Written by Andy Malliff, Monday 17th October 2011.
On paper, St. Mary’s should have been the stronger team, taking seven points from their matches so far this season compared to St. Andrew’s three, but seeing as St. Andrew’s had lost two matches from the last three that they arguably should have won, there was always the chance that apparent form would not dictate the outcome of the match.
If taken as a whole, the 3-1 scoreline would make the match seem a lot closer than it was, but in reality, it should have been 6/7-0 in St. Andrew’s favour. From the off they were the better team, moving the ball around effortlessly in midfield with very little in the way of opposition. Equally the St. Mary’s defence fell apart too easily and they looked a very different side to the one that beat St. Andrew’s 9-1 at the end of last season.
St. A’s attacked from the off, working the ball down nicely through the middle to Andy Malliff who advanced with a ball and shot, deflecting off a defender and going out for a corner. Malliff took the corner himself, crossing the ball in towards the back post. As the ball headed towards Josh Caine, realising it was heading in, jumped over the ball, leaving it to bounce into the back of the net straight from the corner.
Unfortunately it lasted only a couple of minutes before St. Mary’s had one of their few attacks of the game. With very little danger resulting from a hopeful chip into the box, Liam Rackstraw ushered was forced to usher it out as he was pressed by their pacey striker. The resulting corner was pushed towards the front post and met by a St. Mary’s head. Andy Malliff cleared off the line, but only straight to the St. Mary’s captain who slotted the ball into the back of the net.
Despite the continued domination, St. Andrew’s failed to make many of their chances count until right at the end of the first half. St. Andrew’s had yet another corner, but this time made it count as Andy Malliff’s cross was met superbly by centre-back, and captain, Gavin Evans, who sent St. Andrew’s in with a well-deserved half-time lead.
The second half continued in a very similar vain. Dave Sheppard and Fraser McLachlan were very solid in front of the back four which gave those ahead of them the license to roam free and St. Mary’s struggled to deal with it; St. Andrew’s were not very clinical in front of goal and this rescued St. Mary’s from a worse outcome. St. Mary’s did have their moments, as their lone striker broke through on a couple of occasions, but the lack of a finish in a relatively easy situation really summed up their day. With 66 minutes on the clock, Fraser McLachlan released Matt Sears down the left-hand side. Matt cut inside and crossed the ball to Josh Caine at the front post. Caine finished with relative ease.
With the defence looking more comfortable and the attack in good form, hopefully St. Andrew’s can now start to string some results together and see themselves climb the table.
Players’ player of the match was Dave Sheppard this week for his solid performance in midfield, particularly defensively, playing their midfield out of the game.
