Watsonians 3s vs Dunfermline Carnegie 2s

Watsonians 3s went into the Halloween weekend with high hopes for a solid bounce back after a disappointing loss to the Uni the week before. It was time to get back on track and with Carnegie having struggled recently in the league, the maroon magicians were expecting to conjure up a victory.

Match day arrived and though the weather was clement, dark omens appeared to foreshadow the struggles to come. Paul Conkie withdrew injured, Chris Sholdis was nursing a bad hamstring, and Rob Stewart an injured shoulder. Ominous. Doug Swanson arrived early to find the pitch locked. ‘No booking today’ was the Galleon explanation. Spooky. The rest of the team arrived gradually (too gradually), and it soon emerged that Watsonians would need to change to white for the game as Carnegie were in red. Costumes on.

The Watsonians warm up lacked intensity. Were the Maroon Magicians hexed? Captain Rob Stewart certainly seemed to be suffering from a confusion spell as he uttered, ‘On three... three [oops – dug a hole there], two, one, Sonians!’. DoD duly awarded.

Through the first half, two dark jinxes were clearly affecting the Watsonians boys. The pass jinx was particularly troublesome as Watsonians repeatedly passed to the opposition. Also in evidence was the foot jinx. Yes, the ball was being kicked, a lot. Under the influence of these jinxes it was inevitable that Watsonians would eventually concede a short corner. When they did, the Carnegie striker unleashed a well-placed rocket into the corner. 1-0 Carnegie. At the other end, Watsonians did manage to summon up some good chances of their own, but the Carnegie keeper was more than equal to every strike. Uncanny.

The half time team talk focused on cutting out the errors and generally stepping up the intensity and effort. Back on the field though, they couldn’t shake off the pass jinx or foot jinx and one of a series of Carnegie shorts was well struck for a second goal. 2-0 Carnegie. Frustrating. Watsonians continued to push, but chance after chance was seen off by the inspired Carnegie keeper. Had he supped on Felix Felicis that morning? At some point here Chris Sholdis was helped off the field having aggravated his hamstring injury. Grim.

With ten minutes left to play, the Witching Hour was finally over and Watsonians started to pile on late pressure. Hamish Johnson made the breakthrough by getting to the right place to tap in after a first shot was saved. 2-1, with 8 minutes to play. Revitalised, Watsonians pushed for more goals and were rewarded when a David (Hogie) Hogarth short corner strike was deflected up off the prone keeper’s pads and into the net. 2-2 with 2 minutes to go. Both teams tried hard for a winner but 2-2 was how it ended.

It was a good come-back late in the game and Watsonians remain unbeaten at home for the season, but the maroon magicians know they need to play better to challenge for the league title.

MoM – Hamish Johnson

Thanks to Connor Bond for umpiring