ac milanda afc

THIS was a game Milanda had to win to finish in the top two and qualify from their section into the quarter-finals of either the William Drummond Trophy or the consolation tournament, the Vince McGlinchey Trophy. It was a case of job done fairly comfortably in the end, although Second Division North Kelvin United played better than the scoreline suggests on the astro-turf at Milton Campus. They were the more dangerous side early on and could have been a couple of goals ahead before Milanda scored.

A re-jigged defence took time to adjust and only excellent goalkeeping by Craig Fawns kept the home side out. A 16th-minute breakthorugh settled Milanda's nerves, although there was a huge slice of luck attached to the opening goal. Paul Malone played in Gerry Evans on the right with the perfect weight of pass but his cross didn't appear to be heading for any team-mate when one of the North Kelvin defenders seemed to panic and knocked it past his own keeper. Seven minutes later, it was 2-0. Martin Johnstone fed Martin Coyle and he drilled a powerful strike into the corner of the net.

Kevin Grehan was unlucky not to make it 3-0 with a long-range shot that the keeper touched on to the bar. But still North Kelvin caused problems and it took another fine stop by Fawns to keep Milanda's lead intact until the break.

Fawns turned a free-kick round the post early in the second half and that served notice the game wasn't finished as a contest. Milanda had spoken at half-time about the important of getting a third goal and Evans might have notched it from a Coyle cross but headed well over the bar.

However, No.3 duly arrived in the 62nd minute. It all started with good play on the right by Coyle and then Johnstone toook it on, skipping past a couple of challenges before slipping in Grehan whose low shot found the corner of the net.
Milanda could relax after that and with 10 minutes to go completed the scoring. Coyle chased a long clearance and got there just before the onrushing keeper to divert the ball towards the unguarded goal. One of the defenders might have cleared on the line but only succeeded in helping the ball into the net. Technically it might have been an own goal but a meeting of the Dubious Goals Committe later awarded it to Coyle. Well, it was that or have to sit through the usual dressing-room tantrums. An objection by Martin Johnstone was duly noted.

MOTM: No failures on the night. Scott Preston, Brian Traynor and Thomas Addison gelled well in central defence after a shaky start and Paul Ross and Marc McColgan provided good support. Kevin Grehan and Gerry Evans got through a power of work in midfield while the trio up top, Martin Johnstone, Paul Malone and Martin Coyle never gave NK a minute's peace. Jim Binnie and Scott Grant also played their parts as substitutes. One man stood out, however, and that was Craig Fawns, back between the sticks after starting the season as an outfield player. It's rare for the keeper to win man of the match in a 4-0 win but vital stops at vital times were the foundation for Milanda's success.