Wellhouse win after extra time

Wishaw High School F.P’s finally played their 1st competitive match of 2012 as they took on fellow CSAFL side Wellhouse AFC from Glasgow on Saturday at the King George The V Park in Wishaw in the 4th round of this season’s West of Scotland Cup. Welhouse who had played their 1st competitive match the week-end before to progress in this season’s Scottish Cup with a 2-0 victory against East Kilbride Rolls Royce settled the quicker of the 2 sides and as early as the 5th minute, F.P’s keeper Paul O’Hara had to be alert to pull of a good save from Wellhouse captain Thomas Sinclair. Wellhouse’s early pressure paid of when they were awarded a soft penalty in the 10th minute after F.P’s defender Wull Montgomery was harshly adjudged to have pulled back a Wellhouse striker just inside the penalty area. This was a decision hotly disputed by the F.P’s players with Montgomery picking up a booking for his protests. Wellhouse keeper Darren Logan managed to save a net bound effort from F.P’s David McCluskey on 12 minutes. Wellhouse dominated possession in the middle period of the 1st half with Andrew Dorrans, James Upton and Thomas Sinclair all squandering gilt edged chances to put the game well beyond the home sides reach with only a ½ chance for Stevie Murdoch to add to the earlier effort of McCluskey the sum of the F.P’s goal bound efforts in a lacklustre 1st half performance from the F.P’s.

F.P’s manager Gus Boyle had some harsh words for his side at half time and what was said appeared to have worked as The F.P’s finally found their feet and managed to stem the constant chances which Wellhouse had created all too easily in the 1st half. 5 minutes into the 2nd period and F.P’s striker Stevie Murdoch fired inches wide of the post withLogan beaten when he raced onto a through ball over the top of the Wellhouse defence. Wellhouse defender David Fisher and sub Stephen Anderson squandered chances in quick succession when F.P’s keeper Paul O’Hara spilled a cross some 8 yards out but finally the ball was cleared to safety by F.P’s sweeper Gerry Jamieson. With 25 minutes left Gary Miller and David McCluskey were replaced by Ally Wilson and Tommy Sommerville and as the game went into the last ¼, the F.P’s continued to press forward in search of an equaliser and it finally arrived when Brett Ansell chested a high ball into his path some 12 yards out and volleyed home to bring the scores level at 1-1. Despite pushing hard for the winner and earning a succession of corner kicks in the final 10 minutes the Wellhouse defence stood firm and the game went into e/t.

The 1st half of extra time saw The F.P’s Scott Donald and Brett Ansell fail to hit the target with speculative efforts and Chris Hopkins blasting over from close range for Wellhouse when it appeared easier to score. Wellhouse scored what turned out to be the winner some 5 minutes into the 2nd half of e/t  when a superb header by Lewis Stewart from 8 yards out from a cross from out wide left F.P’s keeper Paul O’Hara helpless and despite their best efforts late in the game, again the resilient Wellhouse back four were in no mood for surrendering the lead on this occasion and held out well to seal their place in the 5th round.

Although disappointed to be out of both majors as early this season, F.P’s manager Gus Boyle was happier with the effort the side put into their improved 2nd half performance and e/t where he felt after equalising that they could have went on a notched a winner. All credit must go to Wellhouse for their impressive 1st half performance and only some glaring misses in that 1st period saved the game from being beyond the F.P’s at the interval.

Line Up: O’Hara, Montgomery, Burnside, Jamieson, Donald, Ansell, Littlejohn, Mackie, Miller (Sommerville), Murdoch, McCluskey (Wilson).

January 16th, 2012

Filed under: Reports

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