Saturday saw the 2s take the trip across town to Fettes to play the only team that finished above them last season. A tough opening to the league has seen the team have only the 1 point after 2 matches so the pressure was on to get a result if they are to be in the mix for the title at the end of the season. However, the pressure was also on Grange who had lost the previous week to a strong looking Hillhead side.

The match started with Grange having the upper hand although Watsonians did have possession it was hard work to break through the press. The stags were starting to show signs of frustration as they did not get the early break through that they hoped for. However they did go ahead towards the end of the first half with a tap in after getting the ball high and wide early. It didn’t take long for Sonians to get back level thanks to a good interception from Bellet followed by a pass wide to Stenhouse who crossed it to Bellet to deflect into the goal. Half time 1.1.

The second half started pretty even but as it progressed the away side started to have more of the ball in danger positions and Grange were showing more signs of frustration. Watsonians went ahead with a good interception with Miller picking up the ball from left back who broke forward and played a pass to Bonds reverse stick in the D who finished neatly to the left of the Grange keeper. It is fair to say there was some surprise that Bond managed to stop the ball as there had been a few up to that point where a pass to Bond meant turnover. Watsonians thought they would need a 3rd goal to get the 3 points and they managed this with about 8 minutes to go thanks to Clarke winning a PC which was converted by Miller. There was a fair amount of pressure applied but the defence and keeper stood strong and didn’t concede despite the efforts of Gibson who gave away a PC and had a enforced 2 minute rest towards the end of the match.

This was a great result to get the season back on track and turns round the recent domination that Grange 2s had enjoyed in the recent meetings. Next up is Menziehill at home. Thanks to Jerry Bolton for umpiring. Well done to the 2 debutants in Clarke and the man from Saint Etienne, Augustin Bellet

Full time Grange 2s 1 Watsonians 2s 3

Mom Augustin Bellet