Halkirk FC - Reports, Results & Photos - Season 2009-2010

League Division 1 - 12/05/09
Halkirk 1 - 2 Pentland United

Charlie
(photo by jamesgunn.co.uk)

The Wildcat's suffered their third consecutive league defeat but this was a much improved performance as we ran the defending champion's very close in a tight contest.

Work commitments again ruled out Bainer & Shaun Moodie and injuries also meant that the squad was pretty light but Nige was still able to name a reasonably strong starting eleven.

We got off to a terrible start, when we conceded a goal inside the first two minutes.

Pies was unable to deal with an inswinging corner and could only flap the ball down on the edge of the six yard box. We were unable to clear the loose ball and they forced the ball over the line to take the lead.

We could've dropped our heads after this poor start but got at them straight away and were on level terms almost instantly.

Charlie chased a long ball down the left and easily skinned a couple of defenders before getting one-on-one with Michael Gray in their goals and he nonchalantly found the far corner from the tightest of angles.

The game was now end to end, and getting pretty fiery with players flying into challenges.

The ref struggled to keep control of things and both teams enjoyed their fair share of possession although there wasn't many clear cut chances created.

A great through ball from Charlie released Spike just inside the box but he tried to rush his shot despite the shouts telling him he had time to take a touch and control himself.

We had a lucky escape when Gav made a last-ditch tackle in the box trying to prevent a goal after a mistake from Pies and everyone except the ref thought it was a penalty kick.

We fell behind before the break and it was yet another soft goal, as we failed to deal with a through ball. Pies was caught in no man's land and was comfortably lobbed by the striker.

Half Time 1 - 2

The second half continued in pretty much the same fashion, with play raging from end to end and no-one really trying to calm things down and take a breather.

Kitten
(photo by jamesgunn.co.uk)

Again, there was a lack of creativity from us in the final third as we failed to convert our possession into good goal scoring chances and we were only really able to test the keeper from distance.

In saying that, the Stabs were also struggling to create chances and the only thing that we really had to contend with in the second half were set-pieces as they forced a few free kicks and corners.

They had a lucky escape late on when a great run from Kitten was harshly stopped by a last man foul just outside the box but the referee, perhaps with their first half penalty claim in his mind, failed to even award us a free kick.

Stevie C had a couple of long range efforts and a header over the bar as we continued to push but the two best chances late on fell to Gunny.

The first saw him get a sight of goal just inside the box but he was unable to get the ball out from his feet quick enough to get a shot away in time before the blocking challenge came in and the final chance of the game saw him rise at the back post to get on the end of a cross from Tarpot but he could only direct his header past the post.

Another disappointing defeat but this one was hard to take as we more than deserved something from the game.

It was a much better performance effort and commitment wise, although we were still lacking that bit of creativity all over the park that we need to start making chances as we have to start scoring more goals. The main priority however, is to stop conceding soft goals.

Both goals in this match were avoidable. We can't continue to give our opponents goals so easily, need to tighten up and make ourselves harder to beat. We need to learn from this game and I'm sure we can and hopefully go on a winning run now.

Go Wildcat's!!!

report provided by Liam Bremner

pictures provided by jamesgunn.co.uk

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