Broxburn Badgers 1 v 5 Bathgate Thistle

Saturday 25 January – Stewartfield, Broxburn

Starting line Up; Jake, Ryan, David, Cammy, Lewis, Ross, Ben, Bally, Sam, Connor, Harry.   Subs; James, Aidan, Bally, Danny, Scott

The game kicks off on a heavy pitch.  It’s very cold, raining heavily and blowing a gale, not ideal for spectators….never mind the players!

15 minutes in and Bathgate take the lead, Ross is clipped in the penalty area and the referee points to the spot.  Ross takes it and slots it home, 0-1 good penalty.

The rain is getting heavier now and the pitch is cutting up, but Bathgate are playing good football and passing the ball around.

Lewis goes in for a tackle and takes a bad knock to the face.  He has to leave the field with a bad nose bleed.

Bathgate are piling on the attacks, the ball is cleared from the box but Leon races from the halfway line to meet it.  He composes himself and strikes a great shot, the keeper saves it but Scott is there to follow it up and knock it in from a tight angle.  Goal 0-2

Half time, Broxburn 0-v 2 Bathgate

The heavy rain continues and the ball is starting to get held up in places but Bathgate are doing their best to continue their passing game.  Sam wins the ball in midfield and starts a neat passing move involving Scott, Aidan and Connor.  Connor strikes a hard shot and the keeper gets his hands to it, but he can’t stop the ball’s momentum and it crosses the line.  Goal 0-3

If the freezing cold weren’t bad enough, we’re now alternating between sleet and hailstones.  The game on the next pitch down is abandoned, but the ref is playing on for the moment.  Broxburn haven’t been able to break through our defensive line; Ben, David, Cammy, Ryan and Leon are all doing a great job.  Jake’s barely had a shot on goal all day

Danny beats a couple of players wide on the right and gets to the bye line, he hits a low and hard cross which evades everyone until it reaches Scott at the back post.  It’s an easy tap in to make it 0-4

The Broxburn defenders are flying into tackles to clear their lines but Bathgate are continually attacking now.  Shots are flying in but just missing the target, low shots are pointless; the muddy surface is taking the momentum out of the ball.

Bathgate make it 0-5 in the last 10 minutes. Scott shoots and the keeper saves it, but it falls to Harry who squares it to Bally for a well deserved goal

Broxburn pull one back in the closing moments with one of their very few shots on goal.  Jake makes a save and the ball breaks free.  James gets a foot to it first but a heavy challenge from behind directs the ball into the net to make it 1-5.

The biggest cheer of the day is reserved for the full time whistle, the match is over and everyone can go and dry off.  A good result in difficult conditions and we have to commend the boys for trying to play a passing game.