POSTAL ALC 3 - HALLIBURTON 1 - DIV 2 NORTH - WEBSTER PARK 13/8/22

TEAM - 1. S.Walker 2. C.Reith 3. A.Baxter 4. S.Carter 5. B.Patterson 6. M.Hunter 7. A.Clark 8. J.Steele 9. L.Melia 10. K.Dowbekin 11. N.Cain 12. N.Wiley 14. B.Campbell 15. E.Martin 16. S.Ahmed 17. G.Gormack 18. R.Webster 19. P.Coutts

OPPOSITION MOTM – J.Steele

Another beautiful hot, sunny day at Webster Park, saw Postal entertain Halliburton. The Westhill team are newly demoted from many years in Div1 so a hard game was always going to be on the cards today.

Postal had a full bench today, with the new rules allowing 5 on from 7. Postal made two changes from last week’s starting line-up with Cain replacing the unavailable Webster up top and Clark coming back into the midfield.

Postal had a decent warmup so there could be no excuses for their slow start to the first half, which saw them give away a goal after only 5 minutes. They allowed a Halliburton player far too much time on the ball, on the Postal right, and when he swung in a high hopeful cross into the box there was nobody marking their striker who looped a header over Walker to take the lead. Disappointing defending from a Postal point of view. 0-1.

Postal were being hemmed in for the first ten minutes and the Halliburton number 11 was causing all sorts of problems with his movement and pace.

Luckily that was about as good as it got for the away side as Postal regained their composure and started to come into the half.

On ten minutes, Postal missed a real good chance to equalise. A corner from Postal on the right was eventually played back out to Steele. His cross found Melia at the back post, and when it looked easier to score the big man somehow managed to head wide.

On 25 minutes a challenge from a Halliburton forward on keeper Walker meant the game was stopped to allow him to recover from a head knock. Poor challenge and not even a booking in the ref’s opinion.

Postal’s dominance eventually saw them equalise on 30 minutes. A corner from the Postal left, was sent in low and after a bit of a “stramash” Hunter fired it low into the net for his third of the season so far. 1-1.

On 35 minutes Cain latched onto a ball over the top of the away defence which saw him race in on goal. Unfortunately for Postal a defender made a great, last gasp, tackle just as the forward was about to pull the trigger.

On 38 minutes, Melia made a good pass into the path of Dowbekin in the box but his shot at the near post was saved and away to safety.

A bad tackle on Melia towards the end of the half saw the big man come limping off at half time, and again no booking.

HALF TIME – POSTAL ALC 1 – HALLIBURTON 1

Postal made a change at half time with Webster replacing Reith. With keeper Walker and Melia both struggling the decision was made to give them time to recover on the pitch.

Postal survived another early scare. Patterson, having a great game in defence today, misjudged one of about a hundred headers today, and the ball sailed over the rest of the square Postal defence to leave the away forward a one-on-one with keeper Walker. He decided to lift it over Walkers head and luckily for Postal it went just over the bar. Lucky let off.

A couple of minutes later, it was Postal’s Melia who would find himself one-on-one, but the away keeper once again saved. The big man would soon come off injured, a result of the bad first half tackle. Dowbekin moved into the centre with Martin coming on to the left.

18 minutes into the half, and Postal took the lead. A simple enough ball over the top saw Dowbekin put real pressure on the away centre back. With the defender at sixes and sevens the ball eventually broke to Martin who kept his composure to sweep a really good finish low into the net past the keeper. 2-1.

Hunter was replaced by Ahmed with 25 minutes remaining.

On 30 minutes, Postal all but killed off the game as a contest. A corner into the box, saw the ball drop to Carter’s feet. He pulled it back to Baxter who fired home his first goal for the club. 3-1.

Postal took the opportunity to get Wiley and Campbell on the pitch with Cain and Dowbekin coming off.

The remainder of the game saw Postal dropping a bit too deep and hitting on the counter attack but neither side had any real chances of note.

Overall, possibly not the prettiest of performances from Postal, but, apart from the start of both halves, they were disciplined defensively, dominated possession, and looked by far the fitter and hungrier of the two sides to win all three points. Well done.