Determined Kelburne keep Clydesdale at bay
KELBURNE MEN’S 5S...................2 CLYDESDALE MEN’S 4S...............0 Kelburne Men’s 5s put in a dominant defensive performance to dispatch a youthful Clydesdale Men’s 4s team.
It was a much- changed Clydesdale team that lined up at Titwood to face Kelburne’s 5s after the previous week’s drubbing by Kelburne’s 4s.
And it was clear it was going to be a much more competitive game from the off, with Kelburne enjoying all the early pressure.
Stylish linkup play between Dick and Tommy set Calum Brown free on the right hand side, where he made space for himself to make a superb cross into the D that Calum Stewart met perfectly, but his shot went into the side netting.
Aaron, Dick and Tommy were causing Clydesdale all sorts of problems with driving runs into the circle and were unlucky not to get off the mark.
As Clydesdale huffed and puffed a bit at the other end, Jack made a solid tackle, ushering the ball from danger and releasing an immediate attack that eventually saw Nic pick up the ball just outside the D. He drove onto his left before unleashing a reverse stick shot back across the goal and into the far corner.
The defence of Jack, Andrew, Rory and Dylan were marshalled by the experience of Stuart and, alongside, Fionn they were as solid as a rock.
It was 25 minutes before Clydesdale managed a shot from wide on the left, bringing out a great stop from Fionn.
Jared was linking the defence and forwards on the right with some solid midfield defending and quick passing to have Kelburne on the attack quickly, which put Clydesdale under lots of pressure.
As the ball broke to Dick, he disguised a straight ball through to Aaron and played Tommy in to slot the ball home through the goalie’s legs and make it 2-0 to Kelburne.
Clydesdale were coming into the game a bit more and Fionn was needed for an excellent clearance, with Rory making a fantastic tackle to follow this only to be unluckily punished for a hand on the attacker’s back. This seemed to spur him on though as the next run of play saw him on the line clearing a Clydesdale shot.
The second half started as the first finished, with Kelburne having lots of possession. There was lots of passing and relentless attack. Charlie’s pace and tenacity was causing some of the Clydesdale players real problems and they didn’t know how to manage him.
Andrew worked really hard in creating space and opportunities for himself and did some stellar work channelling a defender and winning the ball back for Kelburne to apply pressure on Clydesdale again.
As the second half went on, Clydesdale came into the game more, but the Kelburne defence continued to play well and would not be breached.