Our 2nd match in the Summer Leagues ended in a hard fought 2-1 victory for the Brdige that extended our unbeaten run to 6, and more importantly kept our fitness levels up during the close season. The legs were weary by the end for both teams on a sapping pitch in high temperatures, and although we didn't play as well as we can, we still came away with the 3 points to keep us in with a chance of qualifying for the quarter finals. Corstorpine had the better of the possession in the opening half hour, but didn't really threaten Strevs in the Bridge goal, mostly through them chosing the wrong final ball as they approached the area. THe Bridge made good use of their time on the ball tho, and Keith, Lee, Kyle (trialist), and Bo were all getting into the area to create chances, with Keith and Kyle both denied by their keeper.
The Bridge players are still getting used to the 4-4-2 formation that we are trying to use more often, and the gaps were evident in the centre of the park where Bo and Lee were getting swamped by Corstorphine players, yet it was from a good break forward by an unlikely source that we got our best chance of the game. Bri did well to cut out an attack and played a quick ball into Keith's run way out on the right, he sped past the 1st defender and as he made his way into the box out wide he was crudely chopped down from the back for an obvious penalty award to the Bridge, however no card was shown once again by Brian the Ref.
After Keith's miss against JP we agreed to move the penalty taking onto someone else and Lee was confident in taking it. His effort however lacked power and although it was well placed down low near the post, their Keeper had time to dive full stretch and tip it away for a corner that came to nothing.
We took the lead shortly after though and it was a Keith special that saw him burst past 3 defenders before drawing the keeper out and slotting it away with the usual aplome we are acustomed to for 1-0 to the Bridge. Our lead only lasted 5mins tho and after some sloppy defending down their left the ball was allowed to be played right accross the 6yard box where it wasn't dealt with twice by the Bridge back line and it was drilled low past Strevs from 8 yards for the equaliser.
H/T 1-1
We started far better in the 2nd half, and got our passing game going, with both Bo and Paul linking up well down the left, and Keith dropping deep to get posession of the ball. Our back line were playing far tighter than in the 1st period, and the gaps were being closed down as we had spoken about at the break. With 10 mins gone in the half Broony suffered bad cramp and was replaced by Deano (trialist) on the right of midfield. This brought a new dimension to our play as his energy and passing ability saw him push up and help out our front pairing. Corstorphine didn't have a shot at Strevs that was on target during the 1st 25mins of the 2nd half which showed how much our defending had improved, whilst their keeper was being kept busy. The good chances were few and far between and it looked like a breakthrough wasn't coming until Paul did well on the left to release Keith away in the channel. He seared past the RB before cutting it back to near the pen
spot for the onrushing Bo, but he couldn't keep the shot down and it flew over the bar. Andy then came on for Paul to give Bri a bit more support on the left side, and we wanted to use his long throw if the chance came up. With 15mins to go Kyle was replaced by John up top to try and make something happen, and the change almost paid off in Nacho Novo style. Chris took a long throw from the right in line with the box, which was controlled by Deano who then laid it off along the 18yard line to John who was shouting for it. The Gaffer took a touch to knock it past the defender and it bounced up nicely just inside the area for the old man to fire a volley in that flew in at the keeper, only for the GK to move quickly to get his hands up high to block it away above his head. It could've been the perfect introduction into the game for John, but as in the last few games, the opposition keeper was up to the task.
With 10mins to go we got what would be the winning goal. Bo collected the ball in the centre circle and played it up to Keith who played a neat 1-2 with John before he picked out Deano's run into the area. He brought it under control and with the defenders closing in he knocked it past the keeper for a great team goal.
Deano went from saint to sinner with only mins to go tho when a free kick into our box was headed back into danger after we had cleared it. Deano went up with their player to challenge for the ball and was adjudged to have handled it inside the area for another very dubious penalty in the long list of decisions given against the Bridge by Brian this and last season. Their infuential no' 9 stepped up to the plate but his pen was very poor and Strevs got down to blocked it away to keep the scoreline at 2-1 to the Bridge.
Final Score 2-1 Fountainbridge FC
Manager's Comment
Another game, another win, and it was good to see us only concede the one goal during the match. Both sides missed a pen, and their keeper had a couple of good blocks, so overall we probably shaded the match. Both Trialists did well, particularily Deano after coming on as a sub, and the 4-4-2 looked stronger in the 2nd half. Our next game is against Summer Strollers at Edin Acad on Wed 10th with a 6.45pm k.o.
Best in the Tangerine: Keith led the line well and got through a power of running against a couple of decent defenders, Bo came onto a good game in the 2nd half, and Deano had a great 30min run out after coming on. M.O.T.M this week is a joint effort tho and goes to BRIAN VIETCH & JOHNNY MACKENZIE who both stayed calm during the seige in the 1st half and showed great strength in the tackle all game.
Well done to both.
A.Strevens 8
B.Veitch 8M
T.Irving 8
J.Mackenzie 8M
C.Blyth 7
P.Christie 7 (A.Stewart 70mins 7)
L.Davidson 8
J.Riddoch 7
S.Brown 7 (trialist 60mins 8 (1g))
Trialist 7 (J.Gray 75mins 7)
K.ALexander 8 (1g)
Not used: S.Walton, T.Chan
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