Under 13’s progress in Scottish Cup

Posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Spartans U13 8 (yes eight) Thornton 1

Spartans U13 team progressed to the last thirty two of the Scottish Cup after a very impressive performance against Thornton.

Spartans Chairman Craig Graham, Vice President Colin Hutchinson and first team star Donal Henretty were all watching on the sidelines as the Spartan stars of the future played their opposition off the park in every department.

Following a four all draw in the first match Spartans were keen to score quickly. It took only 10 minutes for the ball to be in the back of the net. A great shot from outside the box by Jamie Dishington came back off the post, the ball landed at the feet of Peter Connolly who placed his shot past the Keeper.

Six minutes later Kris Buchanan thought he had extended the lead, the referee initially award a goal for his strike which appeared to go in off the post. The referee then changed his mind and stated the ball hadn’t crossed the line and the game continued.

Then in the 16th minute Blair Atkinson was pushed down inside the box for a stonewall penalty. Stephen Havelin stepped up to coolly slot the ball home.

It took until the 25th minute for Spartans to further their lead as they started to totally dominate the visitors from Lesmahagow. A high cross into the box from Buchanan was fumbled at by the keeper at the feet of Havelin who prodded the ball into the net for his second of the match.

5 minutes later and Spartans equalled their goal tally from the previous match against Thornton. The ball was whipped into the box from the right wing for Peter Connolly to strike a left foot half volley for his second of the match.

With the score 4-0 at half time the Spartans manager Keith McKay ensured his players didn’t step off the game and continued to push for more goals. Into the second half and with two players on two goals each anyone with a gambling streak would have had their money on either of them to get the first hat trick. They would have wasted their money!

7 minutes into the second half Kris Buchanan scored his first of three consecutive goals in 11 minutes, all excellent strikes that killed off any chance of Thornton getting back into the game. First team regular Donal Henretty commented on how impressed he was with the young striker’s control and finishing as he clinically slotted the ball home for his third goal.

Thornton continued to work hard and their efforts paid off in the 57th minute, the ball being knocked past the impressive Liam McKay in the Spartans goal. Liam was frustrated to lose a goal after an excellent performance between the sticks, preventing the Thornton strikers from scoring several other chances.

It took only 2 minutes for Spartans to regain their seven goal advantage as substitute Mark Watt played to ball to fellow sub Peter Wood who blasted past the keeper to ensure Spartans closed out the game with the same class they had shown throughout.

U 13 manager Keith McKay said after the game
“Myself and the other coaches thought that was our best performance of the season. From back to front the whole squad was superb, the passing and movement was how it should be played every week. The boys have now set a standard I hope they can keep up and move forward to better things. Thanks to everyone who turned up to watch the boys, it was good to see so many people there to see a good game. I hope you all come back to watch the next round and cheer on the boys, make sure you bring some friends next time too”

Motm: David Scobie – The number 8 midfielder was involved with everything in defence and in attack. A brilliant performance from a player who has a big future in front of him. To be honest any of the players could well have been man of the match such were the excellent performances through the entire team.

Team: McKay, Carruthers, Ewen, Dishington, Player, Armstrong, Buchanan, Scobie, Atkinson, Connolly, Havelin. Rolling Subs: Horribine, Scott, Watt, Wood. Squad Players: Lawson, Fahri

Att: 63