Pupils’ slow start punished in home league defeat

Campbeltown Pupils paid the price for a lethargic start last Saturday when they fell to a 4-1 defeat at home to Harmony Row.

The Pupils conceded the opening goal within five minutes after a near-post corner was met by a Harmony Row head and flicked high into the net.

Worse was to follow for the Kintyre side as a breakdown in attack left the home defence exposed and a ball across the goal was touched home low into the net to make it 2-0.

The Pupils conceded a third on 35 minutes when a Harmony Row player was left unchallenged from a wide free kick and met the high floating delivery to guide a looping header into Alasdair Ferguson’s left-hand corner.

The McFadyens-sponsored

Pupils’ best chance of the first half was a well-struck free kick from Donald McCallum from 20 yards which struck the crossbar and on bouncing back out, was eventually cleared.

Into the second half, the Pupils showed considerable character and improved their performance to keep their impressive, relentless visitors at bay.

Before the hour mark, they pulled a goal back, after a handball in the box was punished with a penalty kick, which Donald McCallum struck hard and high into the centre of the goal, giving the keeper no chance.

However, several minutes later, the home side was reduced to ten men when Pupils’ skipper Keith Mitchell received his marching orders after a second booking for a foul.

The ten men of the Feathers Inn-sponsored Pupils knuckled down admirably for the last half-hour and even with an improvised 4-4-1 formation and a numerical disadvantage, looked re-energised in attack with the introduction of

Calum Ellis at half time and a rejig of on-field personnel with Donald McCallum slotting into midfield, joining Lewis McNaughton, while John McCallum moved across to left back and Stuart Crossan shifted to right back.

Young striker Ellis had a couple of fleeting glimpses of goal but a slick passing move in the final ten minutes of the game saw a cutback side-footed low into the net by a Harmony Row substitute, sealing a 4-1 victory for the visitors.

Tomorrow (Saturday), the

Pupils host Glenvale FC at Kintyre Park in the club’s 31st and final match of their inaugural West of Scotland Football League season. Kickoff is at 2pm.

Pupils’ squad v Harmony Row: Alasdair Ferguson, John McCallum, Ross Souden, Ellis Robertson, Keith Mitchell, captain, Scott Souden, Rhys Casci, Lewis McNaughton, Stuart Crossan, Donald McCallum, Ryan Deans. Substitutes: Calum Ellis, Conner Brown and Michael McKinlay.