Stenhousemuir 2 – Spartans 6
Bathroom Planet East of Scotland Quarter Final
Gary 'the Cannon' - goal subject to dubious goal's panel scrutiny
Spartans reached the last four of the bathroom Planet East of Scotland Cup with a convincing win over the much fancied Stenhousemuir in front of a vociferous local support. The tie of the round didn’t live up to the billing of a free flowing football purist’s dream, however, Spartans demonstrated their ability with a battling and clinical performance.
Spartans were sent out by the Corporal with the message to not let the hype of the game get to them and if they played to their ability there would only be one winner. The first half was a towsy affair with glimpses of football played by the Red & White Army – Stenny preferred a more direct route! Backed by a strong wind Stenny shaded the first half for possession and scored from defensive indecision – a cross from the left was followed by a scramble and after the ball hit the bar it was turned into the Spartan’s net.
A fine flowing move followed and a low Moffat cross was driven in which Reid could only manage to hit off a defender for a corner. Spartans then replied from the inswinging Rae corner – Steele rising highest to nod the ball past the poor Stenny keeper, humorously called ‘The Monk.’ Spartans then took the lead from a superb passage of play. Moffat turned his man inside out and provided a deep cross to the back post which Asbo Perry did well to nod past ‘The Monk’. As per last week Asbo showed off his ‘Asbo’ t-shirt (was it washed?) to the adoring stenny locals which endeared him further to them and then ‘friendly’ abuse. Confidence was high until the last minute of the half when Rae gave away a foul on the left which was nodded in by the Stenny forward following poor marking – Monty seeming to take the blame from his defensive mates!
The second half was all Spartans with TV startlet and football pundit Boyes and Scott immense in the middle of the park and everytime Bannon and Moffat got the ball it troubled the Stenny rearguard. A Monty Burns cultured ‘throughball’ was to spark scenes of jubilation as Perry controlled and outpaced the defence to round the keeper who took a massive swipe at him (which earned him a booking) and score what would turn out to be the winner. Gary ‘Cannon’ then produced a fine run down the left wing and instead of squaring the ball to the waiting strikers, Cannon adopted to go for the crazy golf route to goal shooting of a defender and in between The Monk’s legs as the big man fell over! The goal also sparked a debate as to whether or not Bannon could claim it as he was preparing his stories for the George St ladies on Sat nite.
Excellent hat-trick and fine display
With Spartans in complete control the Stenny players resorted to a more physical approached demanded by their large support. One supporter managed to put down his can of Special Brew and through his remaining tooth appealled to the home team to “break some legs!” Perry’s hatrick (again subject to the dubious panel!) was soon to arrive from a freekick awarded for a cruel challenge on Lammy’s Boy (Moffat). Perry nipped in to head home from Rae’s inswinger to spark further scenes of jubilation.
Lammy’s Boy was then to feel the full effects of “the Mad Monk” when the Stenny keeper decided it would be a good idea to ‘tackle’ him just shy of the half way line. In a scene more likely to be seen in American Football the big keeper got up to protest his innocence. The ref did well to issue a second yellow in front of the baying mob. Bannon was then delighted to be switched to play in front of the mob asTthe Corporal wanted to protect his boy from further retribution.
Steele put the icing on the cake with another header to seal a fine win which will issue a strong message to the other East Cup hopefuls and a Semi final tie against Bo’ness awaits. When asked for quote after the game ‘The Corporal’ said he was proud of his troops today.
Team: Paterek, Burns, Steele, Sutherland, Rae (Young), Moffat, Boyes, Scott (Douglas), Bannon, Reid (Zuk), Perry
Sub not used: Mitchell, Graham
Man of the Match: Joe Steele – defender capped another fine display with 2 goals.
