M3s On A Roll

*Following a further passage of scrappy play Littlejohn found himself with the ball at top of D and no one else within 10 yards. He wound up and shot towards goal but unfortunately, in his sleep deprived state, only managed to hit the post. This was the best of the chances so far and a sign of more good things to come for the Men's third XI. The rest of the first half passed without many more moments of brilliance and no real chances created by either side. The closest Fidra came to scoring was as a result of an impressive miss-trap by Munn, somehow managing to deflect the ball on to the top of his own net. Half time: 0-0

The half time team talk consisted of much positivity. The need for the midfielders to work back as well as forwards was stressed, but the team knew that if they all worked hard on the basics then eventually the results would come. A talk of change of formation was swiftly dismissed.

Shortly into the second half the Watsonians boys got their just rewards for the hard work. Following a Fidra attack, the men in maroon broke forward at pace. The move looked to have broken down, with young Lewis receiving the ball near the baseline on the left hand edge of the D. However, he dusted off some 3D skills to beat the closest defender and then surprised the advancing keeper to beat him at the near post.

Further Watsonians pressure resulted in a series of short corners, two of which were dispatched with well worked routines. The first was a shot from the top of the D which rebounded to captain Bobby at the top of the D as planned. He then slipped the ball towards the right post, where Murray beat the keeper, again at his near post. The second successful short corner was partially saved by the keeper, leaving Rich Booth with the difficult task of finishing from 1 yard out. He managed this with at least several inches to spare on his effort.

The Watsons boys were in no mood to let up, and goal difference may yet prove to be decisive towards the end of the season. Despite already being the best in the division in this regard, the old adage of success breeds success rings true. Not content with leading by three, a fourth goal was soon added. Hogarth picked the ball up and drove a good route round the top of the D. He then picked the correct pass to Murray in space, who duly applied the finish.

Lewis then scored the pick of the bunch, with a long ball from the defence deflected by Hogarth straight in to the path of Lewis, who finished in to the empty net. A brilliant pass from the back, an even better deflection, and a finish to match.

However, Watsonians would not have it all their own way. A spell of slack marking at the back resulted in Fidra scoring a consolation goal, beating the usually indomitable Swanson in goals. With five minutes left Lewis still had time to miss the chance to complete his hat-trick, with his attempted finish under the advancing keeper only reaching the defender on the line. Although disappointing for Lewis, it at least maintains the aesthetically pleasing palindromic nature of scorers: Lewis, Murray, Rich, Murray, Lewis. Good work all round.

The match finished with a 5-1 victory, a result that the team would have taken at the start of the day. With results going their way elsewhere, the win moved Watsons into top place in the league, a position that they hope to defend over the coming months.

*The first 23 minutes of this match report are missing, quite like myself on the day of the game. I have been assured that I missed nothing.

MoM: Murray Cannon
Thanks to Pete Gillespie for umpiring