Lowland League : Sammy’s delight as Dish serves up Derby winner

Posted on Sunday, September 5th, 2021

Spartans earned the North Edinburgh bragging rights as they won 1-2 against Civil Service Strollers in an eventful afternoon in Muirhouse.

Michael Bolochoweckyj returned to the heart of the Spartans defence following his recent suspension and he put in a Man of the Match winning performance against a Civil side who finished the match with 10 men following the late dismissal of Joao Balde.

A light drizzle offered the lush green surface a little extra bit of zip ahead of kick-off as Spartans made a rare outing on a grass pitch.

The match was barely minutes old when an audacious effort by the Spartans Trialist keeper saw his free-kick from deep inside his own half spot his opposite number off his line. A scrambling backtrack saving some blushes for the Civil keeper in what would have been the unlikeliest of starts.

The hosts are known for deploying their dangerous long throw tactics when in the opposition danger zone and they didn’t take long before trying this out, only for a resolute defence to hold firm under the aerial attack.

Referee Gall was busy with his bookings as both sides committed silly fouls in the opening half hour as both sides looked to make a breakthrough.

An opportunity on the half hour mark saw some neat exchanges between Jamie Dishington and Aaron Murrell who combined to set up Sam Jones only for his effort to be blocked and cleared.

A well timed last ditch challenge by Michael Bolochoweckyj most certainly denied Strollers an ideal opportunity for the opener as he stopped an attack on the periphery of his own 18 yard box.

It proved to be a vital stop, when, just three minutes before the break, Aaron Murrell latched on to a long ball from his keeper before teeing himself up to send a powerful low drive beyond Whyte to give Spartans the lead at half time.

HT: Civil Service Strollers 0-1 The Spartans

Both sides were left a little bemused and confused following a pair of handball decisions shortly after the interval.

Ian McFarland was first to be pinged when the ball touched his arm when he was in the ground. Then, at the other end, there was more than a strong call for a Spartans penalty as the ball appeared to hit an arm of a horizontal Stroller inside his box in a mirror like incident. Alas, play raged on with no spot kick awarded.

Dougie Samuel brought on Scott Maxwell who replaced goal scorer Aaron Murrell. The striker earning a warm round of applause from the Spartan Army faithful in the crowd.

With a bit of a midfield war of attrition breaking out, a long ball was sent deep into the Spartans box. It took a deflection off a defender en route which appear to flummox the keeper who could only watch as the ball spun out of his grasp and into the net.

Blair Atkinson was next to enter the fray at the expense of Ian McFarland who put in a typically industrious performance in midfield.

The game entered its final ten minutes with a possible share of the Derby spoils on the cards, but seasoned campaigners would be foolish to predict an outcome so early based on recent fixtures between the sides.

With 81 minutes on the clock, Spartans regained the lead.

Sam Jones passed the ball to Scott Maxwell inside the Strollers box. He quickly played in Jamie Dishington who took a touch with the head before sending an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner.

The home side’s frustrations in seeking a second equaliser of the afternoon got too much for Joao Balde when, in the final minute of regulation time, his yellow card for dissent to the Ref was doubled up to a dismissal as the Strollers forward continued his verbal volley.

After five nail biting squeekybumtime additional minutes, Referee Gall put an end to it all and Spartans held on to secure three points that sees them move into 3rd spot in the table.

FT: Civil Service Strollers 1-2 The Spartans

Malt and Hops Man of the Match: Michael Bolochoweckyj