| Sat 18 Feb 2023 KO 2:00pm | Recreation Park, Darvel |
|---|---|
| PDM Buildbase WOSFL Premier League | Match 18 |
| Darvel 2 (1) | MacKenzie, Moore |
| Glenafton Athletic 2 (1) | Kerr, Moffat |
Glens made four changes to the eleven that started against Bellshill Athletic last Saturday with Adam Caldwell, Dean Currie, Dylan O’Kane and Hugh Kerr replacing Scott McLean (injury), Mick McMullin (suspension), Calvin Kemp (illness) and Sean McKenzie. Meanwhile on the Glens bench was midweek signing Alex McWaters.
In the Darvel dug-out was former Glenafton player and manager Craig McEwan.
Play went back on forth on a rain-soaked Recreation Park before Darvel enjoyed a sustained spell of pressure. On 8 minutes Jordan Kirkpatrick, wide on the right, clipped a cross deep into the box which was headed wide by Craig Pettigrew but Ian McShane’s corner-kick came to nothing. Andrew Stirling was looking lively down the left and it was from here that he cut inside to curl a fierce shot that was deflected wide for another corner which was blocked at the near post by Hugh Kerr and the loose ball gather up by keeper David Markey.
On 13 minutes Darvel took the lead in controversial circumstances. Stirling broke down the left touchline and before reaching the bye-line whipped a ball to the near post for the incoming Allan MacKenzie to guide it past Markey from a tight angle and into the far corner of the post. However, the striker was being marked by Pettigrew and from behind he clearly pulled the defender’s arm sending him tumbling to the ground leaving him free to make his run to the near post. The Glens captain’s protest to the match referee fell on deaf ears.
Two minutes later Craig Moore tried a clever lob from 25 yards only for Markey, on his six-yard line, with an outstretched arm and strong hand diverted the ball over the bar. Kerr was on hand to head McShane’s corner clear of the box only for Darvel to quickly retrieve the ball and McShane curl a great ball to the near post where Moore under pressure from Pettigrew still managed to divert the ball goalward only for Markey to pull off a super save and push the ball wide of the post. The corner concluded with Sam McKee being fouled in the box, spotted by the referee.
Markey launched the ball upfield where Kerr won the aerial battle with Cameron Eadie before Dylan O’Kane snapped up the loose ball to play a one-two with Kerr and progress to the left-hand side of the box. From here he clipped a ball into the goal-mouth which just went beyond Moffat, breaking between two defenders, but fell for Adam Caldwell on the far side of the box, to play it back to Sam McKee. The pair then played a couple of one-two’s, however with defenders in close proximity McKee was forced to retreat out of the penalty area and curl a ball into the heart of the goal where Hugh Kerr leapt to guide a header past keeper Chris Truesdale rooted on his line.
Match all square on 19 minutes … but No!, centre-back Andrew McDonald raised his arm claiming offside which was a close call, one way or the other, but certainly it appeared that his defensive partner Cameron Eadie played him on. The travelling support expressed their discontent at the officials!
Still, this appeared to galvanise the team and Glens were seen much more of an attacking force and Darvel were given less time on the ball to build methodically from the back. Leon Murphy and Adam Caldwell pushed up the flanks while O’Kane & McKee buzzed around seeking out the ball and Paton & Moffat patrolled the midfield. Meanwhile Darvel were now restricted to attempts from outside the Glens box without troubling Markey.
Paton floated a free kick deep into the box where although Kerr won the aerial battle vs. Eadie again sending the ball high into the air, on its descent it was booted upfield by McDonald as Ollie Rowe challenged. Dean Currie quickly returned the ball from the Glens half and soon after the incoming Kerr collided with Truesdale on the six-yard line as both competed to win the high ball into the box; Kerr earning a yellow card.
Glens continued to press and Paton slipped a ball down the right for Kerr to chase only for the striker to be wrestled to the ground by McDonald. The free kick was booted clear of the box. Murphy regained possession for the visitors in his own half and his attempted one-two with Kerr ended prematurely as the striker was felled from behind by Kirkpatrick; earning a yellow card.
Paton’s free kick deep into the box was headed clear by MacKenzie. Soon after a counter-attack saw the striker at the other end send Markey flying through the airto avoid MacKenzie’s sliding tackle with his studs showing. The referee was distinctly disinterested in Markey’s appeal for protection.
On 33 minutes McKee snapped up a loose pass deep on the left and rolled the ball back to Rowe on the edge of the box who quickly switched it to Caldwell on the right. From here he pushed forward before slipping the ball up the right flank for O’Kane to chase down and cut inside McDonald to break into the box only for the defender, close on his heels, to push him on the back and send him tumbling to the ground. Stonewall penalty – No!, – the referee deemed the offence to be outside the box and a yellow card for the offender.
However, justice was served after Paton curled a glorious free-kick high and deep into the box where Hugh Kerr leapt unchallenged to bullet a header beyond the reach of Truesdale at his near post and into the far corner of the net. All eyes on the ref, no infringements – game all square at 1-1 on 36 minutes.
The home side found a new sense of urgency
Pettigrew blocked MacKenzie’s shot from deep inside the box and Kerr headed clear the corner-kick that followed. Soon after McShane gathered the ball just inside the Glens half and pinged a peach of pass forward that was dummied at the edge of the box by MacKenzie allowing Kirkpatrick to run on to the ball and slam a low angled shot that Markey did well to block with his instep on the 6 yard line sending the ball high into the air. It descended just outside the ‘D’ where MacKenzie and Currie both challenged and fell to the ground; MacKenzie winning the free-kick! Moore’s free-kick was blocked by the wall and eventually cleared out the box.
HT Darvel 1 Glens 1
The Glens had a couple of breakaways in the opening five minutes of the second half. Moffat threaded a forward pass for Kerr to beat the offside trap and push forward into the box but his angled shot was held on the six-yard line by Truesdale. Soon after Caldwell intercepted a pass deep in his own half and after a lung-bursting run slipped the ball to O’Kane on the outskirts of the box but his low shot from 25 yards trundled well wide.
On 51 minutes Darvel regained the lead in clinical fashion. McShane from the left and just inside his own half lasered a delightful diagonal pass to Meechan on the right flank just inside the Glens half. From here he clipped the ball forward and wide of Murphy to curl it into the box and match Kirkpatrick’s run and from three yards short of the bye-line he gathered the ball and squared it across the face of the goal at speed through the gap between Markey and Pettigrew for the inrushing Craig Moore to side foot the ball home from a few yards out.
Glens responded well and O’Kane won a corner-kick on the right, which Murphy curled to the back-post just beyond the reach of Moffat. The home side countered only for McShane’s cut back from the bye line to be intercepted and cleared by O’Kane.
The visitors drew level for the second-time on 54 minutes through perseverance. It began with Paton breaking down a Darvel attack on the outskirts of the box and stroking the ball back to Currie who launched it upfield for Kerr to chase and gather, the finding himself boxed in at the corner flag, he rolled the ball back up the touchline to McKee. With defenders back in numbers he held up the ball, allowing Kerr to make his way into the box, and then played a one-two with Paton before clipping the ball, high to the edge of the six-yard box and although Stirling won the header it was Kerr that pounced on the loose ball and his quick feet took both McDonald and McShane out of play before he slipped a pass wide to the unmarked Michael Moffat to take a touch before drilling a low shot from 12 yards through the legs of Eadie to beat Truesdale at his near post and score his first goal for the Glens.
Back came Darvel through Stirling to fire a ball into the box for MacKenzie to leap and flash a header wide of the far post. Minutes later a corner from the left suffered the same fate from Moore’s header.
Play then went back and forth for a spell with only a couple of half chances on show and neither keeper tested.
On 70 minutes Stirling won a free-kick near the left-hand corner of the box. McShane curled the kick over the wall, however Markey was his match taking the sting out of it with both hands at the near post before smothering the loose ball as Kirkpatrick closed in.
The home side continued to press and a corner-kick from the left glanced off a Glens’ head at the near post sending the ball to back post where Rowe, despite being under pressure from McDonald, managed to hook it as far as the ‘D’, where as they say the ball was recycled a number of times as Darvel shots struck the sea of shins in the box and the Glens goal remained unbreached.
On 74 minutes Sam McKee had picked up an injury and left to great applause from the travelling support and was replaced with new signing Alex McWaters.
Two minutes later Darvel made a triple substitution with Stirling, Kirkpatrick and Moore making way for Jamie Glasgow, Lewis Morrison and Scott Ferguson.
It was Glasgow that made the first contribution cutting in from the left touchline and skipping past two defenders before drilling a low angled shot from the corner of the box which Markey did well to get down low and hold. Ferguson then slipped a pass to Meechan in space on the right hand side of the box to whip a ball into the goalmouth but again Markey clutched it cleanly.
On 79 minutes Glens brought on Sean McKenzie for Hugh Kerr who had covered every blade of grass on the park and more, and he too departed with the Glens support showing their appreciation.
Some brief respite for the visitors as they enjoyed some possession in the Darvel half, however without fashioning any shots at goal.
Back came Darvel and a tremendous mazy run by Ferguson took him to the edge of the box before laying it off to McShane who in turn slipped it to Glasgow on the left to loft a high ball to the back post but MacKenzie failed to connect and the chance was gone.
A minute after the regulation 90 minutes, Dylan O’Kane, who had an exceptional game, pulled up with an injury and he too departed to a great reception from the Glens fans while Ryan Nisbet took his place in the closing crucial minutes.
Currie and Rowe combined to block another attack deep into the Glesn box. Three minutes into added time and Darvel came within a whisker of nicking all 3 points. Chris McGowan from wide on the left clipped a ball to the near post where Morrison back-heeled it across the face of the goal, sending Markey scurrying along his goal-line, only for the inrushing Glasgow to get to the ball first, but somehow contrived to scoop it over the bar.
The last possession of the match fell to Craig Pettigrew 🙂
FT Darvel 2 Glenafton 2
| DARVEL |
|---|
| 1. Chris Truesdale 2. Cameron Eadie 6. Ian McShane 8. Andrew Stirling (22. Jamie Glasgow) 9. Allan MacKenzie 10. Jordan Kirkpatrick (23. Lewis Morrison) 12. Andrew McDonald 14. Ross Meechan 16. Craig Moore (17. Scott Ferguson) 18. Chris McGowan 26. Robbie McNab. Subs: 3. Jordan Allan, 4. David Syme, 11. Thomas Reilly 21. Lyle Avic |
| Match Photos |
| Darvel v Glenafton Athletic |
Glenafton Athletic 