Bridge of Don 2 - Postal ALC 1 - Dickie Trophy Semi Final - Balmoral Stadium

Sunday 31^st May seen Postal and Bridge of Don face off for the third time this season knowing the winner would take on University for the Dickie Trophy.  Postal welcomed back James Steele and Craig Mackie into the starting line up.  

1. Grant Cormack

2. Andrew Riddell

3. Bruce Webster

4. Adam Veitch

5. Craig Mackie

6. Luca Giulianotti

7. James Steele

8. Alex Clark

9. Phil Wallace

10. Sultan Ahmed

11. Doug Russell

Bench: 

12. Andreas Jones

13. Mark Robb

14. Scott Stuart

15. Robbie Simmons

16. Duncan MacKenzie

The visitors made a dream start, taking the lead inside two minutes. After forcing consecutive corners in the opening exchanges, BOD capitalised from the second set-piece. A cleverly worked routine saw Veitch blocked off, allowing a BOD player the space to convert and put Postal on the back foot almost immediately.

0 – 1

Postal responded positively and began to grow into the game. Another BOD corner on seven minutes caused concern, with Veitch unable to make clean contact under the ball, while a speculative effort from the visitors' number 15 drifted over the bar.

The home side started to create chances of their own. Webster tested the goalkeeper on 15 minutes with a well-struck effort that was comfortably saved. Two minutes later, Postal found the equaliser. Riddell's free-kick delivery initially broke to Giulianotti, whose effort was blocked, but the ball fell kindly for Ahmed. The forward reacted quickest and drilled a left-footed shot in off the post to level the match at 1-1.

1 – 1

Buoyed by the goal, Postal enjoyed their strongest spell of the half. Ahmed continued to cause problems, seeing a left-footed effort deflected wide before Postal threatened repeatedly from the resulting corners. Giulianottis header was cleared off the line, while another corner found Wallace whose shot was blocked. The loose ball dropped invitingly for Ahmed six yards out, but he blazed over when it looked easier to score.

BOD remained dangerous on the counter and saw their number nine fire over from inside the box on 26 minutes. At the other end, Giulianotti tested the goalkeeper with a strike from the edge of the area on the half-hour mark, while a Wallace excellent volley three minutes later also drew a smart save.

Postal continued to press. Ahmed produced a brilliant individual run on 38 minutes, beating a string of defenders before forcing another save from the keeper. Four minutes before the break, he was denied again before Russell squared for Wallace to finish, only for the offside flag to cut short the celebrations.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Postal carrying the greater attacking threat. Just two minutes after the restart, Ahmed burst down the flank and picked out Wallace, who couldn't keep his effort down. The same combination nearly worked again on 53 minutes, but Wallace finish once more cleared the crossbar.

BOD struggled to create clear-cut opportunities, with a long-range effort from their number eight sailing over on the hour mark. Postal continued to search for a winner. Russell dragged a shot wide on 61 minutes before Stuart forced another save from the visiting goalkeeper three minutes later.

Having created the better chances throughout much of the contest, Postal were cruelly punished 15 minutes from time. The BOD centre-half stepped in ahead of Mackenzie deep inside his own half and embarked on an impressive run all the way to the Postal byline. His cross into the box was met by the head of the visitors' number nine, who guided the ball beyond the goalkeeper to restore BOD's lead.

1 – 2

Postal pushed hard for a second equaliser but could not find the breakthrough. The visitors nearly added a third in the closing stages when a free-kick crashed back off the crossbar in the 84th minute.

Despite the result, Postal can take encouragement from a performance that created numerous opportunities and saw them control large spells of the game. However, missed chances ultimately proved costly as BOD celebrated following a clinical display in both penalty areas.

MoM – N/A

Goals – Sultan Ahmed

Booked –  N/A

Red Card –  N/A