Pupils feel the pinch as Glynhill score four
Friendly football gives children more game time Winter league shoot in the Tarbert sunshine
Campbeltown Pupils slumped to their first league defeat of the season after a below-par performance away to Glynhill Moorcroft.
Played in freezing temperatures at the Renfrew Sports Centre, the McF ad yen s sponsored Pupils had started the brighter when Scott Souden knocked down a header into the path of Ryan Deans but his half volley was tipped over the bar by the Glynhill keeper.
Glynhill took the lead when their bustling number nine took advantage of some passive defending and slotted the ball past Pupils’ keeper Alasdair Ferguson, who minutes earlier had made an excellent close-range save to temporarily keep the hosts at bay.
However, just before halftime the Pupils equalised, Deans battling for a high ball forward from defence, which dropped to John McCallum 15 yards out, and he guided a hooked right-footed effort which flew true and just inside the home keeper’s lefthand post.
This St Andrew’s Day match was played exactly six years since the McFadyenssponsored Pupils took on local rivals Carradale in the Scottish Amateur Cup in front of a 600-strong crowd at Kintyre Park; the hardy corps of Pupils fans making the trip to Renfrew were in disbelief as they watched a headbutt and a bite on central defender Lee Allen by the Glynhill captain, after a grapple in the penalty area, go unpunished by referee Campbell.
Into the second half, there was then huge disappointment for the Pupils when the same Glynhill striker cut in from the right to curl a shot past Ferguson, a fine finish for the home side, but one that committed the Pupils to going forward in search of goals.
Deans again came close for the Feathers Inn-sponsored Pupils – after strong aerial play from substitute Craig Lamont in the box – guiding a half-volley just inches over the crossbar.
The Pupils also had a strong penalty claim denied when Scott Souden was barged over in the box when driving past an opponent, but the match referee was unimpressed by the visitors’ penalty appeals.
Glynhill then delivered the match’s coup de grâce when they counter-attacked from a Pupils free kick in their own half, and advanced on the visitors’ goal, where a cross from the left found an unmarked Glynhill winger waiting to nod a header home and make it 3-1.
Pushing again for goals, and ultimately without reward, the Pupils were left licking their wounds when a high ball wasn’t cleared properly and the Glynhill number nine scored his hat-trick goal with a carefully guided lob, to put a rather harsh slant on the final scoreline.
After a chastening afternoon, the Pupils will look to recapture their strong early-season form tomorrow (Saturday) when they take on Dunoon Amateurs in league action at Kintyre Park, kick off 2pm.
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