Under 20s comeback to stifle Strollers

Posted on Saturday, May 14th, 2016

It was a late show for Spartans Under 20s who performed the perfect turnaround at Marine Drive to defeat Civil Service Strollers on Friday night.

After Monday night’s Cup exploits, Manager Les Atkinson shuffled his pack ahead of the short trip from Ainslie Park to take on one of the most local derbies around.

The opening exchanges on a park looking rather good for this late stage in the season were without score (or your scribe) however the ball had made its way into the home net only for Johnny Grotlin’s celebrations to be put on hold courtesy of an offside call by the Referee.

Jordan Brown rampaged through the middle of the park and threaded the ball into the path of Lewis Hall however it just didn’t sit up kindly enough for the youngster and the chance went wide.

At the other end, Strollers took the lead.  Miscommunication at the back saw the Spartans defence part akin to Biblical seas which led to Chris Jack putting the ball in the net past the keeper.

The lead didn’t last long and it was Hall who got his side back level terms.  Collecting the ball from just inside the box, he unleashed an unstoppable drive that keeper Michael Lee could only watch whizz by.

Half Time: Civil Service Strollers 1-1 Spartans

Ten minutes into a slow starting second stanza was enough for Civil to reclaim their single goal advantage.   Ryan Beveridge was the momentary toast of Strollers with a strike that had Morton well beaten.

Midway through the half, Atkinson rung the changes bringing on his trio of replacements with Grotlin, Miller and Laing replaced by Girdwood, Archibald and O’Neil in a bid to turn the game around.

Substitute Archibald took little time to get involved and it was his pass to Dylan Tait that saw the striker perform a perfect pirouette turn and executed a humdinger of a strike that left Lee an onlooker as it powered into the net.

Two minutes later, Spartans took the lead for the first time in a game littered by yellow cards for some lazy challenges.  There was nothing lethargic about O’Neil’s pace up the touchline as he left his defender for dead (not literally!) before his cross was headed home by Adam Corbett.

The comeback was well and truly completed when Brown’s mazy run saw him weave through the defenders akin to a slalom skier heading through the gates on the slopes of Courchevel before he got his shot away that sealed the win.

FT: Civil Service Strollers 2-4 Spartans