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GILLFORD PARK FC |
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The strong, physical visitors came out of the starting blocks at cracking pace, and in the first ten minutes sent wave after wave of pressure as they attempted to score an early goal. Ex-Annan Athletic 'keeper Gavin Armstrong had to be on form in the goal, and even after just a minute he was forced to pull off a top class save from Scott's blistering twenty-two yard shot. With the league leader's dominance evident for all to see, it seemed only a matter of time before they'd have the ball in the net, and that they did in the eleventh minute, when Armstrong was left powerless to keep Scott's wonderful curling shot from outside the box on the right side of the field from the top left corner of the goal. The pacey Lee Otway, making a welcome return to the side, and his equally athletic strike partner, Michael Riding, were both restricted on the heavy pitch and, as they tried their best to break down the stubborn visiting defence, demonstrated usually hidden aspects of their game; balance, skill and close control. The visitors, meanwhile, are a very physical side and this was reflected in the first-half stats, as they gave away eleven free-kicks, compared to just four conceded by the homesters. The closest Gilly came to scoring in this opening period was when full back Ian Johnston got forward down the right and, after an exchange of passes with Lang and Palmer, he sent the ball across goal. Otway, waiting at the far post, touched it back inside to Riding but his shot was rising all the way and flashed clean over the bar. After half-an-hour Addison latched onto Tom Brocklebank's clearance and was sent free down the right, and the young midfielder was able to curl the ball around the defence to find Mark Butler. The visiting captain, James Minchin, blocked Butler's shot but it began a chain of chances, as first Lee Otway headed down for Riding to shoot before Thompson latched on to the second rebound, striking from twelve yards that was turned around the post by Heddon custodian Rowan Lawlor. From the resulting corner, which was played in by Mark Butler, Lee Otway's header brought out a first class save from Lawlor when he once again out-jumped the tall defenders. Gillford did not, by any means, have it all their own way and as they pushed forwards gaps appeared in the home defence, which were exploited by Liam Heenan and Iain McElroy. Heenan twice came close, while McElroy will feel aggrieved that he was not awarded a penalty when the referee adjudged a strong tackle by Short to have been on the right side of the law. Meanwhile, only an excellent save by Gavin Armstrong kept Craig Scott from doubling his side's advantage. The danger failed to be cleared and Scott latched onto the loose ball, driving it towards goal through a crowd of players. Armstrong must have seen it late as at first he did not react, before throwing himself full length to his right, turning it around the post with his fingertips. Daniel Hall swung the flag-kick out to the edge of the eighteen-yard box to John Pearson, who skilfully cut inside, past Johnstone, only to be denied the goal by a top class save by Armstrong. Half-time: Gillford Park 0 - 1 Heddon It must have been an interesting team-talk at half-time, as a totally transformed Gillford side took the game by the scruff of the neck and with a devastating display of passing football totally dominated for the first half-an-hour of the second period. Craig Thompson came more into the game, getting further up the pitch while Ian Johnstone dropped back to sweep up the loose balls and captain Robbie Short ran the midfield. There was a totally changed look and feel to the game - out was the stuttering and shuffling and in were short, sharp passes and good off the ball movement. Gillford began to look like a side capable of winning this game. It took them only nine minutes to draw level when Otway was upended in the box by two defenders. The top-scorer picked the ball up with confidence and, despite not kicking a ball for nearly a month (except the rest of this match, Celtic), drove a perfect penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net to level the scores. This started a good spell for Gilly that saw them double the lead shortly after. Mark Butler sent in the corner and the ball broke from a scramble in the six yard box to Johnstone. His neat back-heel was cleared off the line as far as Mike Riding, who fired home from close range. Two minutes later Riding read play well and gambled on Otway to win a header, running free behind the back line and with a little shuffle which left his marker for dead he clipped in a shot which was turned round for a corner. Nothing came of the corner, however, as the Butler shot wide of the post after Otway had headed it down to him. In the sixty-first minute, after a series of shots and some good footwork from Thompson, a deep cross was knocked back over into a mêlée of players and was fired towards goal from a tight angle. Brocklebank, waiting at the near post, managed to squeeze the ball, past three defenders and the keeper, just over the line. Referee Jim Halliday awarded the goal which was strongly debated by the visiting contingent who felt Rowan Lawlor had got back just in time to keep it from crossing the line. Lee Otway was rightly applauded shortly after when he was replaced by Dan Rayson, and the young substitute was soon in the action as he fired towards goal. The visiting custodian spilled the shot, but was able to scramble forward and gather the ball from under the nose of the waiting Johnstone. There was plenty of action in the final minutes. In the eighty-sixth, Heddon were twice denied by the post as first substitute Paul Jones hit the woodwork after latching on to Minchin's cross, before Daniel Hall did well to control the rebound and have a dig which beat Armstrong, before hitting the upright and falling into Armstrong's grateful hands. The goalie spotted Robbie Short free and sent the ball up to him. The captain slipped past Scott before using he outside of his boot to find Riding, who took two strides before hammering it towards goal. With a clear view of the move, Lawlor was readying and waiting to turn it around the post. Brocklebank was the first to the resulting corner but couldn't direct it goalwards to conclude the action. |