Burghmuir 3 - Postal ALC 4 - Div1 North - Strathburn Park - 8th May 2024

TEAM - 1.  G.Cormack  2.  S.Stuart  3.  A.Baxter  4.  A.Macrae  5.  S.Carter  6.  J.Steele  7.  A.Clark  8.  E.Brechin  9.  D.Mackenzie  10.  S.Abel  11.  S.Ahmed  12.  S.Cotovici  14.  M.Maciver  15.  N.MacDonald  16.  B.Webster  17.  R.Webster

OPPOSITION MOTM – A.Clark

Postal were forced into a change from the Lads Club match.  Captain Patterson is on holiday so Stuart came in at right back and Carter moved in to centre back.  Steele put on the armband for the Posties.

Postal put the home side under pressure straight from the start of the first half.  The first chance came after 2 minutes.  Good work down the Postal right saw Clark send the ball into Mackenzie but his shot went past the post.

Burghmuir had a good chance on ten minutes.  The worked the ball down the Postal left, managed to the ball into the box where the number 10 shot just wide.  A lucky escape.

5 minutes later, Mackenzie should have scored.  A corner from the Postal left dropped to his feed but from 6 yards out, his shot with the outside of the boot lacked power and the keeper easily collected.

Postal continued to probe and were eventually rewarded on 27 minutes.  A cross into the box from the Postal left saw the Burghmuir keeper palm the ball into the path of Clark who composed himself and shot home.  0-1.

Almost direct from kick off Postal scored a second.  A Burghmuir defender lost the ball to Steve Abel on the Postal right.  Abel managed to get the ball through to Mackenzie in the box.  The big man rounded half the Burghmuir defence before slotting home low into the net.  0-2.  Putting Postal on easy street…………or so they thought.

Postal nearly made it three nil on 31 minutes when a little flick over the heads of the Burghmuir saw Clark pick up the ball and get his shot away but the keeper saved.

On 35 minutes, Postal gave the home side a gift and some hope.  Carter picked the ball up half way up his own half.  Without looking he tried to play the ball out to right back Stuart but instead fed the ball to a Burghmuir forward.  He then passed the ball to an on-running forward who fired a great low shot low past Cormack before any Postal defender could get near him.  Great finish but slack defending.  1-2.

5 minutes later and it was 2-2.  One long ball over the top of the square Postal defence saw the Burghmuir number 10 get away from Macrae and lift the ball over the head of the on-running keeper Cormack to equalise.  2-2.

On 41 minutes, Ahmed had a chance to put Postal back in front.  A good cross from right back Stuart found Ahmed at the back post but his header was saved well by the home keeper.

Two minutes from half time and Postal took the lead, again, when Mackenzie struck a thunderous drive from 25 yards out which bounced off the bar and over the line.  Great goal from a striker on form.  2-3.

HALF TIME – Burghmuir 2 - Postal ALC 3

Only 2 minutes into the half and the referee gave a penalty to the home side when he adjudged Steele to have pulled a player in the box.  A decision which absolutely baffled the majority of the people watching the game.  Anywhere else on the pitch there’s no way it would have been given as a foul.  The Burghmuir forward converted low past keeper Cormack into his left corner.  3-3.

Postal, again, took the lead 9 minutes into the second half.  A decent ball into the box by Mackenzie was knocked down into the path of Euan Brechin who shot home from outside the box into the keeper’s top right hand corner for his first competitive Postal goal.  Another great goal.  Really well done.  3-4.

The rest of the game saw a nervy display from the Postal defence and to be honest, it only looked like a matter of time before the home side would score again.  Luckily their defence was equally shaky and Postal continued to create chances at the other end.

13 minutes into the half, Bruce Webster, on for Ahmed, got on the end of a low cross into the 6 yard box but he was too slow getting to it and could only get a toe onto the ball shooting wide.

Another great chance to extend the lead on 19 minutes when Abel received a great switch of play from Webster.  He ran in on the keeper but decided to play the ball into Mackenzie instead of shoot.  Mackenzie dilly-dallied and the defender tackled him before he could shoot.

The rest of the game was nervous to say the least with the home side putting pressure on a Postal defence who looked agitated and far too flat at times.  Their closest chance to equalise came when a free kick found an unmarked player who hit the post.

MacDonald had a half chance towards the end of the game but put it over the bar when a cross came in from the Postal right.

The game ended soon after, much to the relief of the Postal sideline.

Final Result – Burghmuir 3 - Postal ALC 4

Overall, a really impressive first half performance and some really good attacking play and goals scored today.  We have played better defensively and will need to when we face Newburgh on Saturday.  Another 3 points on the board, which is the main thing at this time of the season.  Well done.