Ellon Thistle 3 - Postal ALC 5 - Div 1 North - Ellon Meadows, Sat 24th Feb.
TEAM - 1. S.Walker 2. S.Stuart 3. A.Baxter 4. S.Carter 5. B.Patterson 6. L.Giulianotti 7. A.Clark 8. J.Steele 9. D.Mackenzie 10. S.Abel 11. B.Webster 12. S.Cotovici 14. S.Ahmed 15. M.Maciver 16. P.Frampton 17. G.Cormack
OPPOSITION MOTM – A.Clark
Postal arrived at a mild, sunny day in Ellon to play Ellon Thistle for the first time this season in Div 1 North. Ellon didn’t have the best starts to the season but have recently seen their form pick up and although they are second bottom in the league, a tough match was anticipated.
With Cormack pulling out due to injury in the warm-up, Walker took his place in goal.
The first 20 minutes of the match were fairly even although the style of football completely different. Ellon were always keen to go direct, utilising their keeper’s impressive long kick out. Postal were trying to play a more passing game on the floor.
It was Postal who would take the lead on the 20 minute mark. Patterson strode forward out of defence and played in the ball into Mackenzie’s feet just outside the box. The big striker did well to turn and get his shot away scoring low into the keeper’s right. 0-1.
Baxter was doing well at this point in his first start since November, causing problems overlapping from defence and working well with the energetic Webster.
On 25 minutes, Ellon pulled themselves level. Postal gave the ball away, far too easily on the Postal left. With the Postal defence appealing for an offside the Ellon forward played on and duly slotted past Walker. Frustratingly slack from Postal causing their own problems. 1-1.
Credit to Postal, though, they equalised almost immediately. They were awarded a free kick. The ball was sent into the box, the Ellon keeper dropped it and Giulianotti was on hand to prod home. 1-2.
Postal were really looking good at this stage, using the wide pitch to work the ball on the grass using the full backs to work the ball forward. The goal of the game was scored on 34 minutes. Webster picked the ball up on the half way line on the left. He did well to switch play across to the right and bombed on, into the box where he was on hand at the back post to knock home a great Abel cross. Great goal. 1-3.
On 39 minutes Postal handed Ellon another lifeline against the run of play. A Baxter pass was intercepted on the Postal left. The ball was then played high onto the edge of the Postal box. Postal’s Stuart missed the header and the Ellon player was in on goal one-on-one scoring low into the net. 2-3.
On 44 minutes Steele picked the ball up from a short corner and got his shot away from just outside the box but the keeper did well to punch the ball over the bar. From the resulting corner Giulianotti saw his header go just wide.
HALF TIME – Ellon Thistle 2 – Postal ALC 3
A lot of praise given to the boys from the management at half time, with the hope that we could continue that form in the second half. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and the second half was dominated by the home side. Much like the recent BSFC game Postal were being over-run, and dropped deeper and deeper as the half went on and it looked like only a matter of time before Ellon equalised.
On 33 minutes that’s exactly what happened. An Ellon player went by Patterson on the left, got his cross into the box. Carter jumped in and was turned on the edge of the 6 yard box leaving the Ellon forward to score. 3-3.
At this point in the game, the Postal management would have taken a draw back to Aberdeen as a point gained but the game turned on 43 minutes. Frampton was sent through on goal, using his pace to run in on the keeper with the Ellon defence’s offside trap sprung. He went past the keeper but was hacked down. Ahmed followed up with a shot over the bar but luckily Postal were awarded a penalty for the keeper’s challenge. Frampton dusted himself down and slotted home, low into the keeper’s left. The keeper was booked for his challenge. 3-4.
The Ellon players looked like they knew they had blown it and 2 minutes later, Postal made it 5. Postal worked their way into the box from the Postal left with good work by Maciver. Frampton got his shot away but could only hit the post. When he retrieved it back, the keeper again had a wild hack at him and another penalty was awarded. The keeper was sent off for his recklessness. Frampton again did well to score the pen and take all 3 points back to Aberdeen. 3-5.
Full Time – Ellon Thistle 3 – POSTAL ALC 5
Overall a really impressive first half performance from Postal today was almost undone by slack defending and a poor second half performance. Credit to the boys today though. They could have folded when Ellon scored the equaliser to make it 3-3, but they showed some real bottle to keep going and win the match. Really satisfying 3 points. Well done.
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