The WELFARE STATE

 the website of Lochore Welfare FC

REPORTS

THORNTON HIBS 2 LOCHORE WELFARE 2

(Report courtesy of Thornton Hibs Website)

 

For the second week in succession, Thornton only managed to take one point from a home game.

Russell Taylor and Andy Kirk were unavailable so Chris Mill and Stuart McDonald returned to fill their places with Neil Sellars getting his first start since early September at the expense of Graeme Dursley.

Lochore took the lead in the 6^th minute when Stuart Hall saved well from Colin Jeffrey but ex-Thornton striker Kevin McCreadie pounced to hook the loose ball into the unguarded net.

Willie Crowe made a fine save to keep out Ken Renwick’s fierce drive and then Neil Sellars struck a great shot that produced an even better save from the Lochore number one. Sellars wasn’t to be denied though and he justified his selection by heading home Mikey Cunningham’s 19^th minute corner-kick to even up the game.

McCreadie had a great opportunity to restore Lochore’s lead however he screwed his shot wide from 10 yards. Adam Doig came even closer with a header and despite claims from the visitors that the ball had crossed the line, the referee waved play on as Chris Mill blasted the ball clear. 

The best move of the game came in the 39^th minute with Ken Renwick converting Alan McAllister’s cross to give the Hibs the lead.

Mike McAinsh slammed a header off the bar just before the interval and had this gone in Thornton may well have gone on to collect all three points.

Thornton came close again three minutes into the second period as Stuart Hall launched a long ball forward. Mikey Cunningham ran onto it and sent in a deep cross that Neil Sellars headed just beyond the far post.

Lochore equalized two minutes later when Craig Duncan’s fierce drive was blocked but the ball fell handily for Adam Doig to lash it high into the net.

Sellars again headed wide and then Crowe made another great save to prevent Stuart McDonald’s free-kick from hitting the back of the net.

After Thornton had been reduced to ten men following McDonald’s 73^rd minute dismissal following a second yellow card offence, Lochore began to apply a bit more pressure with McCreadie and Doig getting beyond the Hibs’ defence on a number of occasions. They were unable to find the net though due to a combination of good goalkeeping and slack finishing and the closest thing to a winning goal came when Chris Mill struck a long range free-kick that Crowe pushed off the underside of the crossbar.

 

Thornton Hibs:      Hall, Mill, Shields, Dickson, McAinsh, Renwick, Cunningham,

Hepburn, Sellars, McAllister, McDonald. Subs: Dursley, Wright,

Russell.

 

Lochore Welfare: Crowe, R.Laing, Sawers, Browne, Kinnell, Cusick, McQueen,

Duncan, Jeffrey, Doig, McCreadie. Subs: Shankland, G.Laing,

Campbell, Farley, Mitchell.

 

Referee: Mr P.Simmons.

 

 

Scone Away (22/09/07)

 

Report From Tom Graham.

Although Lochore created the first couple of chances, it was Scone who took the lead after 10 minutes when some non existant marking allowed the Scone player to rise up and head the ball home from 15 yards. Lochore probably had the majority of the possession in the first 45 but neither Morgan or Doig threatened the Scone goal. Craig Duncan, playing in a wide left midfield role seemed the most likely to cause the Scone defence problems. He put in a few good crosses but no one seemed to be in the right place to finish them.

Referee, Keith Maskell, dished out too many yellow crds for trivial offrnces and this was always going to lead to ordering offs as Lochore would find out in the second half.

The second half began with Lochore again pressuring the Scone goal, but as was the situation in the first half, no one was there to finish. Scone attacked down the right and were awarded a free kick. The kick was taken quickly catching the Lochore defence out and this led to the Scone striker having the easiest of chances to put his side two up.

Five minutes later, Ray Morgan smacked the crossbar with a header. it looked like Lochore would never score. The management decided to replace Willie Campbell with Ally Mitchell in an effort to increase the attacking options. A long kick out from Connolly fell perfectly for Doig and his 25 yard shot banged into the back of the net. I thought at the time that it was similar to Mcfadden 's strike against France. A couple of minutes later Jeffries broke through only to be incorrectly called for offside when the ball had clearly came off a defender. This led to a spate of bookings including Mitchell for protesting.

Scone took advantage of the unrest in the Lochore team and broke upfield forcing Connolly into a top class save. Unfortunately from the resulting corner, Scone increased their lead when their player somehow headed home from 18 yards.

The Welfare scored straight from the kick off, Ray Morgan having the easiest of chances, finishing off a good move involving three or four Lochore players. From the kick off Scone attacked and a 50 -50 tackle was given in favour of Scone. Ally Mitchell, who had the ball in his hands, bounced the ball in frustration at yet another decision going in favour of the home side. The referee deemed this to be kicking the ball away and gave Mitchell his second yellow. Tempers began to fray and Colin Jeffries found himself in an altercation with a Scone player. Both players were cautioned but unfortunately for the Lochore man this was his second booking and he also had to leave the field. Insted of leaving quietly, the Welfare number 6 continued to remonstrate with the ref probably earning himself a report and a lengthy ban.

With only 9 men on the park, Lochore looked like the team most likely to score. In the last minute Paul Campbell chased a ball into the corner which everyone else had given up on. His cutback was missed by a few players inside the six yard box but it fell kindly to Craig Duncan who slotted home the equaliser. It may have finished 3-3 but it sure felt like a victory.

                     

 Lochore Welfare team:

1.Jamie Connolly 2.Willie Campbell 3.Kris Shankland 4.Paul Browne 5. Andy Kinnell 6.Colin Jeffrey 7.Paul Campbell  8.Rhuraidh McQueen 9.Craig Duncan 10.Raymond Morgan 11.Adam Doig

 Subs. 12.Grant Laing 14.Brendan Napier 15.Ally Mitchell  16.Willie Crowe.