GeoSonic Lowland League: Late strike delivers sucker blow for Spartans

Posted on Sunday, January 13th, 2019

Spartans succumbed to a late sucker blow for the second time this season to BSC Glasgow as Dougie Samuel’s side faced a frustrating single goal defeat at Ainslie Park.

Central midfielder Aaron Scott was called up to the bench following putting pen to paper earlier this week as Spartans looked to close the gap at the top of the table.

The match got off to a frantic and furious start. The frantic saw BSC attack from deep, the long ball attracting the attentions of the standside linesman who raised his flag, only for the referee to wave play on.  A cross came into the box and in the aerial commotion, a shout for handball brought about the furious as the visiting players and bench became clearly incandescent at the non award of a spot kick.  So much so, the whistler made his way to the visiting technical area to advise as to who was the sole arbitrator of decision making.

Play raged on, then play stopped.  BSC’s Smith and Brown for Spartans were left in a pile on the deck following a clash of heads in the air.  Smith was able to continue following treatment however ‘Hovie’ could only soldier on for a brief period before Aaron Scott made his early than anticipated debut for his third Edinburgh club.

The first decent effort of the half fell to the feet of Adam Corbett who was the beneficiary of a knock down to him at the edge of the box however his shot gained too much northerly momentum and cleared the bar.

Half Time: Spartans 0-0 BSC Glasgow

Early second half goal mouth action was as rare as hen’s teeth – frustrating for strikers, however an excellent day out of the guys with the gloves.

Spartans pressed and when Jack Smith raced inside the box from his wide berth, he pulled back to Blair Atkinson who saw his shot saved by the feet of the BSC keeper before he sent his own rebound over the crossbar.  Seconds later, the ball was once again in the BSC box, this time it was David Greenhill who just couldn’t find the target.

Atkinson was next to turn provider after making progress towards the danger zone.  He pulled back for his former Under 20s colleague Jamie Dishington who pulled his shot wide of the target.

But for the tracking back and timely tackle by a visiting defender, Atkinson may well have opened the account shortly after but the challenge was enough to direct the ball behind for a corner kick.

As clichés go, football can be a cruel game.  Despite having the lion’s share of possession and chances, it was BSC who scored the unlikely winner.

The visitors this time with the counter attack and Tam Orr lobbing the advancing Blair Carswell, sending his bench sprawling onto the field and shortly after, their Manager into the stands after his dismissal.

Spartans looked to rally to set up a grandstand finish but it just wasn’t to be.

Full Time: Spartans 0-1 BSC Glasgow