FEUGHSIDE 3 - POSTAL ALC 2 - DIV 1 NORTH - FINZEAN - Saturday 24th Aug 2024
TEAM - 1. David Finch 2. Adam Veitch 3. David Russell 4. Travis Raynard 5. Andrew Baxter 6. Doug Russell 7. Euan Brechin 8. James Steele 9. Sultan Ahmed 10. Steven Able 11. Alex Clark 12. Bruce Webster 14. Scott Stuart 15. Harry McCauley 16. Martin Maciver 17. Duncan MacKenzie
OPPOSITION MOTM – Sultan Ahmed
Postal made two changes to the starting line up from the Newburgh Thistle tie with Alex Clark coming into the middle of the park and Harry McCauley dropping out onto the bench. David Finch replaced the holidaying Grant Cormack in goal.
The Postal ALC management asked for the same effort and desire as per the Newburgh thistle encounter on Wednesday when perhaps they should have detailed quality in further depth.
Postal kicked off the game and on 2 minutes great skill from Sultan Ahmed down the Postal left saw his cut back land at the feet of Alex Clark. The midfielder providing the third man run saw his shot blocked by the Feughside defender.
3 minutes into the encounter Feughside broke free from the Postal dominance and forced a corner which was defended well and cleared. On 6 minutes under no real pressure Andrew Baxter collected a pass from Travis Raynard 30 yards from goal, with little to no cover, the defender choose to take on the number 10 of Feughside only to be dispossessed. Number 10 then strode into the Postal penalty area before chipping keeper Finch for the home side to take the lead. Schoolboy defending from Baxter who has had a great start to the campaign. 1-0
Postal then dominated proceedings with shots from Veitch on 11 minutes, Doug Russell on 13 minutes from a great cross from David Russell and again Veitch on 14 minutes with his left foot. All high, wide or not troubling the Feughside keeper.
On 30 minutes excellent play from Brechin saw the midfielder release Doug Russell down the Postal right hand side. Driving into the box Doug was fouled in the box and a penalty awarded. Concern for Russell as he stayed down. Doug Russell has broken his collar bone, which is a nightmare for Postal as the summer signing has been a revelation with his work effort and drive.
Prior to the penalty being taken Duncan Mackenzie replaced the injured Russell with Abel dropping to right wing.
Captain James Steele stepped up and smashed in an excellent penalty to equalise for the away side. 1-1
Postal were looking good with free flowing passing moves all over the pitch, Sultan Ahmed having a particularly good game taking on the Feughside right back for fun.
As is normally the case failure to divert your chances always leaves you at risk and on 39 minutes the home side took the lead. Failure to close down the Feughside left winger, who had cut into the pitch, his resultant cross was met by the number 11 who dispatched past Finch. Particularly galling as the Postal sideline had been screaming for him to be picked up and marked. 2-1
Postal advanced up the field straight away and intricate play lead to Steele being in the centre of the 18 yard box on his own. Opting to move the ball onto his left foot, where the defender was, and shoot….his shot was blocked and diverted for a corner.
On 40 minutes things almost went from bad to worse for Postal. A Veitch short back pass, saw confusion reign in the Postal defence and Feughsides number 9 passed to number 11. Number 11 steadied himself however saw Finch fit for the task with a terrific save to keep Postal in the game.
HALF TIME – FEUGHSIDE 2 – POSTAL ALC 1
Half time the Postal management asked for the team to return to the defensive shape which had seen them more comfortable in previous games, aware Feughsides only real weapon was a long ball to the hard running number 9. Request was to keep the ball on the deck and play through midfield after witnessing a first half more akin to a war zone shelling balls from the back to the front. Emphasis was to get to the byline and pick out the on coming runners.
Postal started the second half well, still shelling the ball forward, however on 50 min Duncan had a shot into the keepers arms that gave the away team confidence. Postal would then equalise on 55 min, a Steele corner was met by Mackenzie, hitting a defender, before Veitch was on hand to smash the ball home. 2-2
60 min Abel played a great through ball to Mackenzie however the tall striker couldn’t make his normal contact and the ball screwed past the post when one on one with the keeper, although the defender was close behind.
61 minutes Webster replaced Sultan Ahmed.
62 minutes later a near carbon copy of his earlier chance, this time Mackenzie opting to shoot high and the feughside keeper saved well to tip the ball over the bar.
64 minutes Veitch with a great overlapping got onto the end of a through ball and was taken down in the box. With a penalty awarded Steele stepped up for a second time, again opting to put his penalty to the keepers right however this time at a perfect height for the keeper to save.
As the first half had demonstrated if you don’t take your chances you are likely to be punished. The warning came on 76 minutes when a long ball to Able from defence was unable to be controlled the Feughside number 9 found himself through on goal onto to shoot wide of Finches bottom left post.
77 min again the same floating free kick was attempted, again Feughside won possession and this time the number 9 passed to 11 who say his shot parried away by Finch……only for number 9 to dispatch high into the Postal net to take the lead and ultimately win the game. 3-2
80 min – Harry replaces Abel
With Postal pushing for the next goal on 90 minutes a Steele free kick was chested by Brechin towards the goal however was wide of the target. A limp finish following a limp performance.
Overall a disappointing result that seen Postal abandon all sense of shape defensively resulting in individual errors being exposed. Attacking wise the quality on display was extremely poor and decision making in the final third was beggars belief at times.
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