Late goal denies grandstand finish for Pupils in league
AFTER a slow start against last season’s champions East Kilbride, a courageous second half revival almost brought its reward when the McFadyen sponsored Pupils scored twice in 10 minutes to put the cat among the pigeons with just 15 minutes of normal time remaining.
The first half was a different ball game, with the visitors dictating most of the possession and the home side looking out of sorts and completely off the pace of the game.
The day was summed up accurately by one of the Pupils’ die-hard supporters: ‘We gave them far too much respect and it cost us dearly.’
No-one could argue with that assessment as the Pupils stormed back from the dead in a pulsating second half, only running out of steam when East Kilbride snatched victory with a fine fourth goal.
There was a lot of good football to admire from both sides in the first half, but simple possession and clever movement was the hallmark of the visitors’ studied approach to the game.
Nevertheless, the home side could have gone one up when Keith Mitchell cleverly made his way forward and released a sliderule pass to the onrushing Ryan Deans.
Deflected
The Pupils wide-midfield cruised past his marker to reach the byline, but his intended cross was deflected for a corner and the chance was lost.
With 30 minutes gone, the home side went a goal behind from what was without doubt the move of the match. A glorious onetouch passing movement ended with the ball deftly turned into the path of the onrushing Bob Thanda, ex Charlton Athletic, who slammed the ball home with ease.
At this point, the Pupils would have been more than happy to change ends one down, but the closing minutes of the half turned into a nightmare for the hosts when East Kilbride added two more in quick succession.
For a lesser side it would have been ‘Goodnight Vienna,’ but the Pupils are made of sterner stuff and a second half fight- back was on the cards when Scott Souden held off his marker to score with a fine angled drive from just inside the box.
The early goal lifted the home side and with renewed belief and momentum they pinned East Kilbride back for the first time in the match.
Another flowing move down the attacking left had the visitors in difficulty and a despairing hand reached out to stop the home side scoring again – penalty kick!
Paul Grumoli – who had a fine match on return from injury – stepped up to drive the ball home to reduce the leeway to a single goal.
However, what could have been a grandstand finish sadly wasn’t to be, the home side’s valiant comeback stunted by a second goal for Bob Thanda, a peach of a strike into the bottom corner to seal full points for East Kilbride.
Campbeltown Pupils travel to play a league match against Goldenhill tomorrow, Saturday March 11.