ac milanda afc

Kevin Williamson brought the curtain down on his 26-year AC Milanda career by leading the team to victory in the sunshine. The victory was nowhere near as convincing as the scoreline suggests but after a run of defeats just taking three points came as a relief. All the boys were hoping to send Williamson off into the sunset on a high and worked very hard to get the result.But at 2-1 the game was very much in the balance and only some excellent goalkeeping by Chris Preston and resolute defending by the men at the back kept Renfrew Town at bay.

Milanda started the game well and made the breakthrough after 10 minutes. New boy Colin McLaughlan’s cross from the left into the box was only partially cleared and top scorer Martin Johnstone pounced to drill a low shot into the net.
Williamson had a shot over the top as the home team kept pressing but when the second goal came in the 22nd minute it was from an unlikely source. Sweeper John Wilkie launched a long punt forward and the keeper seemed to take his eye off it as he came out, allowing the ball to bounce over this head into the net.

Three minutes later, Renfrew pulled one back with a shot Preston touched but couldn’t keep out after Martin Coyle had given away possession in midfield. Milanda were told at half-time they had to cut out such mistakes and this side of the game was definitely better in the second period.

However, it was tough to actually get hold of the ball because Renfrew were pushing forward in waves. Preston produced some quality goalkeeping and there were some narrow escapes as the visitors failed to get the goal their pressure deserved. Milanda even managed to defend a free-kick on the six-yard line awarded after Scott Grant had been forced to pass the ball back to his keeper when in a tight spot.

At the other end there wasn’t a lot happening at this stage, although Williamson was just too high with a header from a Johnstone cross, Johnstone then hit a shot wide and Coyle was unlucky not to make more of an attack that saw his persistence win him possession of the ball from the diving keeper.

But goal No.3 in the 70th minute took the heat off. Kevin Grehan was the scorer after a corner kick was knocked into the air and Williamson was first to it and laid it back to Grehan and he curled it in at the far post as Coyle challenged the keeper. Six minutes later a 4-1 win was complete when Grehan took a free-kick from the left this time and Coyle rose majestically to head home.

All in all, a great day for the team and the departing captain in particular.

MOTM: There is an argument for giving the award to keeper Chris Preston for the second match in a row following a string of fine saves but John Wilkie just nicks it for some sterling defensive play and, of course, his goal.