ac milanda afc

AC Milanda 4 Pursuers (HT (3-0)

Probably another Milanda record. 3 clean sheets on the bounce. At any level of football that is excellent but at our level it's very rare even for the best teams. A surprisingly comfortable win for Milanda against a team that possibly had one eye on their cup final next week.

Milanda started brightly and played some excellent one touch football on a less than ideal surface. The Milanda pressure looked sure to lead to a goal and when it did but it will be one the Pursuers keeper will not wish to reminded of. A ball into the box looked an easy punt up the park for the keeper but as he swung a boot at the ball it took a cruel bobble and his kick was at fresh air. Reid was lurking for such a chance and had the simple task of putting the ball into an empty net.

It should have been 2 seconds later when a quick Milanda attack left Johnstone in on the keeper but the keeper made up for his error by managing to get a touch and push the ball away for a corner.

Johnstone didn't have to wait long to get goal number 2 though. A long throw to the back post found him unmarked in the 6 yard box and he buried his header into the top corner. He then got his 2nd and Milanda's third when he met a perfect near post corner from Reid and his header found a gap between the defender on the line and the keeper. Milanda were in easy street at this point and played some great football. Murray, Coyle and Walker in the centre of midfield were dictating proceedings along with Evans and Scott making runs from their wingback roles. Pursuers just couldn't cope with the movement from midfield or the runs from Johnstone and Reid upfront. At the back Fawns had very little of note to do thanks to the defensive trio of O'Neill, Crawford and Dullaghan who dealt with anything that came through to them.

Johnstone could have had his hat-trick when a volley from the edge of the box was just wide. Then Evans had a mazy run that took him from the halfway line into the Pursuers penalty box but his shot was well saved and he should maybe have cut it back for Coyle who had shouted himself hoarse looking for the pass.

As the half time whistle sounded Milanda could be pleased with their first half performance which was one of the best 45s for a long time.

Milanda took their foot of the gas a little in the second half and didn't quite match the levels of the first but they were still comfortably in control of the game. Coyle had a shot from the edge of the box but the Pursuers keeper was up to the task.

McMillan decided to make a few changes as the game entered the last quarter with Addison and Williamson replacing Evans and Johnstone. Williamson's height saw him win a few headers in midfield and it was from one of these that goal number 4 arrived. Fawns launched a bye kick into the centre circle where Williamson won the header and knocked it into Coyle's path as he made his run forward. Coyle controlled it with one touch before placing a perfect shot across the keeper into the net. Straightforward but effective football.

To Pursuers credit they didn't fold after this and were still looking for some consolation. It looked as if they were going to get it and ruin Milanda's clean sheet run when a hopeful through ball caught out the Milanda defence and left two pursuers players chasing the ball into the Milanda box. it looked a stick on for a goal but Fawns came out and spread himself and blocked the shot brilliantly and was relieved when the rebound was skyed well over the bar. This was to be the last bit of action as the ref blew his whistle.

Milanda seem to have found a bit of consistency and find themselves on the fringes of the promotion race but a tough game next week against Renfrew Town who still have title aspirations.

Man of the match – Many good performances this week and one of the hardest MOTM decisions this season. Dullaghan along with all the defence had a fine game. Milanda's midfield controlled the game and played some great football. Upfront Johnstone continues to find the net and is now only 1 behind Evans in the goal scoring charts but this week's MOTM goes to his strike partner Mark Reid who caused huge problems to the Pursuers defence with his pace. he was in the right place at the right time for his goal and swung over a number of dangerous corners that led to another goal. Just in case he thought i'd forgotten i did remember his shot in the 2nd half that went out for a shy.