Every Cloudie has a silver lining as Spartans win on the road

Posted on Thursday, August 22nd, 2013

Spartans picked up three valuable points on the road as they defeated a plucky Selkirk side 3-0 at Yarrow Park.

In the last of the midweek games, which haven’t been terribly popular with the Borders men due to logistical challenges, Spartans welcomed back McLeod to the starting XI and Sivewright & Motion taking up a spot each on the bench.

The match started off in mid-evening summer sunshine on a lush and long carpet of daisy-infused grass and both sides were keen to use the surface to stroke the ball about and play enterprising football.

Muhsin made an early break down the flank only to be crudely taken out by Battle on the correct side of the 18 yard box whitewash with the Selkirk man unsurprisingly finding his way into the whistler’s notebook. Grant’s free-kick delivery was inviting and the en-rushing Main was inches away from connecting in the 6 yard box.

A through ball from Mushin saw the ever alert Ross burst into the box however Amos in the Selkirk goal was off his line in quick fashion to thwart the striker.

When Addison made space for himself on the edge of Bennett’s box, the big Selkirk striker will put down his golden chance as a missed opportunity to put his side in the lead.

A midfield battle and fine attacking play from both sides gave the fans value for their admission fee as the Lowland League continued to offer some tremendous affordable football for all.

The woodwork saved Spartans in the 25^th minute as Battle got his foot round the ball and his shot hit the post despite the best efforts of Bennett to get a hand to it.

Finally, the travelling support had something to cheer about in the 33^rd minute.  Brown whipped in a cross to McLeod who volleyed it past Amos from the edge of the 6 yard box. Selkirk 0-1 Spartans

 

Half Time: Selkirk 0-1 Spartans

With the fear of the supporters having to park round the pitch with their car lights on, it was a shortened half time break and we were back in action before too many snacks could be consumed in the well run Selkirk clubhouse.

There were yells for a 2^nd Spartans goal as O’Donnell pounced on a McLeod cross however the big defender’s header appeared to hit the bar and fall on the wrong side of the line.  The Lowland League unable to send any Russian linesmen to Selkirk meaning the result stays at 0-1.

 

John Grant agonisingly watched his header come off the bar and out of the reach of Ross for the rebound attempt. Moments later, a McLeod dummy saw Ross once again in the box, however his shot narrowly skims the wrong side of the post.

Spartans Manager Dougie Samuel looked at his options and with 20 minutes to go, he introduced Motion and Beesley as replacements for Ross and Grant.

Finally, with 8 minutes left on the clock, a bit of light could be seen between the sides; a little ironic as the dark sky drifted in over the Borders town. Mushin took the ball for a trademark run and he turned the defenders inside out before firing the ball past Amos from the edge of the area. 0-2.

Almost on the full time whistle, Mushin and Motion combined to grab the third Spartans goal of the night.

A sponsors Man of the Match performance by Muhsin was capped when he drove deep into the Selkirk danger zone before cutting it back to Motion who side-footed it home from close range.

Final Score: Selkirk 0-3 Spartans

After the match, Keith MacLeod, commented on how happy he was to be back in the team after his suspension, “I’ve been desperate to get back involved and playing.  It was even better to get a goal and I felt I contributed a fair wee bit tonight as well.

“The win gives us a vital 3 points & keeps us up there (in the league) and to be fair, we’d have taken a one-nil win on the road to be honest before the game.

McLeod “They (Selkirk) came back into the game a bit more in the second half and they were a handful at times. Clubs will definitely drop points down here, that’s for sure.  I’m glad we came through the test with maximum points.

Next up for Spartans is in the Image Printers Cup with a 1^st Round clash at the Academy against Edinburgh City.

McLeod of course had the briefest of introductions to the new Lowland League against Saturday’s opponents in the opening game of the season.

“They are normally good games against City.  Thankfully the pitch will be 100% better than the one we played on at Meadowbank and hopefully I’ll stay on the pitch for longer this time too!”

Team v Selkirk: Bennett, Brown, Cennerazzo, Main, O’Donnell, Whatley, Grant, Muhsin, Ross, McLeod, Anderson.  Subs: Beesley, MacKinnon, MacCuish, Sivewright, Motion.

Crime Count: None.

Malt & Hops Man of the Match: Sean Mushin