Mens 3s secure 3rd win in a row

Looking to build on the strong performances which had led them into the top half of the table, and knowing another win would cement that position with some tough games to come, Watsonians Men's’ 3 met under darkening skies at "Fortress" Tipperlin to take on a Kinross team fresh from a 13-0 walloping of lowly Stirling Uni 2s, and looking confident. The fact that 7 of those goals had come from set plays was fair warning that the opposition specialised in pressing home any advantage they might get from mistakes in and around the D. More on that to follow!!

'Sonians started strongly and a well worked move inside the first 5 minutes saw skipper Duncan “The Inspiration” Bell force his way through the centre of the Kinross defence and squeeze the ball forward to Richard “Booth Junior” Booth who needed no second invitation, placing the ball precisely into the bottom right hand corner from the penalty spot.

A brief and somewhat surreal interlude followed as first one, then two, then more of the 'Sonians subs headed off towards the Galleon to investigate the floodlight situation, as darkness threatened to make the game unplayable. In scenes reminiscent of a low budget horror movie, the Kinross umpire then followed, leaving the teams wondering if any of them would ever return. 'Sonians sportingly nabbed the match ball and played a few crisp passes to keep warm while Kinross looked on somewhat perplexed, before taking matters into their own hands and grabbing a spare from the side-lines. Eventually all the potential victims returned, still without floodlights but satisfied that it really didn't need all of them to repeatedly ask the staff if they had “tried switching it off and on again”.

After 5 more minutes of stumbling around in the dark, it took an intervention from Captain Bell to make the Galleon’s finest appreciate the gravity of the situation and flick the switch. 'Sonians continued to look the better team, although Kinross’s tactics of hitting it long and looking for set piece opportunities around the D meant it was never plain sailing.

It was 'Sonians who got on the score sheet next though, a crisp finish from Harrison Gilmore rounding off a good passing move, and creating some much needed breathing space. It was all looking good for the home team and things got even better when Dave “The Hammer” Hogarth made space on the edge of the D and despite being forced wide, smashed the ball into the bottom corner at the near post, much to the bemusement of a static Kinross ‘Keeper.

However Kinross never let their heads go down, and their tactics started to show signs of paying off when they got on the score sheet, predictable from a set play. A decent break down the right hand side saw the Kinross striker get the wrong side of Sean “Not as mental as his Dad” Conkie. A despairing challenge from Sean was worthy of a penalty flick. 'Sonians Keeper Cammy “Prodigal Son” Spiteri made a good effort to get a glove on the flick but the pace of the ball meant it was never going anywhere but into the bottom corner.

3-1 would have been a fair reflection of the home side's first half dominance but right on the stroke of half time a short was awarded and 'Sonians should have dealt with it better at the second attempt after Tony “Hero” Allan had blocked the first effort with his hip, Kinross kept their cool to take advantage of the “last play” status of the corner and slip the ball to a man to the secondary striker who flicked the ball home from a few yards out.

Going in at 3-2, 'Sonians knew they had a game on their hands and that proved the case as in worsening conditions Kinross kept up the pressure at the start of the second half with short corner after short corner being awarded and the bruises mounting on Tony’s well-proportioned body. Inspiration turned to Shame as skipper Bell was carded for appealing against Kinross’s equaliser. Whether the ball made it out of the D or not at yet another Kinross short, the umpire’s decision should perhaps have been enough for the hitherto whiter than white captain to work out whether the Ump shared his view that it may not have.

Searching for an edge to allow them to move into the lead, Kinross then decided that the best way to get ahead would be to knock the Heroic Tony out of the game, with one particularly vicious hit from a further short corner finding its way into Tony’s right heel and sending him in search of an icepack where he was left to reflect that perhaps Karma was real after all, having shown little sympathy to Kinross’s youthful right winger when he went down in similar circumstances in the first half. The fact that the young man was in tears should perhaps have been enough to trigger the hard hearted Tony’s paternal instincts, but it turns out that they are firmly put to one side when he has his “game face” on.

Then Kinross took the lead when Richard “The Reach” Waugh was judged to have shoved a Kinross player while he was bearing down on goal. Another precise finish left 'Sonians staring into the abyss, a goal down and apparently with no foothold in the game.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Back from the side-lines and having had 2 minutes to have a few stern words with himself, Duncan Bell struck the equaliser. I can put it no better than the man himself did – it was indeed a “stunning reverse stick strike buried into the corner past a flailing Kinross keeper”.

The equaliser was exactly what 'Sonians needed and from there on in there was really only one winner of this game. Booth Junior injected the ball at a short and made a bee-line for the post where he was on hand to deflect the ball expertly into the net via a Kinross foot. Confusion followed as the umpires conferred, apparently over whether the ball had been raised off a 'Sonian or Kinross player but thankfully for the home team the goal stood and 'Sonians held out for yet another hard fought and ultimately well-deserved win, taking them to the dizzy heights of third place in the table. In a game which was at times less than a pleasure to play in due to the conditions and constant stopping and starting, 'Sonians can be glad they came away winners as for the second week in a row they kept up spirits in what would have been a horrible game to lose.

It is perhaps early to start asking the captain whether he would accept or reject the chance to move up to Central league, but a few more good performances should see the 3s consolidate their place in East Division 1 and keep on looking up the table rather than over their shoulder.

by Tony Allan