Ellon Thistle v Glendale

Division Two East

This match was to be the biggest test of the Jags bottle to date. The champions elect were in town and Ellon were in a situation where it was three points or bust in the promotion race.

It was another heavenly start to the second match in succession when the Jags had the ball in the net in the first minute of the match. Martyn Duncan belted in a cross from the right which found Wild whose neat touch found Beaton who in turn completely sclaffed his shot to McKEITCH who drilled the ball home. A great start to this pressure game. And a great assist for Beaton, hmmm!

Glendale had a decent chance to level thing up when their striker had a good chance but could only fire past Adamsons goal into the shrubs behind the goal. But Adamson was called into when a cross deceived the defence but the Ellon keeper was there to palm the ball away from the onrushing striker.

Steven Beaton felt wronged when he found himself clean through on the edge of the box but was adjudged offside. The ref said he was too quick for the defence when the ball was played. Steven Beaton too quick?

But Ellon did grab a second. Bruce Alexander punted a freekick straight up the middle of the park which the defender amusingly misjudged leaving WILD to lump the ball over the keeper who was bearing down on the striker, the ball took an eternity to come down but Wild was there to tap home from just under the crossbar. 2-0 and Thistle were flying.

But ‘Dale got themselves back in the game when a corner came in and Adamson came out to win with what looked like the wrong hand and palmed the ball into the net. This game was now a test of character for the young Jags squad.

This didn’t stop Ellon’s superiority. They were still creating chances and Wild’s pace was terrorizing the exceedingly slow ‘Dale back line. Callum Duncan was unlucky with an ambitious effort from thirty yards. Wild was also unlucky when he tried a curling effort from the left hand side but the shot just didn’t have enough poke. At this stage everyone was wondering how this mob were away to win the league.

‘Dale did have a good chance to square the game late on in the half when their number 8 tried a world cup finish on the volley but blazed over. Placement was the better option.

Ellon were then denied a stonewall penalty. The ‘Dale keeper and centre half both challenged for the ball in the air with the big clumsy defender batting the ball away with a forearm smash. This leaving the healthy Ellon crowd in raptures of abuse directed in the referees direction.

Half Time: Ellon Thistle 2 Glendale 1

Martyn Duncan who was guilty of a few bad decisions in the second period could have scored in the early part of the half when he found himself in the box but he took a touch to much and the chance was gone.

Ellon seemed to go flat and were letting Glendale back into the game by leaving big gaps in the middle of the park this leaving the number 10 to dictate the play a bit.

Fresh legs were introduced when the token substitution of Steven Beaton was made. He was replaced by Ryan Birnie. When entering the field of play the field the referee asked the Gollum-a-like if he had any rings. Was the ref taking the mick, Gollum and rings? Duncan McGill was replaced by Mikey Gibson shortly after too.

Martyn Duncan missed another good chance when he went for power and not placement which inevitably missed the target. And it was that man again who missed a sitter when he broke into the box and with the goal gaping he hit a pretty feeble effort which the keeper comfortably saved with his feet. In recent weeks there has been a common theme in Thistle games and that is a distinct lack of ability to finish teams off. Another obvious problem in this game was that Ellon with one of the fastest strikers in the league in Wild were up against possibly the slowest defence in the league but instead of using that to their advantage they persisted in the high ball to Wild. The ‘Dale defence may have been the slowest in the league but they were possibly the tallest too so Wild didn’t have much of a chance.

As mentioned before, Ellon’s lack of ability to finish teams off was apparent in this match and David McKeitch missed the chance of the game when he had two thirds of the goal to head into but he missed by a long shot. From the resulting goal kick Glendale grabbed an unlikely and very much undeserved equaliser. The ball found the striker who had acres of space to run into and give him his due he finished well across Adamson and effectively ended the Jags promotion push.

But there was one more heart wrenching moment. In the last minute the Jags got a corner which Cockburn whipped in, there was a cluster of players but Birnie managed to get his head through the bunch only to head less than an inch wide.

Glendale are on course to win the title and if this is a title winning team then god help us all. Ellon are the architects of there own downfall and the league does not lie. Someone call the undertaker because Thistles promotion bid is dead and just needs buried.

Final Score: Ellon Thistle 2 Glendale 2

Ellon Thistle: D. Adamson, B. Alexander, N. Henderson, D. Anderson, M. Duncan (M. Cockburn), S. Cruikshanks, C. Duncan, D. McKeitch, S. Beaton (R. Birnie), D. McGill (M. Gibson), M. Wild. Unused Subs: G. Giles, R. Longmuir