The Tournament was played as an all-day competition,starting at 0930hrs on a dreary Sunday morning at the Paisley Lagoon
Centre
Last 16 :
Anchor 2 ? 3 Pro-Life Kelburne
The day started with a tough opener for the Kelburne 3rd XI
Development Squad against a highly experienced and mature Anchor side who took
an early two goal lead due to a slow start by the Kelburne team. However things were about to balance
themselves out after a period of sustained good play from the Pro-life Kelburne
Team where Miles Goldie found the back of the net from close range which was
quickly followed by Finn tucking in equaliser from a very tight angle, ending
the half at 2 goals-a-piece.
The second half started brightly with Ewan Carmichael
finding himself clear in the D where he promptly slammed the ball home to give
us a 3-2 lead which proved good enough in the end, with the yellows holding the
Anchor at bay with some exceptional defending by Alan Ralph and Fraser
Hutchison and goalkeeping from new recruit GK Jambo Muir over the last 5
minutes, running out 3-2 victors and in to the Quarter Final round against
Clydesdale.
Qtr-Final :
Pro-Life Kelburne 3 ? 2
Clydesdale
After the slow start against Anchor, there was no chance of
this happening again with the Kelburne team starting at a high pace and putting
Clydesdale under heavy pressure. A few Kelburne chances went a-begging after
some great saves from the Dale keeper but the yellows soon took the lead
through promising junior Niall Taylor, where he slipped the ball past a
helpless Dale keeper for a 1-0 lead to Kelburne and the tails were up. Soon
afterwards a lovely 1-2 in midfield saw Ewan Carmichael slip the ball to Billy
Anderson who flicked it past the keeper for a 2-0 lead and a strong position
and closing out the first half.
Clydesdale started to create some good chances after the
second goal and finally broke through after drag-flick from a short-corner
appeared to hit the side netting only for the Umpire to give the goal in
Clydesdales favour and after a dispute the goal stood. 2-1 up and a tight game ensued thereafter
but the game was put beyond doubt when Billy picked up a great reverse stick
stop and squeezed the ball low and hard past the defender and stranded
goalkeeper for a 3-1 lead.. The
pulsating game was petering out with 2 mins to go however Clydesdale pulled one
back after a great run from their tall midfield play-maker but the Kelburne
defence closed shop and ran out deserved 3-2 victors.
Semi-Final :
Pro-Life Kelburne 4 ? 2 Hillhead
2
The squad was added to in the afternoon session with the
arrival of the experienced David Fowler but depleted with the departure of Alan
Ralph however with the juniors in fine form, it didn?t take long for the
Pro-life Kelburne team to get on-track against the Glasgow team. After 5 minutes, a disguised
defence-splitting pass from ex-Scotland star David Fowler found Billy Anderson
in the D which he deflected past the stranded goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead. This
was quickly followed by a father-son combo with Rory Anderson taking control of
the ball inside the D and slipping it deftly to Anderson senior to lob the
Goalkeeper and take the yellows in to a commanding 2-0 lead. Kelburne were moving the ball around with
ease and this was a lead which would not be overcome. After a few short-corners for the Paisley
team, they took a 3-0 lead in to half-time with a powerful Fowler effort high
in to the roof of the net.
The 2nd half saw almost a full Junior Kelburne team take the
field and they coped well with the change however finally Hillhead make the
breakthrough with a nicely worked goal to peg the Pro-life team back to 3-1 but
with 5 mins to go, a nicely worked pass was worked by Fraser Hutchison to
Anderson who slipped it to Finn Halliday, slotting underneath the goalkeeper an
unassailable 4-1 lead. Hillhead
managed to pull another goal back in the final minutes but it was all over by
then with Kelburne running out easy 4-2 winners.
Final :
Pro-Life Kelburne 4 ? 2 Rottenrow
2
Going in to the final, the Kelburne Pro-life came up against
an experienced but surprise package of Rottenrow 2s in the final. Excellent defensive work at the start from
Doug McEwan in goals and the back 2 of Fraser Hutchison and Finn Halliday set
the attacking options up well for the Kelburne team push for the trophy and
after 7 minutes, there was no doubt where it was going as the Kelburne team
sprinted in to a 3 goal lead with no reply.
With a hat-trick of goals from Billy Anderson who received the payer of
the tournament award for being the highest goalscorer, Kelburne finished the half strongly despite
losing a last-second goal to finish the half at 3-1 up.
Starting the 2nd half, the Rottenrow team pulled another
goal back to make it 3-2 but the result was never in doubt and a goal with 10
minutes left from Ewan Carmichael made it 4-2 and the final winning result for
Kelburne who ran out as West district Indoor Cup Champions.
As it proved to be, the experience of senior players,
coupled with the willingness and fantastic physical efforts of the Junior
development players, really paid dividends throughout the day, resulting in the
famous victory. Best for the Juniors
were Halliday for his alertness, speed and goals scored, followed by young Taylor
and Anderson who put in some brilliant performances for such a young age
against senior men from the other Clubs.
Something that will bode well for future competitions and the rest of
the season about to kick-start after the winter break.
Squad :
Jambo Muir (GK), Doug McEwan (GK), David Fowler (C), Ewan Carmichael, Fraser
Hutchison, Miles Goldie, Billy Anderson, Finn Halliday, Rory Anderson, Niall
Taylor
Goals -
Billy (7), Finn (3), Ewan
(2), David D (1), Miles (1), Niall (1)
