THEOLOGIEANS 1 - POSTAL ALC 2 - DIVISION 2 EAST - HAZLEHEAD - 12/3/22

TEAM - 1. R.Laing 2. A.Riddell 3. S.Stuart 4. S.Carter 5. B.Patterson 6. R.Law 7. S.Robertson 8. M.Hunter 9. K.Dowbekin 10. S.Ure 11. M.Maciver 12. D.MacDonald 14. S.Cotovici 14. G.Davidson 15. P.Coutts

OPPOSITION MOTM – M.Hunter

Postal arrived at Hazlehead to play Theologians on a sunny early March Saturday, still looking for their first win of 2022.

Postal welcomed back Stuart, Law, Davidson and Coutts to the squad with Insch suspended, Frampton offshore and Campbell injured.

The wind wasn’t quite as bad as the last game at Balmedie but it was still pretty disruptive as Postal started the game shooting down the slope.

In the first minute of the half, Postal had their first shot on goal when Law picked the ball up 25 yards out but his shot went just over the bar.

It wasn’t long though till Postal took the lead. A freekick was won just outside the Theo’s box. Riddell stepped up and stroked the ball into the right side of the net. The Theos keeper could only stand still and watch it fly past him. Good goal. 0-1.

On 17 minutes Theos were down to ten men when one of their players got sent off for dissent. Very silly by the player, but a tad harsh from the young referee.

This seemed to galvanize the home side and for the next 15 minutes they more than held their own without really causing the Postal defence any problems.

On 26 minutes Postal missed a sitter. Good work by Stuart down the left hand side saw him cut back to Maciver. His shot was saved from point blank range by the keeper who pushed it round the post for a corner.

On 29 minutes, Theologians had a half chance. When their player went past Riddell on the right, passed it to his team mate on the edge of the box who fired in a decent effort but Laing did well to save the curled shot.

On 30 minutes Postal missed another great chance. Firstly, Law’s shot from the edge of the 6 yard box was saved and from the resultant bobble, Dowbekin somehow sent his shot past the post.

On 37 minutes Theos had another half chance. A long ball into the Postal box was miss-judged by Carter and he fluffed his header. He did well to recover and make a last-gasp tackle on the striker though to put it away for a corner.

3 minutes later, Postal doubled their lead. Stuart got put through one-on-one with the keeper from the Postal left. His shot lacked power, though, and it was put out for a corner.

From the resultant corner Ure was waiting unmarked at the back post to side-foot into the net (off one of the Theos defenders). 0-2.

HALF TIME – THEOLOGIANS 0 - POSTAL ALC - 2

The second half was a bit of a struggle. The pitch was cutting up and Postal were now playing up the slope with the wind picking up with the home side.

They managed to make a chance 3 minutes into the half when Ure played Hunter into the box on the right but his low shot was saved.

On 9 minutes Ure again put through a great ball which fell half way between Maciver and the Theos keeper. The keeper got there first and the chance was lost.

On 11 minutes, a Theos defender got booked for a tackle and was immediately subbed by his management team. Once off the pitch he was then ordered off for dissent. A bizarre moment.

On 32 minutes it was Postal who would find themselves a man down when Law picked up his second booking of the match for a late tackle. A harsh decision again from the referee who was now handing out a lot of bookings in a match which was by no means a dirty one.

Postal were beginning to get deeper and deeper as the half went on. And although they had moments when they were passing the ball between themselves and in control of the game, there were other moments when they gave the ball back far too easily putting themselves under pressure.

On 37 minutes the home side pulled one back to set the game up for a grandstand finale. A simple enough looking ball over the top of the, very deep, Postal defence saw Laing initially do well to make a save. When the ball fell to the Theo’s forward the Postal defence retreated to the line instead of charging the ball down and the forward fired home unchallenged. 1-2.

If Postal were deep before, they were now almost standing on Laing’s line for the rest of the match as nerves clearly kicked in. Theos even threw their goaley up for set-pieces which was quite exciting for the supporters. Postal rode their luck with Riddell clearing off the line at one point but held out to win their first game of 2022.

Overall Postal dominated the majority of the match but failed to put the game to bed with poor shooting which will always give teams hope. On a bumpy pitch and windy day it was never going to be silky smooth though, so well done for finding a way to win and picking up all three points. Next up Bon Accord at Hazlehead again.