Petersburn Thistle v Bathgate Thistle

Saturday 11 April 2015 – League Match

Starting Line Up; Jake, Ross, James, David Leon, Sean, Connor, Bally, Sam, Bailey, Aidan. Subs; Lewis, Harry, Scott, Elliot

Today’s game is being played in the shadow of Airdrie FC’s stadium, the pitch is looking in good condition but there’s a biting cold wind blowing across the pitch. Petersburn are currently sitting second in the league table, with only 2 defeats in 12 games. Previous matches between these sides have been very close, but Petersburn came out on top in both of last season’s contests. The next 7 days are likely to be critical to Bathgate’s season; on top of today’s match, the blues have to face league contenders Broxburn on Wednesday, and then face Armadale in the semi final of the cup the following Saturday

The referee is keen to get the game under way and we kick off early, Connor picks the ball up on the half way line, he bursts down the left and crosses in for Aidan who nets with a left foot shot from 6 yards out. A goal up after less than a minute, you won’t see a better start to a match than this!

The blues extend their lead in the 7^th minute, another Connor run and cross finds Aidan but his strike takes a deflection on to the post and out for a corner. Connor takes the corner and Bailey is first to it, his initial shot is saved by the keeper but he’s first to react to the rebound and heads it in.  Bathgate go 3 up on 15 minutes and it’s an individual effort from Bailey, he beats his man just inside the box shoots accurately past the keeper.

At half time the sides go in with the score Petersburn Thistle 0 v 3 Bathgate Thistle.

That’s been a really strong first half from Bathgate, the midfield of Sam, Bally and Sean are passing the ball around and are well in control of the game. The majority of play has been in the Petersburn half of the pitch and Connor has been showing his pace to get in behind the opposition defence.  Bathgate are looking very strong at the back, so much so that the home side haven’t had a strike on goal yet. Anything that has got through our midfield is quickly being snuffed out by David, Leon, James & Ross in defence. The Petersburn keeper has made several outstanding saves to restrict a bigger margin for Bathgate

The Petersburn coach has clearly motivated his players at half time, they look a different side after the restart. They have 3 strikes on goal within the first few minutes and manage to get a goal back. The Bathgate defence hesitate when a pass is played across the pitch, this gives the Petersburn striker time to control the ball and to direct an accurate looping shot across goal and in to the opposite corner. Petersburn Thistle 1 v 3 Bathgate Thistle. Just when everyone is starting to think this could be the start of a fightback, Connor intercepts a pass on the half way line and runs through to score.  It’s a great finish at a critical point in the game

Sean finds Bailey with a neat pass and Bailey rolls it in past the keeper to get his hat trick. Petersburn Thistle 1 v 5 Bathgate Thistle. Petersburn still have some fight in them and miss a good chance to pull one back, it’s a one on one but Jake rushes off his line and the striker takes it too wide to allow a finish. David then prevents a certain goal with a superb goal line clearance. Elliot comes on as a sub to make his debut and immediately impresses with some great probing runs down the right side but there are no more goals in this game.  The referee blows for full time with the final score Petersburn Thistle 1 v 5 Bathgate Thistle.

That’s a great result and 2 valuable points in the bag.