ac milanda afc

A tough game in very warm conditions set Milanda up nicely for their Cup Final next Saturday.

Andrew Watt were first to threaten and Milanda found themselves pushed back in the first five minutes. Milanda then had a major let off when O'Neill was judged to have brought down an AW forward as he headed for the byeline. The resultant penalty though was hit well past the left hand post.

Preston and O'Neill in the centre of the Milanda defence were given plenty of work to do and were unable to stop AW taking the lead when a fine finish from the edge of the box left Walker helpless in the Milanda goal. This finally woke Milanda up and they put the AW defence under some pressure. Murray had a chance with a free kick on the edge of the box but couldn't find a way past the wall. Milanda did finally get an equaliser from a long ball out of defence that found both fawns and Scott looking in off side positions but the ref waved play on and the lob from Fawns found the net.

The game was very open and both teams were prepared to attack as often as possible and it was milanda who took the lead in rather fortunate circumstances. A murray corner was knocked to the front post where Coyle tried to get a touch but both he and the defender missed it and the ball carried on into the 6 yard box where O'Neill was waiting and he turned it skillfully into the net with both his shins

At the other end Aw had a couple of clear cut chances but were unable to keep the ball down. half time saw the score remain 2-1 to Milanda.

Milanda made some changes early into the second half with McColgan replacing Preston which saw Early move back into defence. A few minutes later Williamson replaced Sime and was only on the park a few seconds when AW equalised. A free kick was floated to Milanda's backpost and an unchallenged header was sent back across the goal and into the net.

the game was still wide open as both teams went for victory and it was Milanda who looked to have taken the points. A loose ball in midfield was picked up by McColgan and his inch perfect pass found Coyle on the left. Both Williamson and Fawns were in the box waiting for a pass. The pass when it arrived found Williamson who had made a run to the front post and he touched it right footed across the keeper and it hit the inside of the post and into the net.

Aw came storming back and tried to find another equaliser but despite plenty of effort they couldn't create any real goalscoring opportunities. Milanda at the other end had chances to make the game safe but couldn't take them.

As the game entered the final few mins disaster struck for Milanda when a long shot was spilled by Walker and an Aw forward was first to react to bundle the ball into the net and AW had rescued a point.

Over the piece a draw was a fair result. A hard but fairly fought game between two evenly balanced sides. A good workout for next week.

MOTM - Some excellent performances from preston before he went off and O'Neill in centre of defence but this weeks MOTM is Ross Early after a fine display of ball winning both in the air and on the ground.