West End too clinical for Thistle
West End gained Chatham Cup revenge over cross town football rivals Thistle in their Anzac Day clash.
The blue-and-whites scored goals in either half to win the qualifier 2-0 at West End Park and book a place in the opening round fixtures scheduled for May 13, after losing to the same side 2-1 last year.
Callum Thomson scored a first half goal off a superb ball from Tyler Cox, while the second came from some silky work from the midfielder again as he fed the ball to Jose Cornejo, who bagged his first goal for West End, in his debut match.
West End coach Damian Gawne said it was a quality game of football.
‘‘All credit to Thistle, they really took it to us and had us under a lot of pressure in the first half,’’ he said.
‘‘It was a great game of football.’’
Gawne praised his side for staying in the contest.
‘‘We needed to show that we can cut the mustard in defence if a team gets a bit of a roll on against us and we did that.
‘‘Our game came to fruition more as the match went on.’’
He said being under plenty of pressure from Thistle was good for the side.
‘‘It keeps us aware that we need to be performing and in different situations.
‘‘I’m really proud of the guys for their efforts.’’
West End were able to play their quick passing game more throughout the match.
‘‘The guys stuck at it and did their job.
‘‘I thought Jordyn Ellis was really dangerous for them,’’ Gawne said.
Thistle dominated the majority of the first half, starving West End of the ball.
The visitors had a number of shots on goal, but two hit the cross bar and one was well saved by defender Glen Paul.
A lack of finishing cost Thistle, who were unlucky to be down at the break, following a strong start.
‘‘Our goal was somewhat against the run of play in the first half,’’ Gawne said.
‘‘In the second once we scored we just tried to control things and did it well.’’
West End were the better team in the second half making numerous attacking forays down Thistle’s right side, while they also found inroads through the middle of the field.
Phong Ngo, Cornejo, Raul Atenas, Connor Bourke and Cox were outstanding for the home side, while Thistle’s best was James Blackstock, who made a number of telling stops on defence.
Sean Ferguson tried to spark things from the midfield, while Sam Kempf had some good touches.