Team: Millen, Paterson, Cunningham(Wong), Blyth, Hogarth(c), Cherrie(Fleming), Weare, Fearn, Foley, Nairne(Patience), Alexander

WE WON AT LAST!!!!!!!!

Someone call Gordon Brown, because from now on the date of July 26 th will forever be known as Foutainbridge FC day! After a seemingly never ending run of bad luck and bad results, The Bridge pull a rabbit out the hat and get their first win of the pre-season.

A strong starting XI took to the field with only Ian missing from the Castlebrae game at the weekend, Ian Fleming started on the bench due to a muscle strain. Alba had slight player issues, starting the game with only 10 men until their 11th “man” got changed. The Alba team had caused the Bridge some problems in the last game with their aerial ability, however we knew that their back four were lacking pace, so a formation change was put in place. We started with a 4-5-1 formation, with Barry being asked to support Keith whenever possible, and had two fast tricky wingers to try and get in behind the defence. This ploy worked well in the opening encounters, and it was against the run of play that Alba took the lead midway through the half.

A corner into the box was cleared off the line by John Paterson, but the scramble in the box after left their player with an opportunity to knock a powerful shot high into the net from 8 yards, 1-0 Alba. This took the wind out of us a little, but we were making openings and just being unlucky when it wasn’t falling for us. The equaliser came around 5 minutes later when a quick break gave Barry some breathing space around 20 yards out, and although the effort was on target, the keeper made a hash of it and it bounced off him into the corner of the net for 1-1.

Steven Weare was making his debut in the FFC colours, and was putting himself about well in the middle of the park, and this was freeing up Barry to join in the attacks, along with Cameron Foley from the right mid slot. Alex had to come off injured from left wing, with Grant coming on in his place. Chris was called into action with two fine stops at either post as their speed in attack began to tell, and not long after they restored their lead. A strong run down the wing by their striker left a couple of our defenders in his wake, and as the ball was cut across the box their on-rushing player coolly slotted the ball away from around 16 yards with a well taken finish for 2-1 shortly before half-time.

Half-time 2-1 Alba

Half time saw one change in the Bridge team, with Kevin Cunningham feeling his leg tightening we took him off, moved Foley to left back, and brought on Steve Wong at right midfield for his first game back after a long injury lay-off. We started the second half at a fast pace, determined to get an equaliser as quickly as possible, and we did just that after 5 minutes with Keith Alexander latching on to a long through ball from John Paterson to calmly score his first of the match for 2-2. This ploy was something we had spoken about before the game and again at half-time so it was good to see it work.

As he had on many occasions throughout the match, the referee was doing neither team any favours with his poor decision making, mostly due to poor positioning, and he enraged the Bridge shortly after when he waved play on with the ball clearly 6 ft out of play on the sidelines. He then blamed our players/manager for not being his linesman and waving the flag! Sorry mate but you’re getting paid £35 so you make the decisions, not me. The game was now finely balanced with both teams using the speed of attackers to try and get the upper hand. Chris Millen again kept us in it with a couple of good blocks, while at the opposite end we were guilty of rushing opportunities rather than taking a touch and placing the shots. With the Bridge chasing that elusive first win, we changed formation and brought on Ian Fleming to play up with Keith in our normal 4-4-2 , with Scott Cherrie being sacrificed from the central midfield position.

The Bridge took the lead for the first time in the match when again we caught the Alba back four square and Keith was on it in a flash to repeat his earlier strike for our third of the game for 3-2 to the mighty Bridge. A strange decision from one of their players happened shortly after the restart, with him simply walking off the pitch and getting his stuff , before heading off towards the changing rooms. If he was one of my team, he would be out on his ear for good for leaving his team-mates in trouble. The Ref then got in on the act of strange decisions, when Steve Weare tore through 3 challenges on the edge of the box before being destroyed by a girl (sorry Steve) in the penalty box for what should have been a no-brainer for the Ref. To everyone’s surprise however he pointed for a goal kick to Alba! This again just highlighted how poor the Ref had been, and had it been a league match there would have been an outrage from the Bridge club as a whole.

With time running down, and only around 10 minutes to go, our missed chances came back to haunt us. A through ball down the left was picked up by their striker in the box, and from around 10 yards to picked his spot in the far corner for the equalising goal, for 3-3. All our efforts in the second half were now looking in doubt, and we got out of jail when Nick tried to slide in on their winger only for him to jink over the tackle and on towards the box. Cameron Foley was trying to get back and put in a block, but to our relief and Albas shock, the Ref’ pulled the game back for Nicks challenge and game them a free kick around 15 yards into our half on the touchline! The resulting free-kick came to nothing, and from the goal-kick we put together our final and Keith Alexander’s third goal of the game. Another quick break and great through ball over the last defender, and Keith steadied himself before firing his shot across the keeper and into the opposite corner for the winning goal and his hat-trick. A few scrambles in and around our box came to nothing and the referee’s final whistle was met by a huge victorious roar from the entire Bridge team.

Final Score 4-3 Fountainbridge FC

Managers Comment:
By far our best performance since we formed, with the formation working well, and being chosen specifically to suit this game. Our attacking play is improving with each game, our defence still needs a little work, but again has improved week on week. The game was in danger of being destroyed by the Ref’ but both teams just got on with it in a good strong but generally fair match. Great performances from the whole team, with Barry, Chris M, Keith, and Cammy all putting in strong shows. The M.O.T.M award however goes to STEVEN WEARE for a tiger-like performance in the middle of the park in his 1st game for the club.

M.O.T.M. – Steven Weare

(Man of the match)

J.