Not so easy for Peasy with sick bay full, says Patterson
IT WOULD be harsh to describe Petershill’s 4-1 friendly defeat by Hurlford United on Saturday as ominous but it is fair to say the Ayrshiremen were emphatic winners over the 90 minutes.
Springburn boss Willie Patterson’s grim face at the final whistle told a story even though circumstances had dictated him taking on the powerful Super Premier Division outfit with a much depleted and predominantly youthful Peasy line-up .
A glaring physical mis-match was also evident when the two sides faced each other across the halfway line before a ball was kicked, so it speaks volumes of the defensive qualities instilled by Patterson and No.2 Paul Kelly that Hurlford could not make their height advantage tell at set plays.
The Peasy gatffer admitted: “I know there was a mixed bag of plusses and minuses to be taken from today’s exercise, but it still irks me to be on the losing side and more so when two of the goals conceded today came from our own mistakes.
“Knowing we have a whole bunch of experienced players to come back in is pleasing in some respects but also very frus- trating given the new season is only a couple of weeks away.”
Petershill were holding their own in the early stages with newcomer Stefan Graham catching the eye, however a visiting midfield boasting big-name signing Alan Jenkins were soon making inroads and several near things ensued before the opening goal arrived just after the half-hour mark.#
A fortuitous break of the ball in a penalty-box scramble allowed veteran Mark Roberts to steal in and force the ball home from point blank for 1-0 .
An instantaneous equaliser was denied the Peasy when Chris Hall’s header from a flighted Jordan Kennedy cross drifted just wide of the upright and approaching half-time it took a diving save from Hurlford goalkeeper Chris Murchie to keep out a netbound Keiron Friel shot .
These near things must have grated even more when the Ayrshiremen doubled their advantage just seven minutes into the second half when a swift break upfield led to Paul “Taz” Mckenzie getting time and space to fire a rising shot beyond Peasy No.1 Dean Traynor.
Peasy fans were treated to their side coming ever so close to a goal when Luke Crerand worked an opening to crash a 20 yard shot beyond Murchie only for the ball to rebound off the post.
Shortly afterwards a defensive blunder culminated in burly Hurlford striker Ross Robertson being set up to tuck the ball home with aplomb for 3-0 and a fourth score duly arrived when McKenzie cut inside from the right wing to fire home a low shot.
With time running out, Petershill were rewarded with a deserved consolation goal after their trialist substitute raced clear to cleverly slot away a low shot for a 4-1 scoreline.
In other games, St Rochs posted a 3-0 victory over Kilsyth Rangers with goals from Stephen McDonald, Danny Irvine and Keiron Daw while across city Pollok recovered from falling behind to a Willie Wells goal for Cumbernauld United to win 4-2 through doubles from Derek Hepburn and Nikky Prentice.
Marc McKenzie bagged a hattrick as Arthurlie trounced Craigroyston 6-1 while former Barrhead aces Rhys Devlin (2) and Eddie McTernan were on the mark along with Aaron Connolly as Irvine Meadow ran out 4-0 winners at home to Fauldhouse United. the International Champions Cup at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“And my feeling is that it will be very difficult for him to go.
“It will be very difficult for him to go because he’s a very honest boy, very straight.
“He was contacted for a long time, the club was closed. Then we open because I always have this feeling of when a player has a desire to go I don’t like to stop players because in the end you don’t get from them what you expect from them if they want to move and they don’t move.
“So we open it and they decide to close, and I don’t think the feeling for him is very, very good.
“I see him really happy and focused and working better than ever, so for me 100 per cent he stays with us.”