Fort
William v WAFC U17s
Sunday 20th
Sept 2009
2 x 45 minute periods
Final Score: Fort
William 1:1 Wick
(MacLellan [11], Steven [28])
Fort
William started as the
stronger of the 2 teams and their pressure paid off on 11 minutes when Barker's
cross from the left flank was met by MacLellan who managed to get in front of
Logan Munro to slot home from 6 yards.
Despite having 6 key players missing from the squad that overcame Alness
2 weeks previously, the young Academy team rallied and found their feet. Ryan Begg was instrumental in centre midfield
as the visitors enjoyed more possession.
A solid Fort
William defence
restricted their opponent's shots on goal to long-range efforts until just
before the half-hour mark. Jonathon
Robertson collected in midfield and played a magnificent through ball ahead of
Alan Steven who managed to escape Foggo's challenge and slot past the home
keeper. The remainder of the first half,
although fairly even was a scrappy affair, particularly in front of goal.
The second half was a stark contrast to the first, as the
home team upped the tempo and took the game to Academy right from the re-start. Daniel Budge was in fine form, being equal to
numerous efforts on goal throughout the second period. With about 25 minutes remaining, Budge was
quick to react to a one-on-one situation and challenged an oncoming striker
just outside the penalty box. He won the
ball fairly with a sliding tackle but both players' momentum resulted in the
Fort striker being upended and the referee waving away the home teams' free
kick and red card claims. Moments
earlier, a 25 yard Murray MacKintosh free kick left Noan rooted to the spot,
but hit the bar and was cleared to safety.
This was Wick's solitary effort on goal in the second period. Both sides finished with 10 men after an
unsavoury incident outside the home penalty box. Steven felt aggrieved at not being awarded a
free kick and started to complain towards the referee when he was punched by
the Fort defender whom appeared to have fouled him previously. During what followed, Steven also raised his
hands, albeit possibly in self-defence.
The referee, who didn't see the original incident, or hear Steven's
complaint, really had no choice but to send both players off. Fort
William then continued to
squander chance after chance to seal a win and the game finished 1 -1.
Squads:
Fort
William – Noan, MacKay,
Sweeney, Foggo, D Kennedy, Toal, Lopez,
Corbett, L Campbell, MacLellan, Barker.
Subs (all used) Munro, Neal, L Kennedy, E Campbell
Wick Academy – Daniel Budge, Andrew Shearer, Ross Mackay,
Logan Munro, Scott Bell, Jonathon Robertson, James Mackay, Ryan Begg, Marc
Macgregor, Alan Steven, Kerr Mackay.
Subs (all used) Murray Mackintosh, Dale Sutherland, Michael
Macnab
Managers Quotes – David Dunn:
"I'm disappointed to have been under the cosh for so long,
particularly in the second half, but under the circumstances, I was actually
delighted to leave Fort
William with a
point". That said, our squad today
only included 4 players at the upper end of the age range and that's one of the
main reasons we struggled against a very motivated, organised and physical side We also had a couple of players playing out
of position, in particular Andrew [Shearer] who came in and did a decent job at
right back. Our defending was poor at
times and we must learn to clear the ball from the danger areas and communicate
more effectively. Overall, I'd say that
only 2 of our squad played to their full potential today so there is
considerable room for improvement. Kerr
[Mackay] and James [Mackay] also picked up a couple of knocks and should
hopefully recover in time for our next game.
We will have a better idea at training on Wednesday of who all are going
to be available to us, with regard to the 3 lads currently having trials at Ross County,
and that should let us focus on who is likely to play where for the remainder
of the season."
