Buchan Ladies V Falkirk Ladies.
Sunday 25th May 2008 –
2:00pm kick-off.
Buchan, Aberdeenshire.
“Buchan Battered by Brilliant Bairns ”
The mighty Falkirk Ladies set off from home early today to travel north and to Aberdeenshire to face bottom side Buchan Ladies in the 2nd last game of the current campaign. Fresh from their 4-1 win at Bishopbriggs the previous Sunday, confidence was high in the camp that despite the long journey faced by the players and coaching team, 3 points would be coming back. The squad was a little lighter in size with the absence of skipper Clare Harris who was at a family engagement and Natalie Stewart who is currently injured.
Playing in a familiar 3-5-2 formation the ladies kicked off................
The home side were struggling to field a team for this match and so the rather young and fresh faces that were wearing the Buchan shirt only added to the confidence that Coach Wilson felt before kick-off. Kicking into a stiff breeze in the first half the Falkirk Bairns went on the search for the opening goal. Shirley Martin found herself with time and space on 2min to send a delightful ball into the path of the on-rushing Ashley McDonald but her first time shot was saved by the home keeper.
The Bairns were looking hungry for the ball and sure enough the opening goal arrived on 4min. Alana Marshall showed some fine control and her neat passing with Kerry Graham sent Ashley McDonald into the penalty area, rounding the keeper, and placing the ball into the empty net (0-1). This was the perfect start that the coaching team had demanded from their players and were now looking for the team to press on and finish the game as a contest. A Falkirk corner on 9min was sent into the penalty area and as the ball broke on the edge of the box Emma 'Kirky' Lyons fired a shot just wide of target. With the Bairns pressing a quick counter-attack saw the home side back on level terms. A swift move down the Falkirk right, 13min, saw the young striker race towards the by-line and with the Bairns all at sea the ball was squared to the unmarked Buchan player to slot past Keeper Renny (1-1). Far too many times this season the Falkirk defence have failed in their duty to deal with simple balls played into the box, a statistic that will need to change next season. With the quality that is already in place for next season I am sure this will be the case.
This Buchan goal against the run of play seemed to inject some life into the Falkirk players and Nicole Letford was next to fire a shot just over the bar on 17min. The Bairns did regain the lead on 23min when pint size striker Kerry Graham nipped in front of the on-rushing Buchan keeper to lob the ball over her head and into the back of the net for her 30th goal in all competitions for the season (1-2). Young Kerry has been a revelation this season under the guidance of coaches Wilson and Thomson and should surely be a candidate for player of the year this season. The Bairns were in control of the game and a surging run from Sarah MaLennan on 30min saw her cover some 60 yards with the ball before the ref adjured there to be a Falkirk player in an off-side position.
Nicole Letford and Shirley Martin were playing some fantastic balls over the Buchan defence for the strikers to run on to and this paid off on 36min. Nicole played a delightful pass through the heart of the home defence for Alana Marshall and she picked her spot past the keeper for Falkirk’s third (1-3). Falkirk really should have had a fourth goal on 41min when Alana Marshall provided an excellent cross for Kirky Lyons to meet with a neat volley but the home keeper pulled off a great save to keep her side in the game. With half-time approaching, Buchan found them a life-line after the Bairns again gave away possession. A mix-up between Sarah and Kirky, 44min, allowed the home-side to race away and a resulting neat shot inside the penalty area beat Keeper Renny and hit the back of the net (2-3).
Half-Time: Buchan Ladies (2) V (3) Falkirk Ladies.
After some encouraging half-time words of wisdom from the coaching team the second half kicked off with the Bairns playing with the strong wind at their backs. Due to the strong conditions the opening 10 minutes of the half saw the ball spend more time in the air or out the pitch as players struggled to find their touch or range of passing. The ever busy Kirky Lyons fired a hopeful shot towards the Buchan goal on 60min however this sailed high and wide of the target. Buchan also forced a corner on 66min however on this occasion the Bairns defence managed to clear their lines and the danger was gone.
Falkirk Subs: - Laura Yuill (on) & Kelly Fullerton (on) 68min
- Alana Marshall (off) & Shirley Martin (off)
With Alana Marshall being withdrawn due to a niggling knee injury, Laura Yuill went up-front with Kerry Graham and this also allowed Ashley McDonald to play wider on the left than her normal deeper midfield role. This was to have an instant impact to the game. Keeper Renny's long clearance, 70min, caught the home-side napping and Ashley McDonald raced away on goal and sure enough...............................GOAL (2-4). It's amazing what a change can bring and only 3minutes later, Ash had her hat-trick. Kirky Lyons raced down the Buchan left, 73min, and provided an inch-perfect cross for Ashley to finish at the back-post (2-5). Would the scoring be finished at that.......no chance as the Bairns had the wind in their sail and everybody was looking to get in the act.
On 80min, Ashley turned provider as she powered her way to the by-line and delivered an inch perfect cross to pint size Kerry Graham to score her 2nd and Falkirk's 6th of the day (2-6). Young Laura Yuill has been struggling to break into the starting eleven this season but has worked continuously at training and her attitude has never been in question. In fact with a little more composure on 82min she would have got on the score-sheet herself. Kerry Graham slipped a delightful ball into Laura's path but with only the keeper to beat and the coaching team willing her to score, she fired her shot over the bar. I know that Laura will get the chance to rectify this in the last game against Murieston next week.
With the game slipping away there was still time for Falkirk to increase the score-line and it was from two unlikely candidates as well. A corner, 84min, played in from the left landed at the feet of centre half Becky Robertson who toe-poked the ball home for number seven (2-7). By this point the Buchan players were just willing for the ref to blow for full time as the heads were down. Just 60 seconds later it was number eight as Arlene Livingston found space outside the Buchan penalty area to control the ball and fire a right foot shot past the keeper and into the back of the net (2-8).
Full-Time: Buchan Ladies (2) V (8) Falkirk Ladies.
Coach Wilson Commented: - 'Totally delighted' at the performance of the players, especially the 2nd half as they really went for it and killed off any hopes Buchan had of causing an upset. The players could have taken the foot of the gas at 5-2 but the desire to keep pressing was there and I was really happy to see this. That takes us to 12 goals in the last 2 games and I will be expecting the same level of application from who ever starts against Murieston in the final game of the season. This may be a chance to bring some of the 'players of the future' into the senior side for this game, only time will tell.
Next up >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
SWFA 1st Division
Falkirk Ladies V Murieston Ladies
Dunipace Juniors Ground
Thursday 5th June @ 7:30pm.
