ac milanda afc

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Never an easy trip for Milanda to the KGV parks in Renfrew and this game was no exception although Milanda made it tough on themselves. It was the proverbial game of two halves. Milanda just never got going in the first but were a different team in the 2nd.

Another all change side for Milanda as a number of players were unavailable for various reasons. This might have been one of the excuses why the first half was such a disjointed performance. Milanda seemed unable to tackle and retain possession and it was a surprise it was only 1-0 at HT. The goal summed up the first half display. An unchallenged break into the box resulted in a fairly weak effort on goal but Fawns let it bounce off his shin and an Islay player had a tap in for the opener. Milanda rarely threatened at the other end. Williamson had an early chance from a cut back but his sliding effort was blocked by a defender. Evans had a couple of long range efforts that were both high and wide. He did have Milanda's best effort of the half though when he picked up a loose ball from a corner and his shot came back off the underside of the bar. The ball fell between McColgan and Johnstone and they seemed to put each other off as McColgan dragged his shot wide.

The defence were the only part of the team to emerge with any real credit after a poor first half. A deserved bollocking from Milanda boss Macmillan sent the team out with renewed purpose in the 2nd half and it had the desired effect as Milanda drew level and then took the lead within 10 mins of the restart.

Both goals had a slight element off good fortune about them.The first started from a McColgan a pass to Evans midway in the Islay half. He lobbed the ball forward to Johnstone. A defender tried to intercept but his touch took the pace off the ball and it landed perfectly for Johnstone to take round the keeper and stroke the ball into an empty net. A few mins later Milanda had the lead. Addison had a shot from well outside the box and it was clearly going wide until Walker managed to get his head onto the bouncing ball and re-direct it towards goal. The keeper was completely wrong footed and tried to scramble across his goals but it was all in vain as the ball landed just inside the post to give Milanda the lead. Milanda had their tails up and Islay looked a bit shellshocked at the quick turnaround in the score and were mis-placing passes and needlessly knocking the ball out of the park.

Milanda had to make an enforced substitution as Williamson was replaced by Grant and Williamson's sprint to the dressing room was the fastest he had moved in 5 seasons. What happened in the next 20 mins on the park is at present still waiting confirmation from the Milanda boss and we'll update the report if he can remember anything. As for what happened in the dressing room we'll just not go there. So while we wait for further updates here's some music.

Williamson returned to catch the last 5 mins and was in time to see Fawns make up for his earlier error after the Milanda defence had been sliced open leaving the Islay forward with a great chance to equalise but Fawns was equal to the task and he knocked away the shot with his right foot. Fawns also had a huge part to play in the third and decisive Milanda goal. His huge kick out was completely misjudged by the Islay centre half. As the ball bounced it sat up perfectly for Johnstone and although the keeper got both hands to his header he was unable to keep it out the net and the 3 points were Milanda's. There was barely time to kick off before the ref ended the game. A hard fought for 3 points and a result that puts Milanda up to 3rd in the table with a game against 2nd place Invac coming up next week.

MOTM: Every week seems to see a completely different Milanda side take to the field. This week it was a real struggle in the first half but it was night and day when compared with the 2nd half. A much improved performance in the 2nd which the whole team should take great credit for. Scott Preston was immense at the heart of the Milanda defence and on any other week would have been the clear winner of the MOTM award but this week it is going to two goal Martin Johnstone. Often an unsung hero who covers every blade of grass upfront and is always a great outlet for a defence when they are under pressure. I'm sure I even saw him make a tackle in his own penalty box in the first half.