ac milanda afc

Milanda secured another three points and for the second week running beat the team above them in the league and now sit in 2nd place. A day of bizarre goals and a final score line that was a bit hard on Strathclyde.

After a week of heavy downpours the Stepps pitch was in excellent condition and, although the pitch was almost as wide as it was long, it was almost perfect footballing conditions. Milanda made the early running and closed down their opponents at every opportunity. As the half wore on chances fell to Early, Williamson and Coyle but none of them made the Strathclyde keeper work too hard. Strathclyde were having difficulty retaining possession and couldn't find any way through the Milanda midfield and defence.

Milanda's pressure finally told and they took a deserved lead through Early. A loose ball in midfield was picked up by Williamson who played a first time pass into Reid and with the Strathclyde defence finding itself outnumbered he delayed his pass just long enough to give Early a chance to get into the box and he sent a neat right foot shot past the keeper. It was no more than Milanda deserved and they pressed forward to get goal number 2. Williamson had a great chance after a Fawns free kick left him with a free header 8 yards out but he did a 'Lovenkrands' and pulled it wide of the target.

At the other end Strathclyde were beginning to find their feet and started to make the Milanda defence do some work. They should have equalised when they scorned the best chance of the half. A break down the right ended in a cross that the whole Milanda defence missed including keeper Walker but as the ball bounced up the Strathclyde forward could only put his header into the side netting. Milanda finished the half the better and an O'Neill shot nearly went out for a throw in.

Strathclyde appeared to be getting a severe talking to from their manager at half time and took their time coming back on the pitch. Whatever their manager said it had an effect as for the first time Strathclyde began to look the more dangerous team going forward.

Milanda looked to have weathered the early storm and tried to take control of the game again but from a Milanda attack led to a Strathclyde goal. A corner by Murray was played out the box and the resultant counter attack avoided a number of challenges that eventually led to the equaliser. This gave Strathclyde renewed energy and they pinned Milanda back and looked the more likely winner until one of the most bizarre goals of the season restored Milanda's lead.

A break down the right looked to be coming to nothing when the cross was easily collected by the Strathclyde keeper on the goaline. For reasons best known to himself he placed the ball down as if he was taking a bye kick. Reid who was standing a few yards away couldn't believe his luck and rolled the ball into the empty net. The keeper looked to the ref for help but none was forthcoming as he pointed to the centre circle and Milanda were back in the lead. Worse was to follow for Strathclyde as Milanda increased their lead a few mins later after a cut back from the left found McColgan on his own at the back post and he scored his third of the season. That should have made the points safe but in true Milanda style they never make things easy and Strathclyde's second goal was comedy gold.

Somehow the Strathclyde striker avoided challenge after challenge in the box and got a shot off which Walker managed to slow down. As it spun off him and headed towards the goal O'Neill had a chance to clear but worried about putting the ball into the net he completely missed his clearance as the ball spun towards the goal. The ball then bounced up and hit the bar before a lurking Strathclyde player finally stuck it away and it was game on again.

It was then time for daft goal number three although this was the least bizarre of the three and was quite straightforward as a Murray corner kick was missed by everyone and despite a last ditch attempted clearance by the defender the ball had crossed the line. The goal finally killed off Strathclyde and Milanda had chances to increase their lead which the finally did when a break from defence saw a reversal of the first goal when Early put Reid through one on one with the keeper and he calmly slotted it past the keeper outstretched left hand and the points were safe.

Oh aye and Hyslop got a game

Another hard fought three points which could have gone either way but the key moments in the match went Milanda's way and in the end ran out deserved winners although the pivotal moment was Milanda's 2nd goal as Strathclyde were looking the more likely team to win at that point. Still we'll take the luck while we can.

Man of the match: Again another great team effort and many contenders this week for MOTM. Early again was solid in midfield, the defence, apart from a couple of hairy moments, didn't let much by and Reid upfront apart from his two goals put in an excellent shift but this week's MOTM award goes to Andy Scott who had a superb first half and won just about every tackle. He was a bit quieter in the 2nd half and nearly lost the award after his hat-trick of sliding tackles that all missed the ball.