North Region Superleague

With the end of the season only a week away it was going to take a bit of concentration to not only make sure the season doesn’t drift aways from us but following the win against Longside a few days ago it was a perfect opportunity to get another win, however as you can see from the score line it wasn’t to be.

We started off brightly enough, after only 5 minutes a great ball from Richie into the box to Derek was fizzed low across the 6 yard line but nobody we there to finish it off and the defender managed to hook it over the bar. On 10 minutes however Hermes started to come into it and only a great save from a chipped effort dropped them going in front. However on 17 minutes they did anyway. Stevie Hart had the ball coming out of defence in the left back position but his ball out to midfield was loose and picked up by Hermes, their forward ran toward the 18 yard line but was fouled. Their No. 3 hit a waist high ball past the wall and into the net, it looked from our position that the wall was not in the right place because there was hardly any curve on the ball but it went well inside the post for the opening goal. A couple of minutes later Zander put in a ball from the left where it found Jas coming in on the right of the arse but his well hit shot was saved. On 25 minutes they hit the bar, a warning of things to come but the next action was when Jas put another ball into the box that the keeper fumbled but there was nobody on hand again to take advantage. Then on 32 minutes Hermes again hit the bar,  but only a couple of minutes later the had scored. A long ball from their keeper landed in our box and indecision by Scott meant their forward was to the ball first, Scott clattered into him and it was a stone wall penalty. Needless to say they scored even though Scott did get his hand to it. On 40 minutes the game was really over, somehow they got clear on our right and next thing is the ball was hit low across Scott and into the net for the third goal. It almost got worse just after when they again hit the bar.

So the first half finished and it was a pretty bad display, we looked good going forward but defending by the whole team was bad and we never worked hard enough to make any impact.

To be honest I had sod all written down about the 2nd half other than Scott save on 8 and 34 minutes. We did play a bit better, John Willox had to come off at half time due to a thigh strain and Gavin did well down the left (it IS a good position for you mate, honest !) but overall we never really created anything.

To have only 1 shot on or off target all game is bad and because we didn’t really match their effort the 3 goals they scored in the first half was never going to be matched by us in the 2nd.

The performance in the 2nd half was a bit better but Richie got a 2nd yellow card in the 85 minutes and went for an early shower and Gav was shown a straight red for telling the ref he had made a mistake, one of many for both side it has to be said but this referee is known to be bad and the red card was just indicative of him losing control.

A really disappointing performance and result and the lads are really going to have to up their game against Sunnybank next week if they don’t want a similar result, I know I don't !

Match Stats

Grahams Report

LACK OF CONSISTENCY SEE MAUD CRASH TO DEFEAT

In the penultimate game of Maud's season after a decent performance against Longside, hopes were high of a good run in. Boy were we wrong, a terrible display and finishing with 9 men on the field was a game that Maud were glad to see the back of. Almost immediately from kick off, Hermes forced Cowe to clear for a throw in. Taken quickly it was hooked in and again cleared this time for a corner followed by another all to no avail. Good play by Maud down the right wing played into the box but McKendrick cleared for a corner which came to nothing. Up at Maud's end Hermes forced a corner from the left. Crossed in and cleared as far as McKay whose shot forced Cowe to tip over the bar. Crossed in and headed out again for another corner by Powell. Back in again this time it was cleared as far as the 18 yard line where a foul was committed. The free kick was lined up and with the wall poorly set up, Smith blasted in past the wall straight into the net to take the lead in 17 minutes. Hermes were getting too much space and this nearly proved disastrous for Maud when Hamilton had an overhead shot bounce back off the bar. Maud made a rare foray up field but were lacking in the final third. A long ball punted up the park by Irvine bounced inside the 18 yard box catching Maud napping. Latched onto by Courage he was brought down by Cowe for a stonewall penalty. With a chance to redeem himself and getting a hand to the shot fired in low to his right the power saw it safely hit the back of the net from McKay's shot. Maud trying to play the offside trap were caught defending too far up field allowing Courage to collect the long ball. Heading towards Cowe in goals who this time did just enough to put him off and se the ball trickle out for a goal kick. Hermes 3rd goal came when Maud switched off in the 42nd minute allowing Courage to break through and send in a diagonal shot which went low into the net.  

With Middleton replacing Willox who was carrying a groin strain, Maud found themselves under pressure from the restart. Maud finally started to get to grips with this game but were still lacking pressure in the final third. A poor pass through by Hart was latched onto by McKay who surged goal wards only for Cowe to deny him for a corner which was failed to capitalise on. Both teams were creating chances with play flowing from end to end but neither could put the ball into the back of the net. A late tackle by Ligertwood saw him receive his second yellow of the game and his marching orders. Down to 10 men Maud battled away trying for a consolation goal but things went from bad to worse in the 90th minute when Middleton saw red for disputing an obvious mistake by the ref and making an offensive comment. Finishing 3 goals down and with only 9 men on the field of play, this was not one of Maud's finer games. Hopefully things will improve for the last game of the season this Sat 15th May with a 2.30pm ko against Sunnybank FC at Maud.