West District Indoor Cup ? Kelburne 3rd XI Pro-Life Development Team are Champions
/The Tournament was played as an all-day competition,starting at 0930hrs on a dreary Sunday morning at the Paisley Lagoon Centre
Last 16 : Anchor 2 ? 3 Pro-Life Kelburne
The day started with a tough opener for the Kelburne 3rd XI Development Squad against a highly experienced and mature Anchor side who took an early two goal lead due to a slow start by the Kelburne team. However things were about to balance themselves out after a period of sustained good play from the Pro-life Kelburne Team where Miles Goldie found the back of the net from close range which was quickly followed by Finn tucking in equaliser from a very tight angle, ending the half at 2 goals-a-piece.
The second half started brightly with Ewan Carmichael finding himself clear in the D where he promptly slammed the ball home to give us a 3-2 lead which proved good enough in the end, with the yellows holding the Anchor at bay with some exceptional defending by Alan Ralph and Fraser Hutchison and goalkeeping from new recruit GK Jambo Muir over the last 5 minutes, running out 3-2 victors and in to the Quarter Final round against Clydesdale.
Qtr-Final : Pro-Life Kelburne 3 ? 2 Clydesdale
After the slow start against Anchor, there was no chance of this happening again with the Kelburne team starting at a high pace and putting Clydesdale under heavy pressure. A few Kelburne chances went a-begging after some great saves from the Dale keeper but the yellows soon took the lead through promising junior Niall Taylor, where he slipped the ball past a helpless Dale keeper for a 1-0 lead to Kelburne and the tails were up. Soon afterwards a lovely 1-2 in midfield saw Ewan Carmichael slip the ball to Billy Anderson who flicked it past the keeper for a 2-0 lead and a strong position and closing out the first half.
Clydesdale started to create some good chances after the second goal and finally broke through after drag-flick from a short-corner appeared to hit the side netting only for the Umpire to give the goal in Clydesdales favour and after a dispute the goal stood. 2-1 up and a tight game ensued thereafter but the game was put beyond doubt when Billy picked up a great reverse stick stop and squeezed the ball low and hard past the defender and stranded goalkeeper for a 3-1 lead.. The pulsating game was petering out with 2 mins to go however Clydesdale pulled one back after a great run from their tall midfield play-maker but the Kelburne defence closed shop and ran out deserved 3-2 victors.
Semi-Final : Pro-Life Kelburne 4 ? 2 Hillhead 2
The squad was added to in the afternoon session with the arrival of the experienced David Fowler but depleted with the departure of Alan Ralph however with the juniors in fine form, it didn?t take long for the Pro-life Kelburne team to get on-track against the Glasgow team. After 5 minutes, a disguised defence-splitting pass from ex-Scotland star David Fowler found Billy Anderson in the D which he deflected past the stranded goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead. This was quickly followed by a father-son combo with Rory Anderson taking control of the ball inside the D and slipping it deftly to Anderson senior to lob the Goalkeeper and take the yellows in to a commanding 2-0 lead. Kelburne were moving the ball around with ease and this was a lead which would not be overcome. After a few short-corners for the Paisley team, they took a 3-0 lead in to half-time with a powerful Fowler effort high in to the roof of the net.
The 2nd half saw almost a full Junior Kelburne team take the field and they coped well with the change however finally Hillhead make the breakthrough with a nicely worked goal to peg the Pro-life team back to 3-1 but with 5 mins to go, a nicely worked pass was worked by Fraser Hutchison to Anderson who slipped it to Finn Halliday, slotting underneath the goalkeeper an unassailable 4-1 lead. Hillhead managed to pull another goal back in the final minutes but it was all over by then with Kelburne running out easy 4-2 winners.
Final : Pro-Life Kelburne 4 ? 2 Rottenrow 2
Going in to the final, the Kelburne Pro-life came up against an experienced but surprise package of Rottenrow 2s in the final. Excellent defensive work at the start from Doug McEwan in goals and the back 2 of Fraser Hutchison and Finn Halliday set the attacking options up well for the Kelburne team push for the trophy and after 7 minutes, there was no doubt where it was going as the Kelburne team sprinted in to a 3 goal lead with no reply. With a hat-trick of goals from Billy Anderson who received the payer of the tournament award for being the highest goalscorer, Kelburne finished the half strongly despite losing a last-second goal to finish the half at 3-1 up.
Starting the 2nd half, the Rottenrow team pulled another goal back to make it 3-2 but the result was never in doubt and a goal with 10 minutes left from Ewan Carmichael made it 4-2 and the final winning result for Kelburne who ran out as West district Indoor Cup Champions.
As it proved to be, the experience of senior players, coupled with the willingness and fantastic physical efforts of the Junior development players, really paid dividends throughout the day, resulting in the famous victory. Best for the Juniors were Halliday for his alertness, speed and goals scored, followed by young Taylor and Anderson who put in some brilliant performances for such a young age against senior men from the other Clubs. Something that will bode well for future competitions and the rest of the season about to kick-start after the winter break.
Squad :
Jambo Muir (GK), Doug McEwan (GK), David Fowler (C), Ewan Carmichael, Fraser Hutchison, Miles Goldie, Billy Anderson, Finn Halliday, Rory Anderson, Niall Taylor
Goals - Billy (7), Finn (3), Ewan (2), David D (1), Miles (1), Niall (1)
