Game of two halves, as Arthurlie and Neilston call it even again
IT seemed too good to be true and so it proved… When Arthurlie’s right-sided midfielder Josh Payne pounced on a slack clearance to cut inside and skilfully curl a left-foot shot beyond the grasp of Neilston goalkeeper Marc Wilson, only nine minutes had been played in the Dunterlie clash of the near neighbours.
Pre-match talk had centred on a 4-4 draw played out between the clubs earlier this season, so one settled back in anticipation of yet another exciting and high-scoring affair. Alas it wasn’t to be and there was little in the way of entertainment on display.
Arthurlie’s early promise – they had looked lively and dominant following the early boost of Payne’s goal – did not manifest itself and other than a James Marks header superbly touched away by a diving Wilson, they rarely threatened to score again, as team boss Dunky Sinclair pointed out in his summations afterwards.
He insisted: “We tried to get the ball down to play passes with both Der McNab and Tiger Molloy showing up well and first half we certainly had some joy down the right flank, albeit we never got more out of it.
“But we had warned the guys that teams coming to Dunterlie are riled up to prove a point and the second 45 minutes was dire as Neilston forced the pace and played as they wanted … winning free kicks to bring their big boys into our penalty box. It was disappointing that slack marking saw us lose a goal from one such situation.”
A half-time tongue lashing from co-managers Martin Campbell and John Paul Dow certainly brought the desired effect from their Neilston playing charges, and it was no surprise when an equaliser arrived on the hour mark after centre-back Paul Young rose unchallenged to head a free kick back across goal and striker Dylan Fletcher bundled the ball home.
Campbell slammed: “Harsh words had to be spoken because we just never got out of the traps in the first half which has to go down as the worst 45 minutes we have played all season.
“The big lift in our performance brought a deserved equaliser and we stayed on top but without getting any breaks in and around the penalty area.”