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Sat 01 Mar 2014
Gretna 2008
Dalbeattie Star
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Dalbeattie Star v Gretna 2008
David McDonald1 Mar 2014 - 17:00
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Match report
DOWN BUT NOT OUT
Star lost heavily at Raydale Park as their League Cup hopes were dealt a huge, but far from fatal blow. The simple fact is they must win their last two matches, at home to the two sides above them, which will mean the worst case scenario is they will finish joint top with East Kilbride and Gretna and it will be all done to goal difference.
Unfortunately this is where the size of this defeat may still have a major say on their hopes of progressing. However that’s all about the next few weeks. Star travelled to Gretna in good fettle having rattled in 13 goals in their last two games and everything was set up for another great match. However it was to be a game Star will want to forget as soon as possible as they were second best in every department and rarely troubled the home side who cruised to victory. Gretna’s front three were a constant thorn in Star’s side and tormented the visitors for the whole 90 minutes. At the other end Star got little change out of the home sides defence with former Star centre half Nikki White the outstanding leader at the back.
Star lined up without the suspended Sam Warren and Scott Milligan remained on the bench, still not quite 100% from his ankle knock from two weeks earlier. The first half chance of the match actually fell to Star when Hugh Cameron charged down a Graham Wright clearance but unfortunately the ball did not fall too kindly for Scooby and his shot failed to find the net. On a bobbly pitch it was obvious goalkeepers would have problems with the ball at their feet and it would be Star’s number one Darren Martin who would suffer most. Three minutes after Star’s chance Gretna took the lead when Dean Rea flicked home an Alan Inglis free kick for a straightforward goal. The home side dominated but just as it looked like Star might just reach half time with a one goal deficit Gretna scored a second six minutes from the break. As Martin received a pass back he was pressurised by Brandon Longcake, the forward blocked the keepers attempted clearance and luckily for him the ball fell a few yards in front of an empty goal for the simplest of goals.
At the start of the second half Star brought on Scott Milligan for Jamie Struthers in a bid to get back into the tie. Four minutes in and Wright was at full stretch to tip a Lewis Sloan cross away from Milligan as Star at last began to threaten. The next goal was always going to be crucial and in 53 minutes Gretna scored a third, aided by a touch of good fortune when Longcake went past Gregor Anderson and then beat Martin with an emphatic finish. In an afternoon when nothing went right for the Star, one positive was they never gave up and never resorted to taking out their frustrations on their opponents.
The ball would just not fall for Star and from a Sloan corner Paul Cook’s header was inches away from Ritchie Maxwell at the back post and in the last couple of minutes there were two almighty scrambles in the Gretna goalmouth but it was one of those days when it would not land kindly for the visitors. In the second minutes of stoppage time Star’s nightmare afternoon was complete when Martin was again caught in possession with the ball at his feet and Longcake completed his hat trick. It’s a game the keeper will want to erase from his memory but it should be remembered that he was the outstanding player on Star’s two previous visits to Raydale Park when brilliant performances enabled Star to record two fine results.
Next week it’s a must win match for Star as East Kilbride travel to Islecroft in the penultimate round of matches in the League Cup and is the perfect opportunity for the players to get rid of the frustrations they felt at Raydale.
GRETNA 2008 4 DALBEATTIE STAR 0
Rea (9)
Longcake (39, 53, 90+2)
GRETNA 2008: Wright, Rea (Blake 75), Inglis, Rudd, White, Todd, Aitkinson, Main, Flannery (Thorburn 83), Slattery, Longcake
Yellow Cards: Todd
DALBEATTIE STAR: Drysdale, Handling (Cook 71), MacBeth, Maxwell, Anderson, Fergusson, Dunglinson, Wells, Cameron, Sloan, Struthers (Milligan 46)
Subs not used: Drysdale
Yellow Card: Dunglinson, Anderson
Ref: A Newlands
Assistants: B Park & E Walker
Star lost heavily at Raydale Park as their League Cup hopes were dealt a huge, but far from fatal blow. The simple fact is they must win their last two matches, at home to the two sides above them, which will mean the worst case scenario is they will finish joint top with East Kilbride and Gretna and it will be all done to goal difference.
Unfortunately this is where the size of this defeat may still have a major say on their hopes of progressing. However that’s all about the next few weeks. Star travelled to Gretna in good fettle having rattled in 13 goals in their last two games and everything was set up for another great match. However it was to be a game Star will want to forget as soon as possible as they were second best in every department and rarely troubled the home side who cruised to victory. Gretna’s front three were a constant thorn in Star’s side and tormented the visitors for the whole 90 minutes. At the other end Star got little change out of the home sides defence with former Star centre half Nikki White the outstanding leader at the back.
Star lined up without the suspended Sam Warren and Scott Milligan remained on the bench, still not quite 100% from his ankle knock from two weeks earlier. The first half chance of the match actually fell to Star when Hugh Cameron charged down a Graham Wright clearance but unfortunately the ball did not fall too kindly for Scooby and his shot failed to find the net. On a bobbly pitch it was obvious goalkeepers would have problems with the ball at their feet and it would be Star’s number one Darren Martin who would suffer most. Three minutes after Star’s chance Gretna took the lead when Dean Rea flicked home an Alan Inglis free kick for a straightforward goal. The home side dominated but just as it looked like Star might just reach half time with a one goal deficit Gretna scored a second six minutes from the break. As Martin received a pass back he was pressurised by Brandon Longcake, the forward blocked the keepers attempted clearance and luckily for him the ball fell a few yards in front of an empty goal for the simplest of goals.
At the start of the second half Star brought on Scott Milligan for Jamie Struthers in a bid to get back into the tie. Four minutes in and Wright was at full stretch to tip a Lewis Sloan cross away from Milligan as Star at last began to threaten. The next goal was always going to be crucial and in 53 minutes Gretna scored a third, aided by a touch of good fortune when Longcake went past Gregor Anderson and then beat Martin with an emphatic finish. In an afternoon when nothing went right for the Star, one positive was they never gave up and never resorted to taking out their frustrations on their opponents.
The ball would just not fall for Star and from a Sloan corner Paul Cook’s header was inches away from Ritchie Maxwell at the back post and in the last couple of minutes there were two almighty scrambles in the Gretna goalmouth but it was one of those days when it would not land kindly for the visitors. In the second minutes of stoppage time Star’s nightmare afternoon was complete when Martin was again caught in possession with the ball at his feet and Longcake completed his hat trick. It’s a game the keeper will want to erase from his memory but it should be remembered that he was the outstanding player on Star’s two previous visits to Raydale Park when brilliant performances enabled Star to record two fine results.
Next week it’s a must win match for Star as East Kilbride travel to Islecroft in the penultimate round of matches in the League Cup and is the perfect opportunity for the players to get rid of the frustrations they felt at Raydale.
GRETNA 2008 4 DALBEATTIE STAR 0
Rea (9)
Longcake (39, 53, 90+2)
GRETNA 2008: Wright, Rea (Blake 75), Inglis, Rudd, White, Todd, Aitkinson, Main, Flannery (Thorburn 83), Slattery, Longcake
Yellow Cards: Todd
DALBEATTIE STAR: Drysdale, Handling (Cook 71), MacBeth, Maxwell, Anderson, Fergusson, Dunglinson, Wells, Cameron, Sloan, Struthers (Milligan 46)
Subs not used: Drysdale
Yellow Card: Dunglinson, Anderson
Ref: A Newlands
Assistants: B Park & E Walker
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