POSTAL ALC 3 - TOLBOOTH 2 - EDMOND TROPHY - Saturday 5th April - Webster Park

Premier League Tolbooth visited Webster Park to take on Postal in this Edmond Cup fixture.  Postal had not managed to beat Tolbooth in any of the competitive matches the two sides had played coming into this game so a touch encounter was expected given the volume of trophies Tolbooth had collected in the recent past.

Team Selection:

Grant Cormack

Steven Carter

James Steele

Euan Brechin

Bruce Webster

Kieron Dowbekin

Alex Clark

Phillip Wallace

Harry McAuley

Steven Abel

Duncan MacKenzie

Bench:

David Finch

Martin Maciver

Sultan Ahmed

Ross Murray

Adam Veitch

Ali Macrae

Tolbooth won the toss and kicked off the encounter.

Straight from kick off Tolbooth would look to go direct and on the 3rd minute Kieron Dowbekin almost gave away a penalty crashing into an opposition player.  Luckily the referee waved play on.

Tolbooth had the physical advantage in the middle of the park however Clark, Wallace and Dowbekin were playing neat football and getting round the Tolbooth engine room. 

On the 5th minute a Steele freekick was flicked at goal by McAuley however his shot was well saved by the Tolbooth keeper. 

7th minute Duncan Mackenzie collected the ball, spun and played in Abel.  Unfortunately the keeper collected at the wingers feet.

On the 10th minute Postal had a great chance to score the opening goal.  Mackenzie again holding the ball up, rolled it back to Wallace who nutmegged his midfield marker and rolled the ball out to Clark on the left.  Clark crossed to Wallace however the ball bounced up and hit his arm as he was about to steady himself to score. 

11th minute the away side would take the lead.  A long kick out from the keeper was missed in the air by Brechin, with no cover behind him number 9 ran through and slipped the ball under Cormack.

0 – 1

Tolbooth were not in the ascendancy however on the 12th minute an Alex Clark free kick was well saved by the visitors keeper.   

On the 18th minute Tolbooth number 10 hit a stinging free kick that was too hot to handle for Cormack, number 8 following up was thwarted by Cormack for a fine double save. 

On the 20th minute a moment of real class for Postal.  Clark intercepted the ball and fed Wallace who with the outside of his right foot, sprayed a 30 yard ball out to Abel.  Abel put a wicked cross into the box to find McAuley who knocked the ball down to Mackenzie who slammed the ball into the top left hand corner of the goal. Excellent team goal.

1 – 1

Postal were now coming into the game however on the 30th minute a lost ball in the middle of the park was lobbed into the Postal box.  Cormack was beaten by number 9 in the air however collected the ball on the deck.

35th minute a Tolbooth freekick into the box was headed towards goal with Cormack its equal.  Number 3 then followed up with a shot that went across the goal line and out for a Postal throw in.

On the 41st minute the strong running Clark was fouled by the Tolbooth midfield.  Phil Wallace stepped up and smacked in a free kick from all of 28 yards into the top left corner.  A moment of real brilliance. 

2 -1

42nd minute Dowbekin realised Abel on the Postal right, crossing Mackenzie seen his header toward goal blocked as Postal finished the stronger of the two sides. 

HT 2 – 1

Tolbooth came out the traps flying in the second half and pout Postal under pressure almost immediately. 

46th minute Cormack tips a powerful freekick over the bar. 

58th minute another long range freekick was parried by Cormack and Carter cleared the ball up the field.

60th minute Clark blocks a sure fire goal at the edge of the box.  From the resulting corner Clark again blocks at the edge of the box to ensure Cormack isn’t troubled. 

In the 66th minute, completely against the run of play a long ball by Postal finds Abel in the box only to see the keeper stretch well to save his chipped effort.

68th minute Mackenzie rolled the ball to Wallace who fed Clark, unfortunately the ball bounced up and the resultant shot went into the hands of the keeper.

69th minute Tolbooth number 10, not a prominent figure in the match, took the ball to the byline and crossed.  Tolbooth header on goal came off the post, bounced off the back of Brechins head and looked to have crossed the goal line only for the play to be waved on.

70th minute would see Tolbooth equalise.  10 again racing to the goal line, crossing with his left foot as Brechin looked to clear the ball he couldn’t grow tall enough and the ball was put into the net by the Tolbooth attacker at the back post.

2 -2

75th minute Postal should have taken the lead.  A Macauley flick on played in Abel.  Abel laid the ball back to Wallace however his shot was cleared off the line. 

76th minute Sultan Ahmed replaces Keiron Dowbekin.

On the 82nd minute Postal had a freekick on the right of the Tolbooth box, captain Steele rolled the ball to the unmarked Wallace.  The ball took a huge bobble however Wallace dispatched with his left foot from 22 yards.  A sublime finish.  3-2

85th minute Martin Maciver replaces Duncan Mackenzie.

Tolbooth kept pushing and on the 90th minute following a corner number 14, with a clear header missed the target. 

Substitutes Not Used – David Finch, Ross Murray, Adam Veitch and Ali Macrae

Great performance from Postal today with some exquisite goals.  To a man each of the players put on an excellent display at Webster Park to advance to the next round of the cup.