Café Royale League - Match 5
Dundee West Royals V St Andrews Colts
Starting Line-up
GK - McColl
LB - Tennant
CB - Crabb
CB - Hughes
RB - Chalmers
CM - Smart
CM - Johnstone
CM - Smith
ST - Gilmurray
ST - Storrie
ST - McManamon
Substitutes
Nixon
Paton
Mitchell
Singer
Clark
MATCH REPORT
Dundee West Royals 2006’s had a well overdue home tie against St Andrews Colts, who they had previously drawn with in the cup. West setup with a 4-3-3 to try and control the midfield and play further up the pitch with 3 strikers, having played relatively deep in the previous few fixtures. Having gone some time without a win, West were desperate to take something from the game and get some more points on the board in the league.
The first few minutes were tight, with some firm tackles in early and pressure from both sides. On 5mins, West created their first real opening, when Gilmurray played a perfectly weighted past through the backline for McManamon, who beat the advancing keeper for a shot on goal, but the St Andrews defence were back swiftly to put the ball behind for a corner.
0-1: Unfortunately for the home side, St Andrews took the lead after a fast counter-attack from the resulting corner. Having cleared the ball wide up the left, they switched play to the right where there was some space, with Tennant still up near the corner flag from taking the set piece. A low cross was finished neatly into the corner by their striker.
West were determined to get back into the game having conceded early, and on 8mins Gilmurray again played a lovely ball through into McManamon’s path, but his first touch took him too wide to get an angle on goal, and his shot was caught comfortably by the keeper.
West battled in midfield to try and control a feisty game, with hard tackles coming in from the St Andrews players. They dealt with it well and 16mins in, they had another chance to equalise, when McManamon fought well to regain possession high up the pitch on the left, and played in a low cross to Storrie, but his shot was blocked and ricocheted out for a throw in.
On 20mins, West again had a shot saved, when McManamon received a throw in to feet and touched it back into Smart’s path, but his shot was sliced, taking the power out of it, and giving the keeper an easy save in the end.
The game continued to be a battle, with neither side creating anything of note until 5mins from half time, when Johnstone played a superb diagonal cross to the left flank for McManamon, leaving the defenders for dead. McManamon took a touch and set himself up to shoot, but on his weaker left foot, the keeper again saved comfortably.
Half-time: Dundee West Royals 0 – 1 St Andrews Colts
5mins into the second half, West were again denied when Johnstone and Gilmurray linked up well with a perfect one-two, splitting the St Andrews defence, but Johnstone’s finish couldn’t beat the keeper.
0-2: A few minutes later, St Andrews added a second. With West pushing on for an equaliser, the ball fell to Crabb on the halfway line, but crowded by the countering St Andrews team, he was dispossessed and St Andrews burst through on goal to score easily, before West could track back and recover.
Substitution 43mins = Storrie off, Paton on.
On 48mins, Smith had another chance for a shot on goal, but again, on his weaker foot, the shot was tame and held easily by the St Andrews stopper.
53mins in, St Andrews had another countering opportunity, but thankfully, shot wide of the past.
Substitution 57mins = Hughes off, Singer on.
On the 60min mark, West played a superb move from a short corner, with Tennant and McManamon linking up with a one-two, to slot in Smith on the edge of the area, but he was unlucky to shoot wide having made himself space with good footwork.
With 5mins to go, time was running out for West, but they nearly pulled a goal back, which would have made for an interesting end to the game. Johnstone played yet another defence splitting pass into McManamon, and with the St Andrews players unable to keep up with his pace, he ran in on the left-hand side of the box to shoot for the far post. Unfortunately, the shot was wide of the mark, but Gilmurray tried to slide in at the back post to knock the ball into the empty net, just missing the ball and seeing it flash past for a goal kick.
Substitution 68mins = Gilmurray off, Mitchell on.
Full time: Dundee West Royals 0-2 St Andrews
Man of the Match: Smart
Dundee West could easily have taken something from the game with the chances they created, however, poor finishing, mostly down to shooting on their weaker feet, made for easy work for the St Andrews goalkeeper. West can feel positive about some of the passing and link-up play in the middle of the park, and a tighter looking defence, limiting St Andrews to only a few chances in on goal, but the difference on the day was the opposition making their chances count, and Dundee West failing to find the net with several shots on goal. If West start taking their chances, and cutting out silly errors, then they can match any team in the league and start picking up some badly needed points.
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