Thursday, April 09, 2009

Brady Grabs a Bunch of Goals to kill off 'Mallie


Glenurquhart 8 Kilmallie 0
This was a surprise result to the followers of the Glen because Kilmallie are a side with a history of achievement at this level having been more or less permanent fixtures in the Sutherland cup final over recent years. Perhaps we were fortunate in getting them on a bad day - because as Ken Kennedy and Dougal pointed out - there were a few youngsters off with the senior team on MacTavish Cup duty. Whatever the reality, the Glen ran out convincing winners but it was not so straightforward in the first half and there were times early on when Kilmallie’s youthful line up looked as if they could score. Fortunately they did not but it took until the 15th minute of what was in truth a very scrappy opening, for the Glen to get their noses in front and this they did courtesy of a penalty. The circumstances were a little unfortunate against Kilmallie because the full back was judged to have kicked a ball which was being fired across the goal area. Stuart Morrison fired the resultant free hit home and the score seemed to settle the Glen.
At this period Ben Hosie was in top form, gathering the ball on the run and attempting to vary the play at all times and his invention paid off in 25 minutes when he picked up a high ball on the left. Hosie slipped it to David Smart who chipped the ball across the D. The Kilmallie keeper swung to clear it but his attempted clearance bounced off the inrushing Morrison and crossed the line for the Glen’s second strike of the match.
The Glen continued to have the better of the exchanges for the rest of the half but to the frustration of Manager Henderson they did not seem to have the penetration which playing at this level requires.
The second half however was to tell a different story: the match had hardly got back underway when in the first attack Hosie gathered the ball on the left wing and conjured it back into the path of Dave Smart and his rocket shot from the buckshee position gave the keeper no chance. Three minutes later it was the turn of Iain Macleod to score from distance. Having unconvincingly taken a free hit which was charged down by a Kilmallie defender, Macleod chased the loose ball won it back and blasted it past the keeper from just outside the centre circle. It was a superb strike but better was yet to come.
Goal of the game arrived in the 50th minute with once again Hosie as the instigator. Again having picked up a ball on the left he fired it forward to Stuart Morrison who deftly turned it across into the path of Calum Fraser and the big man smashed it first time into the net with perfect timing.
With the game safely in the bag at 5-up there were three substitutions in quick order with Andrew "Panda" Crichton coming on up front for Stuart Morrison, Calum Smith returning from injury taking his place in the defence and 13 year old Ewan Brady coming on at right wing forward. The player of the day turned out to be Brady who capped his short spell on the field with a well taken hat trick in the last ten minutes of play as a tired Kilmallie gave up all pretence of resistance. The first of his three came in 80 minutes when after showing close control on the right wing he fired his shot though a ruck of players into the bottom corner, a second followed in 85 and two minutes from time he kept his balance, enticed the keeper to fall and clipped the ball neatly home between post and stanchion at the shop end.
A good result then and one that pleased the home fans though it has to be said that Kilmallie really did not deserve to lose by such a margin. Equally pleasing was the form of the home team with Smart, buckshee Gary Smith and full centre Iain Macleod in excellent form. Drew Maclennan also had a solid game in defence while up front Hosie was in outstanding form and linked well with the tireless Euan Fraser. Donald Fraser had a convincing defensive performance and when he came on Calum Smith showed he has lost none of his presence of mind, despite missing out for three weeks with a back injury.
The only thing that put a damper on the match was the news that the top team were being held to a draw in Glenorchy while at the same time missing a penalty and having a goal ruled off side. Billy Urquhart scored the Glen goal in the 1-1 draw while Grant MacPherson bagged a penalty for Glenorchy. Still the Glen have three points from their matches and with a bit more finesse in front of goal particularly in Oban they would surely have had more.
The picture today- Ewan Brady. Why? He scored his first hat trick for the Glen. Well done Ewan!

 
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