Camelon Juniors FC 3-3 Leith Athletic FC (Under 21's)

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Category: News

Created on Sunday, 05 February 2012 17:05

Camelon Juniors FC 3-3 Leith Athletic FC (Abandoned '90)
Lady Darling Cup, Third Round

The game started in a strong wind and pouring rain, but both teams done their best to try and get the ball down and play.  Leith were playing into the wind and whilst Camelon created a few chances, the away side always looked capable of scoring a goal on the break.  Darren Cain and Darren Davidson looked lively up front and when the ball was given to Steven Philp on the right, he created some problems for the Camelon defence.

After 20 minutes and against the run if play, a corner kick from the left was flighted into the back post and the unmarked Camelon player headed home from six yards.  Camelon doubled their lead shortly after, when a poor clearance from Leith was intercepted by the Camelon right winger and as he drove into the box, he was taken down from behind by captain, Adam Hunter.  Camelons striker stepped up and scored a good penalty, to make it 2-0 to the home team.

Half Time: Camelon Juniors FC 2-0 Leith Athletic FC

Starting the second half with the wind behind us and the rain getting even stronger, we started the much stronger team.  We created a number of chances with Lachlan Thom and Darren Cain forcing two great saves from the Camelon keeper.  It looked like being one of those days where nothing would go in after we struck the bar with a header and we missed numerous chances from set-pieces, but we eventually scored after a good passing move, with a finish from Darren Cain.

Now pushing for an equaliser, we were caught on the counter-attack with a long ball into our left channel.  We allowed the forward to get the cross in far too easily and the Camelon centreback somehow ended up at the back post, with the easiest of tap ins to make the score 3-1 to the home side.  Instead of throwing in the towel, the away side rallied again and pulled a goal back through substitute, Ben MacKenzie, following good passing down the right hand side with Liam Todd and Steven Philp.

Pushing now for an equaliser, we hit the post, before we seen the ball rolling along the line and into the goalkeepers hand and the Lachlan Thom had a great free kick saved by the goalkeeper.  With only two minutes remaining, a great run from Cain down the left seen the ball squared across goal and Darren Davidson slid the ball home from eight yards out, which seen wild celebrations on the Leith touchline.

The referee then brought a halt to proceedings at the end of the ninety minutes and after a brief discussion with both managers, the referee abandoned the game before extra time started, on the basis that the pitch was no longer playable in terms of player safety.  Both teams will need to do it all again and hopefully conditions are much better.

Full Time: Camelon Juniors FC 3-3 Leith Athletic FC (Abandoned)

Leith Athletic: Rankin, Todd, Watson, Keenan, Hunter, Lynch, Gibson, Thom, Philp, Cain, Davidson.  Subs: Marziban, Simpson, Park, Spence, MacKenzie

Assistant Managers' Thoughts:

Never do we do anything easy in this team as we found ourselves 2-0 down after 20 minutes, with the wind against us, one from poor marking at a corner and we gave away a silly penalty, however this did not affect our game and I felt we had the better chances but failed to convert them and went in 2-0 down at the break.  The team talk at half time was simple, we were still in the game but we stressed the importance of getting the next goal and that we did with a good finish from Darryn Cain. Despite going 3-1 down, we stuck to the task and when Ben scored to make it 3-2, i felt that we still had a chance.  If ever there was a time to say cometh the hour, cometh the man then it was with minutes to spare when Darren Davidson scored the equaliser

We were left extremely dissapointed at the abandonment as Camelon had used all their subs and looked dead on their feet, but it wasn't to be and now it is left upto the SFA to decide where the replayed game will be played next.  As much as I feel aggrieved about the way the game ended, we cannot afford to give teams a head start and with the chances we had, the game should have been over in the 90 minutes.  In saying that, i'm extremely proud of my players and their never give up attitude, some of our play was a joy to watch on a tricky surface.

Steven Chalmers