ac milanda afc

 MILANDA picked up what would normally be regarded as a useful point against high-flying Andrew Watt but in the middle of a relegation battle it could and should have been three. The team created more chances than they have for weeks but poor finishing restricted them to one goal. Andrew Watt also had other chances and in their case it was the brilliance of Chris Preston in the Milanda goal that kept their tally down.

Milanda had one of their best starts to any match this season, with the exception of Bishopton at home, and created at least five good opportunities in the opening 15 minutes. An inability to hit the target with any of them meant the Andrew Watt keeper was never really hassled.

The best of them saw Colin Kelly race through and round the keeper but his cutback wasn't buried. Efforts by Martin Coyle, Martin Johnstone and Roddy McDonald failed to work the keeper and as Andrew Watt continued to escape punishment it was almost inevitable they would go up the park and score.

Gerry Evans failed to deal with run-of-the-mill clearance after a misunderstanding with fellow defender John Clifford and that allowed one of the home attackers to go forward and blast the ball past Chris Preston.

One shot, one goal - if only Milanda could learn how to play this way.

Andrew Watt forced Preston into other good stops as the game became more even but Milanda still managed to waste another couple of openings before the break.

The second half was more evenly balanced than the first but Milanda's finishing was similar, with Kevin Grehan and McDonald both firing shots over from close range.

Milanda equalised on the hour mark when a powerful surge by Paul Ross ended with the ball breaking to Johnstone and, although he looked offside, the referee seemed to think it had come to him off a defender's boot and allowed the striker to shoot home. Andrew Watt were understandably incensed but oin the balance of play Milanda deserved to be all square at least.

Milanda pushed hard for the winner and Johnstone looked set to provide it when he burst through the middle but a last-ditch tackle stopped him and saw him hobble off with what turned out to be a broken bone in his foot.
With Milanda's top scorer on crutches and out of the final three games, things do not look good.

MOTM: In a strange game that could have been lost or won handsomely, Milanda's best individual performance came from keeper Chris Preston.