ac milanda afc

Club Sporting 0 AC Milanda 1(HT (0-0)

Not a morning for the purists. Always a tricky fixture for Milanda and turning up with the bare eleven didn't help their cause but depsite a hard and almost impossible pitch Milanda came away with 3 points and a clean sheet.

The first half was mostly forgettable as both teams had difficulty controlling the ball on the hard and rutted pitch. Neither keeper was put under any real pressure and the game had an end of season feel about it despite there being over a third of season's games remaining.

Chances for Milanda in the first half fell to Williamson and Johnstone but neither really tested the keeper. At the other end the Milanda defence coped fairly easily with any threat from CS.

The second half started much the same as the first until the CS were reduced to 10 men after an off the ball incident that saw Binnie of Milanda felled by an elbow. The ref didn't hesitate and produced a red card immediately and sent off the CS player for violent conduct. This was followed quickly by another CS player being booked for protesting and then their mananger was also given a warning by the ref.

This kicked the game into life as Milanda sought to take the advantage of the extra man. Milanda started to see more of the ball and were beginning to dominate the game but couldn't find a way through a well organised CS defence. That was until Milanda were awarded a penalty. A slide rule pass from Coyle sent Evans into the box but before he could decide on his next move he was fflattened by a tackle from behind. A definite penalty and there was little arguement from CS.

Usual penalty taker Coyle had the his duties stripped from him after missing a penalty against Renfrew Town a few weeks back and new taker Grant assumed the duties. After a first half free kick that he skied over the bar the Milanda team held their breath as Grant placed the ball and took his run up. They need not have worried though as he sent the keeper the wrong way and put Milanda into the lead.

This saw the best period of play in the whole game as Milanda looked for the killer 2nd but despite creating a few openings they couldn't find the net. The best of these efforts was a thunderbolt from Crawford from the edge of the box that the keeper turned round the post.

CS hadn't given up and kept pressing Milanda to the end but Walker and his defence held firm despite Dullaghan clearing across his own goaline which caused the Milanda manager and a few of his team mates palpitations.

Over the piece Milanda just about deserved all 3 pts but it wasn't a classic by any means.

Man of the match – With only 11 bodies eveyone had to commit fully to the cause. Plenty of effort on a terrible surface. Despite his age and lack of games Scott Grant had a solid morning and made a number of important interceptions and tackles and rounded of a fine display with a confident penalty so seeing as he's my lift in the morning this week's MOTM is Sclaffer Grant.