ac milanda afc

A second-half fightback failed to pay off as Milanda let another three precious survival points slip away. Invac dominated the first half, turning around 2-0 up, and an early goal in the second period had Milanda really up against it. To their credit, the players battled their way into the game and might have snatched a point with a bit of luck. Luck, though, is in short supply when you are in the relegation zone.

As has happened so often this season, Milanda were unable to play the same team two weeks running so there were three changes to the starting line-up that had beaten Allander 5-1. This did the team no favours and a powerful Invac side posed a lot of problems. Their first goal was a basic goalkeeping error by Chris Preston and the second was scored when Milanda were down to 10 men after Gerry Evans had suffered a face knock. Even though Paul Ross had moved back to cover for Evans, a substitution should have been made more quickly and the manager takes responsibility for that.

With Thomas Addison on at the back, Milanda made an awful start to the second period by losing another bad goal from a corner. However, it was then that they showed some spirit and reduced the deficit in the 51st minute. Martin Johnstone did the initial spadework and then fed Martin Coyle whose ball into the box was hammered home by Paul Murray.

Six minutes later, Johnstone's run produced an opening for Coyle who took on a couple of defenders before lashing a superb shot past the Invac keeper. With more than half-an-hour left, Milanda could have taken a point but rarely managed to cut Invac open.

Johnstone produced a dangerous cutback but there were no takers, then Coyle and Murray hit shots off target. But Invac were still a threat and the Milanda had one or two escapes of their own, notably from a long-range shot that Preston brilliantly tipped over the bar.

With games running out, Milanda need points but they will have to start better than they did here and pass the ball better.

MOTM: Johnstone and Coyle were the top performers, with the skipper just edging the Man of the Match accolade with his wonderful goal.