Easthouses Lily
Matches
Wed 22 Aug 2018
Easthouses Lily M.W.F.C.
Easthouses Lily
C Beattie (0')
1
0
Hawick Royal Albert
Easthouses Lily v Hawick Royal Albert

Easthouses Lily v Hawick Royal Albert

David Mcqueenie31 Dec 2018 - 12:59
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Match report

You can never underestimate the importance of 3 points and for Easthouses league opener against Hawick Royal Albert, the vital statistic after a very hard and frustrating 90 minutes reads, a home win and a very valuable 3 points.Performance wise, the home side know they can play a lot better, individually and as a team but credit where credit is due, for the last 20 minutes and the couple of openings created in the first half, an honest man would admit that Hawick deserved something from the match.The home side made 4 changes from Saturdays defeat to Tynecastle. Danny Taylor replaced the injured Stephen Barrie while Steven Hay returned to replace Findlay in goals. Steven Nethery and Ally Elliott replaced the suspended David Curran and Graeme Young after their sending offs at the weekend.In front of a very good crowd inside Newbattle, the home side kicked off proceedings looking to start where they left off from Saturdays second half performance. That however never really materialized. The game started at a slow tempo with neither side really stamping their authority on the game. The first real note of action came after 4 minutes. After picking the ball up on the right hand side, Elliott drove down the line towards the box but his cut-back was met with no takers as the ball was easily cleared.
 
Hawick's first effort came after 9 minutes. The striker found himself with space to turn and from 25 yards, his early strike caught Hay off guard and his effort struck the outside of the right hand post. 15 minutes in, Russell teed up Shearer whose cross was met by the head of Elliott whose glancing header went wide of the target.
 
Two minutes later, the Hawick keeper was called into action for the first time. Elliott done well to work himself a yard of space and his firm strike was palmed away to safety from the keeper. From the resulting break up field, Hawick should have taken the lead. A through ball was played inside Wilson who tried to adjust his body but in doing so, missed the ball allowing the Hawick player in on goals. As he approached the box, Hay got his angles right as the keeper made a brilliant block to deny the away side the chance to take the lead.
 
Some neat build-up from the back seen Russell create an opportunity for himself. Liam Hall played the ball into Beattie who had time to turn and play in Russell. The forward worked his way into the box and after he evaded a couple of challenges, his effort was tipped wide for a corner from the keeper.
 
After Shearer had an effort which was straight at the keeper, the home side's efforts to get the opening goal finally paid off on 37 minutes. After an excellent run down the right, Russell's pin point cross found the incoming Beattie whose well executed flick left the keeper with absolutely no chance giving his side the lead.
 
As half time came, the home side went into the break knowing the game was still evenly poised. The importance of the next goal if there was to be one, was addressed to the players at half time and they came out second half looking to kill the game off early doors.
 
They almost got the perfect start to the half as Taylor found Shearer with an excellent ball over the full back. Shearer let the ball bounce once then fired an excellent effort which flew inches past the far right hand post. A Craig Beattie strike seen a deflection take the pace of the ball as it was comfortably saved form the keeper.
 
As the clock hit the 60 minute mark, Russell found space on the right hand side and drove inside towards the penalty box but again found the keeper on top form as his effort was pushed away to safety as the home side searched for the crucial second goal.
 
While the home sides lead was still a slender 1-0, the away side started to crank up the pressure on their hosts. First Hay had to make a smart save to palm away an effort from the Hawick striker, while a few minutes later, another effort flew by Hay's right hand post.
 
The visiting dugout thought they had equalised after the substitute cut inside from the left and curled a brilliant effort which went agonisingly past the right hand side upright leaving Hay no chance.
 
The Hawick substitutions were making a positive contribution for the away side as they forced Easthouses further and further back. Every time the keeper collected the ball, his distributions from the back was excellent. Although going long, his kicks instantly put the home defence under pressure. There was a sense of panic coming from the home side as the ball just wouldn't stick up the park meaning the visitors kept coming back as they pushed for the equaliser.
 
With 7 minutes remaining, Lewis Burns made an excellent last ditch block after the ball was fired across the box and Burns put his body on the line to divert the effort over the bar from a few yards out. The visitors sensed blood and again thought they had found the elusive goal. Again the substitute found space after coming inside and hit a fantastic strike from 25 yards but thankfully for the home side, the cross bar came to the rescue as his effort smashed off the woodwork and the ball was cleared to safety.
 
With one minute to go before the 90 minutes, the away side were again thwarted as a free header from a corner looked like it was going in all the way only for Danny Taylor to make an excellent goal line clearance preserving the home sides slender advantage.
 
As the referee blew the full time whistle, there was a sense of relief from the home side. A very tricky 90 minutes against a side who will be disappointed not to take anything from the game. The home side will now turn their attentions to Saturday's league game with Oakley knowing that their performance levels will have to upped if they have any aspirations of finishing in the higher regions of the league table.
 

Match details

Match date

Wed 22 Aug 2018

Kickoff

19:30

Meet time

01:00

Attendance

105
Team overview
Further reading