew was spraying passes about the park as the Glens came back into the game and the captain tried another long range effort at goal that dropped over the bar.

On 58 minutes Girvan won another corner that Sean Bennie cleared at the back post only for the ball to fall for Martyn Brown but his shot was blocked by Ryan which set up a counter-attack from the Glens from which Murphy earned a corner kick. Sherrie dropped the kick into a crowded box and McChesney came out on top with his header sailing wide of the post.

Pettigrew stroked a free-kick from wide on the right to pick out Murphy on the left hand side of the box where he danced by one defender before drilling a low ball across the face of the goal that evaded the keeper leaving Bennie and Taylor to slide in at the back post sending the ball back to the keeper who did well to push it out beyond the six yard box. Ryan snapped up the loose ball and managed to seek out Blyth on the 18 yard line and his attempt to chip it into goal was thwarted by the alert Gibson.

Another long throw from Millarvey for Curragh at the near post was won in the air by McChesney and the ball safely gathered by Sloan. The young keeper then rushed from his line to beat McClelland to a great through ball into the box.

Fisher navigated his way out a pack of Girvan players on the half-way line to pick out Ryan on the right who then released Sherrie down the line to clip a cross to the back post for the incoming Murphy only for Gibson to block his attempt to nick the ball into the net.

On 65 minutes Glens brought on Liam Nohar and Callum Thomson for Scott Sherrie and Darren Curtiss.

Bennie’s long throw into the heart of the Girvan box was headed cleared and Girvan built a counter-attack with Harvey slipping a great ball into the box to match Curragh’s run and although the striker’s low shot beat the advancing keeper the ball sneaked inches wide of the far post.

Glens made their final change with Sean McIlroy replacing Jordan Ryan up front.

Play continued to flow from end to end without either keeper being tested. Glens came close after the Bennie played a one-two with Blyth down the right before whipping the ball into the box for Fisher to power and header wide of the post.

On 78 minutes some fine control by Bennie before picking out Nohar to roll a through ball into the box saw Blyth beat the offside trap to lash a shot from 15 yards that the outrushing Gibson pushed over the bar.  Nohar fired the corner kick to the edge of the six yard box where McIlroy met it first time and his volley smacked off the post and the ball eventually cleared.

Girvan then enjoyed a good spell of pressure with Clark cutting back a great ball to McClelland only for his shot from 6 yards blocked by the feet of Sloan, the keeper later denied Clark with a shot of his own.

Back came Glens through a Murphy shot from the edge box that Gibson clutched cleanly. At the other end Girvan pressed and won back-to-back corner kicks but couldn’t find a way through a stubborn defence. Another attacked ended with Harvey from deep in the box lashing an angled shot over the bar.

Pettigrew broke down another Girvan attack on the half way line and played the ball forward for Nohar to clip the ball to the far side of the box from Murphy and although his shot from a tight angle beat the keeper the ball flew harmlessly across the face of the open goal.

The Glens finished on the front foot and the last action of the game had Gibson foil Blyth’s attempt to chip the ball into the net.

FT Glens 2 Girvan 0

GLENAFTON ATHLETIC

19. David Sloan 2. Sean Bennie  4. Ryan McChesney 5. Ross Fisher 3. Mark Gilmour 7. Scott Sherrie (14. Lewis Nohar) 6. Craig Pettigrew 8. Darren Curtiss 11. (12. Callum Thomson) Leon Murphy 9. Jordan Ryan (15. Sean McIroy ) 10. David Blyth. Subs 16. Scott Johnson (gk) 17. Mick McCann

GIRVAN

Girvan: 1. Sam Gibson 4. Martyn Brown 2. Ross Clark 5. Alan Orr 3. Jack Taylor 11. Antonio Sissi 6. Kieron Balfour 8. Stephen McLelland 10. Finn Taylor 7. Craig Harvey 9 Mark Curragh Subs  17. David Oliphant 14 . Sean Millarvey

Match Photographs

More photos here