A tale of two hat-tricks as Arran go down fighting
It was a tale of two hat-tricks as Arran went down fighting against a tough Girdle Toll side in a rare home league game for Arran at Ormidale Park last Sunday.
A determined effort, including a hat-trick from Archie McNicol, failed to secure victory for Arran AFC who narrowly lost a competitive but evenly-matched game against Girdle Toll who also scored a hat-trick through Shaun Murtagh.
Arran opened with a side-foot the scoring effort from
Archie – seemingly coming out of nowhere and surprising Girdle Toll – but the opposition kept up a determined fight throughout the game and by the time of the final whistle, had scored one goal more than Arran to clinch a 4-3 victory, with Jordan Burt scoring the other Girdle Toll goal.
Archie McNicol and Shaun Murtagh were both named Man of the Match for their hat-tricks.
A spokesman for Arran AFC said: ‘Not the result we were after but we move on to next week.
‘We would like to thank Girdle Toll for coming over to play the game on Arran and to Brian for coming over to referee for us. Thanks too, to the Ormidale Hotel for putting on food for both clubs which was much appreciated by both sides.’
A spokesman for Girdle Toll said: ‘Good three points for the Girdle to see us move up to fourth place.
‘We made it a little more difficult for ourselves but got over the line in the end. ‘Big thanks to the Arran AFC boys and the Ormidale Hotel for having us back for a few drinks and something to eat after the game.’
Girdle Toll will hope to keep up the momentum when they face league runners-up Grange this weekend while Arran AFC will face Craigie United on Sunday.