POSTAL ALC V GLENDALE - SATURDAY 5th OCTOBER

TEAM - 1. R.LAING. 2. S.CARTER. 3. P.COUTTS. 4. M.STEER. 5. B.PATTERSON.

6. S.STUART. 7. L.MACKIE. 8. S.ROBERTSON. 9. C.MACANESPIE. 10. R.LAW.

11. R.INSCH. 12. C.COOK. 14. S.CLARK. 15. L.BEATTIE. 16. I.BRUCE. 17. C.PATTERSON.

Recently demoted Glendale arrived at Webster Park for this Div 2 North game in excellent league form. With 7 wins out of 8 so far this season they were sitting in second place only 4 points off top spot with a game in hand so a tough encounter was on the cards for Postal.

Postal had to make some enforced changes to the team who beat Auchnagatt the week before. Mackie replaced Insch at left midfield with Insch replacing the missing Malseed up top.

Glendale threatened almost immediately from kick off when slack marking almost let veteran striker Robb in behind the Postal defence, attacking the Postal right but the finish was poor, letting Postal off the hook.

Glendale didn't have long to wait before taking the lead though, when Postal gift-wrapped the first on 10 minutes. When the referee gave the away side a debatable free kick on the Postal left, about 40 yards from goal, Postal set themselves up on the 18 yard line. With the wind behind the free kick it was launched in by the Glendale right back McRae. Postal keeper Laing came running off his line to gather but unfortunately for him it sailed over his head and nestled in the back of the net. 0-1.

Glendale doubled their lead 5 minutes later. A Postal throw-in on the left was thrown directly back to the away side, another attempt at clearing the ball was sclaffed and when Willox found himself with the ball just outside the 18 yard box he made no mistake by driving high past the Postal keeper into the top left corner of the net. Defensive errors leading up to the strike but a good goal nonetheless. 0-2.

The remainder of the half was fairly even with neither side creating much and the ball spent too much time, for Postal's liking anyway, up in the air.

HALF TIME - POSTAL ALC 0 - GLENDALE 2.

Postal started the half strongly as they pushed to get back into the game.

1 minute into the half and Postal missed what could possibly end up sitter of the season. Good work by Carter on the Postal right saw him deliver a lovely chipped ball to the Glendale back post where it found Insch waiting to nod home. Unfortunately for Postal, with the whole goal gaping, he headed directly at the only place it wouldn't go into the net, against the keeper, and the ball bounced to safety.

5 minutes later and Postal right back, Carter showed the strikers how you should header the ball into the back of the net. Strong neck muscles to give it power, eyes on the ball and goal at all times to ensure the keeper had no chance. Only problem for Postal, it was into the back of his own net as Postal continued their recent embarrassing habit of giving goals to the opposition. When a cross fell into the Postal box on the right of the defence only Carter will be able to tell you what he was attempting as he smashed the header past Laing with nobody near him. 0-3.

Credit to Postal, they didn't role over and were rewarded on 25 minutes when a good move down the Postal left saw the ball crossed to the in-running Law who knocked the ball home from the 6 yard box. 1-3.

Glendale clinically killed the game off on 40 minutes.

Macanespie was played in behind the Glendale defence. He did well to take it round the away keeper but couldn't put it into the net. When the ball broke to Stuart on the right of the 6 yard box it looked for all the world like his shot hand been hand-balled. The referee initially looked like he had pointed to the spot but then waved play on.

Unfortunately the majority of the Postal players didn't play on at all. They stood still and shouted at the ref while Glendale broke forward at pace. Two blocked shots later and Postal still hadn't got back to help the defence before Middleton for the away side eventually put the ball into the net. Unlucky not to score, unlucky not to get a pen, unlucky not to clear the rebound after clearing off the line but for Postal not to play the whistle is real schoolboy stuff. Poor stuff. 1-4.

Postal got a consolation goal minutes from end. Stuart picked up the ball on the half way line dribbled all the way into the box and dispatched it low past the keeper to the keeper's left. Superb goal but too little too late. 2-4.

FULL TIME - POSTAL ALC 2 - GLENDALE 4

Man Of The Match - SCOTT STUART.

Overall, at least 2 of the goals against today are absolute gifts and you could say that there wasn't too much between the sides, similar to the top of the league Lads Club game, but Postal didn't create much today either if truth be told and the Glendale defence looked pretty comfortable. If we don't start picking up points against the top 5 sides, it'll be another mid-table-mediocrity finish.

Half way through the league season already, with 11 games played, and the mid-season report reads, "must do better".

For Glendale's view of the game visit:

http://www.glendaleafc.co.uk/wordpress/match/1199/