Fixtures

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Bathgate Thistle 1 v 4 Gairdoch Amber

Saturday 8 February – Simpson Primary School – County Cup

Team – Jake, Ross, Ryan, David, Leon, Ben, Sam, Connor, Lewis, Bally, Harry.  Subs; Aiden, Scott, Danny

The pitch isn’t looking great today but the match is on.  It’s windy and raining but it’s not nearly as bad as last week.  We’re hoping for a positive reaction today after last week’s defeat.

The match kicks off and for the first 15 minutes it’s all Bathgate.  There’s a different attitude this week and we are winning most of the 50/50 tackles.  The boys are pushing forward at every opportunity, using the width of the pitch to build play down the wings; Ben and Connor are doing some great work.  The only thing missing is some clear cut chances.  Gairdoch are making some chances too and it’s end to end stuff but David, Ryan, Ross and Leon are holding firm in defence

Goal – Against the run of play Gairdoch create a chance.  A great pass from inside the centre circle gets in behind our midfield and sets off their no7.  He gets to the by-line and cuts it back across the six yard box for a simple tap in for the first goal of the game.  It’s a great move and goal; but really tough on Bathgate.

David makes a last ditch goal saving tackle just a yard out.  The Gairdoch midfielder was just about to pull the trigger to score but David gets a foot in to put the ball out for a corner.  Unfortunately, David’s got injured in the process and that’s his game over.  Scott comes on to replace him.

The last goal has knocked our confidence and it’s not long until Gairdoch get their second.  The big no7 strikes the ball hard from outside the box, Jake makes a magnificent save at full stretch to palm it away but it falls to a Gairdoch player who is on hand on knock it in.

Both teams are committed and Harry’s the next one to go down after a boot in the face, but he’s good to carry on

Goal, it’s Gairdoch’s number 3.  A hole has opened up in the middle of our defence and a Gairdoch pass played into the space picks out a striker, he has a clear run on goal and calmly side foots it past Jake.

Half time 0-3 it’s tough on Bathgate, especially because the game is much closer than the score suggests.  The coaches change things around with Aidan on for Harry and Danny is on for Bally.

Aiden gets a chance early on; Leon plays him in with a great pass.  He strikes a shot but the keeper has it covered.

Gairdoch are breaking quickly at every opportunity, they are getting in behind our midfield and our defence is having to work hard to keep them out.

Goal – Gairdoch are four up now.  The ball ricochets off a Bathgate defender straight to a Gairdoch player who has a magnificent strike from outside the box into the net.  They got lucky with the bounce of the ball but the strike at goal was very skilful.

Bathgate still have some fight in them, this is witnessed by the fact that the referee is having to speak to a couple of our boys about some hard tackles.

Aiden wins a corner.  It’s played into Ross who strikes it on target but it’s blocked, Aiden gets to it first and slots it home from 2 yards out.  It’s great to get one back but the game is over with just a minute left.  It’s a tough result, but we didn’t create enough chances today.  However we got a better response from the boys this week and it’s some encouragement to take forward into next week.