Milanda secured third place in the league and finished the season in style with a six goal thumping of Deanpark. Milanda had met Deanpark twice already this season and struggled both times but there was never any real doubt about the result of this game.
Milanda controlled this game from the first whistle to the last although Deanpark put up a good fight initially they seemed to collectively lose interest after half time. Milanda’s first chance fell to Williamson who couldn’t quite direct the ball on target after great running by Reid caused confusion in the Deanpark defence and the resultant loose ball was just put past the left hand post when a shot on target would have been a definite goal. Reid’s running was to prove a constant nuisance to the Deanpark defence all morning. Reid’s first goal of the afternoon followed soon after. A long ball out of the Milanda defence was touched on by Williamson and again Reid’s pace took him in behind the Deanpark defence and he rounded the keeper to put Milanda one up.
This sparked Deanpark into life and they won a number of corners and free kicks around the Milanda box but Milanda’s defence for once were dealing comfortably with anything delivered into the box. Milanda were forced into a change when Wilson had to be replaced by the veteran’s veteran Hyslop. This saw a formation change with Hyslop playing upfront and Williamson dropping into midfield. Milanda went two up soon after. Another long throw by Fawns was met by the head of Williamson who stole in front of a Deanpark defender and sent an inviting ball across the 6 yard box. The header itself might have gone in but Addison threw himself full length to bury a header behind the Deanpark keeper with their defence left claiming offside. Deanpark continued their claims but the referee correctly waved their protestations away. Milanda finished the half strongly and were unlucky not to add to their lead.
Soon after half time Milanda made the game safe when a killer counter attack knocked the stuffing out of Deanpark. A Deanpark corner was cleared out of the box and fell to Hyslop in the centre circle and his perfect header sent Reid tearing away towards the Deanpark box where he once again rounded the keeper and finished calmly from an angle. The goal saw the end of any attempt at a comeback from Deanpark and Milanda were, for the first time in along time, in complete control and began to look as if they could score at will. Reid completed his hat-trick when a break on the left by Callender was knocked to the back post where Reid took his time before sending a left foot shot into the net. Callender himself was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet when after rounding the keeper he left himself too tight an angle and he couldn’t quite get his finish on target.
At the other end Preston made a couple of stops as Deanpark tried to keep the score respectable. An incredible stramash in the Milanda goalmouth looked certain to end in a goal but somehow the ball stayed out. For the first time in the game a Deanpark forward got in behind the Milanda defence, his initial shot was blocked by Preston but fell perfectly for an incoming Deanpark forward but his effort was blocked on the line by Williamson but as he tried to clear it hit a Milanda defender and fell to the original Deanpark forward about 2 yards from goal, incredibly his effort was touched onto the post by Preston then the ball rolled along the line and hit the opposite post before the ball was eventually cleared. No one was quite sure how the ball stayed out but for once lady luck was shining on Milanda.
Goal number 5 arrived soon after when Reid turned provider and delivered an inch perfect pass to Coyle who let the keeper commit himself before tapping into an empty net. Reid claimed Milanda’s sixth and his fourth soon after and Milanda finished a long and hard season with an emphatic victory.
So Milanda finished the season on a winning note and ended a three match losing run. It’s been an up and down, Jekyll and Hyde type of season that has seen Milanda play as much good football as crap but third place is respectable and if we are honest we’d struggle in the first division if we’d made either of the promotion spots.
Website man of the match – Given the performance of the team this week it’s a collective team man of the match award. Mark Reid may have scored 4 goals but he’d the first to admit it was down to the effort of the rest of the team that gave him his chances. Scott Preston also performed well at the centre of the Milanda defence and we can’t forget Hyssie turning back time with an exceptional performance that belied his age of 78. All in all a solid team performance that augurs well for next season.