ac milanda afc

AFC Columba 2 AC Milanda 6- Airdrie Leisure Centre

A surprisingly easy victory for Milanda against first division AFC Columba. Generally games between these two teams are hard fought and tight encounters but this was Milanda’s easiest victory of the season so far. The fact that Columba only had 10-men obviously helped although a few Milanda players weren’t aware of this fact until the game was over. For the second game running problems with the pitch meant the game nearly didn’t take place after it was discovered the pitch hadn’t been freshly lined but agreement between the teams and the ref saw the game go ahead as planned. A red ash park with no lines, a 1 in 10 gradient and severely rutted meant Milanda were playing in the kind of conditions they excel in.

There was an early shock for Milanda when Columba took the lead with their first attack of the match. A sweet strike it was too as a throw in from the right landed on the edge of the Milanda box and a crisply struck volley left Preston without a hope in the Milanda goal. Fortunately for Milanda it was only an early blip and they took the game to Columba attacking down both flanks and Coyle making some great runs through the middle. An equaliser was on the cards and it arrived from the boot of Reid. Columba failed to clear a throw in and the ball fell to Williamson on the edge of the six yard box who unselfishly laid it off to Reid in a better position and he despatched it with a thumping right foot shot. (some were heard to comment that it wasn’t an unselfish act but because he thought he’d miss it anyway).

The rest of the half belonged to Milanda and the psychological disadvantage of being a man down seemed to deter Columba from committing too many men in attack, which made life easy for Duncan and Early in the heart of the Milanda defence. Despite the bulk of possession Milanda could only score one more before the break. This came from the head of Scott Preston who beat the Columba keeper to a throw in and despite the attempt by a Columba defender on the line to keep the ball out with his hand it ended up in the net. Probably just as well he never succeeded, as going down to 9 at that stage would have made a hard job impossible.

Wilson replaced Addison at half time and was involved in a lot of the early play as Milanda searched for the third goal. Milanda started the second much like they ended the first and Williamson had a chance to give them a 2 goal cushion but headed a cross straight at the Columba keeper. Chances were going a begging and without the killer third goal the worry was losing something at the other end. As the half progressed with no change in the score Murray replaced Scott and it turned out to be an inspired substitution. Murray’s first touch was a speculative lob into the Columba box which deceived defenders and forwards alike and more importantly caught out the Columba keeper who watched in despair as the ball bounced over his head into the net. A fortuitous but deserved goal for Milanda.

With the pressure now lifted from Milanda they began play some crisp attacking football with the midfield of Murray, Coyle, Fawns and Wilson all beginning to find space and sending balls into the box from all angles. From one of those moves Milanda were unlucky not to get goal number 4. A deep cross to the backpost found Reid and Williamson met his header back across goal but couldn’t quite direct the header on target. At this stage it was all Milanda and the fourth goal finally arrived when Reid re-directed a mis-hit shot from Murray into the net from 4 yards. Reid could and should have gone on to complete his hat-trick but a combination of bad luck and mis-hit shots kept him at 2. A little more composure in front of goal and Reid will be way out in front in the goalscoring charts come the end of the season.

Columba at this point were on the ropes and looked a well beaten side but to their credit they kept going and were rewarded with a second goal after a corner was cleared to the edge of the box and as it was returned a Columba player got a head to it on the 6 yard box and re-directed it into the net.

In recent weeks this could have caused Milanda to press the panic button but for once they went up the park and scored a quick fire double to finally kill the game off. The fifth goal came from Coyle when he buried a header from a Fawn’s corner. The stattos in the team reckon this was his first goal for a year. Now that’s a goals to game ratio even Addison can better. The scoring was completed when Williamson bundled a loose ball over the line from 3 yards.

Overall it was a far easier game than Milanda would have expected from first division opposition and also from a team who were the beaten finalists in last year’s competition. The numerical advantage played it’s part but Milanda played some of their best football of the season and at times it was hard to believe this was the same team who were so poor in the first half against Club Sporting. Maybe it was the return to playing on a tight red ash park? Time will tell if a corner has been turned or if it was a just a blip on an otherwise mediocre season.

Man of the Match – Some solid performances this week all the way through the team. Defence were solid, midfield provided support to the forwards who in turn gave the Columba defence a busy morning. Could have chosen any 1 from about 4 or 5 players but web man of the match this week is Coyle who finally got the goal he’s been waiting for and in the last few weeks has begun to show the form everyone knows he is capable of.