On Saturday 14.9.19 - The Kelburne Mens’ 5s continued their great start to the new season by defeating East Kilbride Mens 1s 3-1 at an overcast and blustery On-X Centre, Linwood. After an excellent draw last week, the Kelburne 5s were in fine spirits and right from the start they looked to play high and dominated possession. The first attack came after 3 minutes. A run down the right by Nicholas Knox saw a dangerous ball flash across the D. Shortly after, nice work from Tommy Austin brought a short corner which resulted in a Kelburne shot going just wide after nice passing between Dick Donaldson, Tommy and Nick. After 8 minutes, East Kilbride had their first venture into the Kelburne D but the play was quickly closed down by Stuart Robin and with the next attack Kelburne took the lead. A ball into the centre was controlled by Jared Bolland who found Aaron O’Hear at the back post and Aaron made no mistake with the finish. Kelburne 1-0 East Kilbride. In 14 minutes, Kelburne won a short corner but the opportunity was blocked. Over the next 10 minutes, the East Kilbride keeper faced a succession of shots from Aaron, Callum Stewart and Tommy Austin, who was causing East Kilbride problems with his close control and dribbling. At this point, it would be fair to say that the East Kilbride keeper was the reason for score remaining 1-0. On 26 minutes, he pulled off another great save after good work from Andrew Stewart saw the ball fed to Aaron who drove into the D only to be denied by the keeper. Towards the end of the first half, the game became slightly more broken with East Kilbride pushing up in the search of an equaliser. However, most of the chances continued to fall to Kelburne with shots from Dick and Callum Brown blocked by the keeper. As the first half drew to a close, Kelburne had two short corner opportunities in quick succession, the second of which saw the ball bounce across the face of the goal and go agonisingly wide. Half Time – Kelburne 5s 1-0 East Kilbride 1s

The second half had barely begun when East Kilbride scored an equaliser. After a quick move up the wing, the ball broke to the East Kilbride attacker in the centre of the D to score. Kelburne 1-1 East Kilbride. The goal gave East Kilbride a lift and at 38 minutes, Fionn Wilson had to react quickly to kick out a dangerous ball in the D, with Stuart breaking up a further attack shortly after. However, after the disappointment of conceding the equaliser, Kelburne once more began to play as they had in the first half. On 42 minutes, a run by Jared brought a short corner and a shot on goal from Tommy saw yet another save. Sustained pressure brought a Kelburne long corner, which saw Charlie Feeney break through into the D only to be denied once more by the keeper. On 50 minutes, yet another Kelburne short corner saw a shot by Dick fly just wide. As the game entered the last 10 minutes, and with the East Kilbride keeper continuing to repel multiple attacks, it seemed that Kelburne were to be denied the victory their play deserved. However, the young Kelburne 5s team continued to show the same effort and commitment that saw them come from 4-0 down the previous week and on 61 minutes, they went ahead once more. A short corner was played out to Dick who controlled the ball and calmly shot low past the keeper into the corner. Kelburne 2-1 East Kilbride. Kelburne continued the pressure and after 64 minutes, they got a third. A great run through the middle by Aaron saw a through pass to Charlie, who calmly slotted the ball passed the out-rushing keeper. Kelburne 3-1 East Kilbride. Overall, a fantastic team performance.

FT Kelburne 5s 3-1 East Kilbride 1s. Well done all 5’s lads!

Next Game – Kelburne 5s face Clydesdale 4s at Titwood on 21 September