SPFL Play-Off: Hendo hat-trick inspires Spartans in promotion push

Posted on Monday, May 13th, 2024

Blair Henderson’s hat-trick helped guide The Spartans to a Play-Off Final showdown with Dumbarton following a 1-5 win on the road against Peterhead.

An unchanged starting XI from the first leg made the 320 mile round trip north with a one goal advantage over fellow promotion candidates Peterhead in the seventh meeting between the clubs this season.

Under a Blue Toon blanket of pleasant cloud free sky of the same colour, the sides were welcomed out onto the park by a 947 strong crowd inside Balmoor Stadium, including a noisy contingent from the Capital.

The home support were looking for an early goal to settle the nerves to level the legs however when Peterhead skipper Jason Brown and keeper Stuart McKenzie collided in the box, the ball broke free from the goalie’s grasp and there was Cammy Russell on hand to pick up the scraps to pounce and get his toe onto it ahead of the despairing lunge of Danny Strachan into the net.

An incredible start for the visitors who doubled their overall lead in the competition courtesy of Cammy Russell’s fifth goal against the hosts this season.

Spartans looked to benefit from the breeze behind their back and when Blair Carswell’s long ball up the park found Marc McNulty, his effort saw Stuart McKenzie get down low to his near post to save.

Conor O’Keefe looked to respond and Blair Carswell had to look lively to pull off a fine stop from the edge of the box as the hosts rallied to get back into the tie.

On the half hour mark, Spartans extended their lead.  Kieran Watson sent the ball long into the penalty area to find Paul Watson.  The defender nodded inside to Blair Henderson and the prolific striker headed home from six yards, in what was his third time on the scoresheet in the four visits to Balmoor this term.

The heat looked to have gone to the heads of some when a flashpoint followed a late tackle on Bradley Whyte, resulting in Marc McNulty being shown a yellow for giving his team mate handers.

HT: Peterhead 0-2 The Spartans

Deployment of the Peterhead hairdryer at the interval saw the home side inevitably come out of the traps requiring an immediate response and their early pressure was almost rewarded but for the long legs of Ayrton Sonkur denying a fine run and shot by Jack Brown.

Rory McAllister was up next to test the tourists and his curled effort wasn’t far away from Blair Carswell’s goal frame.

With the hosts pressing, Spartans looked to pounce on the counter and in the 62^nd minute, further light was put between the sides.  As the Peterhead bench claimed the ball had sneaked out of play in front of their noses, Marc McNulty wasn’t waiting for any whistle and raced up the park.  Bradley Whyte showed great pace to progress and when McNulty looked up to square the ball, Whyte took a touch before chipping McKenzie.

Spartans made a change with Sam Jones coming on for Rhys Armstrong.

A glimmer of hope for Peterhead was to come in the 65^th minute and to be fair, it was a stonkingly good strike by Danny Strachan who let fly from the edge of the box and his shot went in off the post, leaving Blair Carswell with little chance.

It’s the hope, they say – and just sixteen seconds after the restart, Spartans were awarded a penalty.  Blair Henderson seeing off the attentions of three men in blue to release Marc McNulty in space.  He rounded the keeper and his shot, destined for the net, was blocked by Jason Brown on the line. 

Unfortunately for the Peterhead skipper, it was with his arm and as he sat in the back of the net, he looked up as Referee Iain Sneddon brandished the red card for his troubles.  Blair Henderson stepped up and sent McKenzie the wrong way to make it 1-4 on the day.

With twenty to go, another set of swaps in personnel saw McNulty and Russell withdrawn, replaced by Jamie Dishington and Danny Denholm.

Then, with twelve minutes left on the clock, Blair Henderson rounded off a fine day with the final goal of the afternoon.  Sam Jones launched the ball up the park from deep. Defender Joe McKee misjudged the trajectory and lost track of Henderson who nipped in behind and he poked the ball beyond McKenzie to send the travelling Spartan Army wild.

In a week where he was crowned SPFL 2 top scorer of the season, it was Henderson’s 10^th hat-trick in Spartans colours and another match ball to add to the collection.  It’s unclear if the striker is seeking planning permission for an aircraft hanger sized building to store the dozens collected across his career so far.

A couple of changes as the game entered its final ten minutes saw Mason McCready replace Blair Carswell between the sticks and Robbie Thompson swapped with Callum Booth.

FT: Peterhead 1-5 The Spartans