Kelburne Mens' 6s Lose Out to Giffnock 2s

On Saturday, 2.11.19, the Kelburne 6s were back in action at the On-X against a strong Giffnock 2s side. It was a nervy start for the young Kelburne side who fielded 8 under 15s within the 6s development squad. Early exchanges lead to Kelburne keeper Ally Glen making a great save in 10mins, pushing the ball past his left hand post for a long corner. Giffnock kept pressing hard and forced a series of short corners, which kept Kelburne firmly in there own 25 for long periods of the 1st half. In 23 mins Giffnock made the break through that their early pressure deserved, with a bursting run down the right wing, the ball was squared in to the D and through a swarm of bodies the ball was deflected into the back of the net, with the Kelburne keeper only able to watch on. Kelburne started to regain some control and in 31mins pressed Giffnock back in to there own D, with a piercing pass from Mark Fulton right on to the front stick of Cole Norrie, the youngest player on the park. His shot slides just past keepers right hand post. Kelburne maintained this pressure and forced a short corner following a drive from Fulton. The short corner went narrowly past the Giffnock goal as unfortunately Ian McIntyre just did not get enough of his stick on the ball. Adam Jack closed out the 1st half with a drive down the right from half way, only for the ball to slide over the bye line on pressure from the Giffnock defence. The 2nd half started with a good amount of Kelburne possession culminating in brilliant defending from young Robert with Giffnock 2's pushing forward. Halftime 0-1 An early interception by Fulton took pressure off the Kelburne defenders by a good drive into the Giffnock D with Mark's shot going wide. Giffnock pushed forward in numbers with Tom Hunt doing good work in retaking possession from this attack and passing onto Cole Norrie who attacked well but was crowded out by Giffnock in the centre of the pitch. Strong Giffnock play resulted in a short corner for striking a foot in our D, last gasp defending by Ian and Willy cleared the danger. On 47 minutes, Alan Bryce held up the ball with good play and Kelburne gained a short corner with the ball being pushed just past the post. Further strong attacking play by Kelburne kept Giffnock pinned in their own half, which included Mark evading a large amount of Giffnock tackles and passing from the corner area into the goal area but Kelburne attackers just couldn't get a stick onto the ball. A great drive by Willy earned a Kelburne short corner with Hamish taking a shot which was well saved by the Giffnock keeper. On 59 minutes Kelburne keeper Reece had a one on one with a Giffnock attacker and pulled off a tremendous point blank save On 60 minutes a build up of play by Giffnock resulted in a loose high ball in the Kelburne D being touched into the goal. 2 nil Giffnock. Kelburne weren't receiving the best of luck as an innocuous and hopeful ball into the Kelburne D on the 62nd minute escaped the attention of our defenders and was deflected into Kelburnes goal. 3 nil. Mark capitalised at 63 minutes on some slack Giffnock play and drove into the D, the initial shot was mishit however Mark persevered and followed up by diving to push the ball past the Giffnock keeper into the back of the net. 3-1 !

On 65 minutes a great drive by Willy following a Giffnock short corner was taken to the Giffnock D with Mark putting a slight touch on the ball but unfortunately the umpire didn't see the ball move from Willy's original shot. On 68 minutes, kelburne were defending well and appeared to be in control of the ball but against the run of play a deflection allowed a Giffnock goal . 4-1. Our young players don't let their heads drop and this was evident at a minute before time when young Cole ran forward with the ball and passed to Alan on the left wing but the ball went out. Match ended 4-1 Giffnock but once again our young players play with positivity, pride and they all enjoy playing which is a pleasure to watch.

Next week the development squad return to On-X Linwood to play Uddingston 5s with a 2-15pm pushback