Ellon Thistle v Insch

Division Two East

Ellon Thistle and Insch shared top spot in Division Two East before the pair faced each other in Thistle's first midweek fixture of the year. Manager Kevin Kennedy reshuffled his midfield pack but ultimately the same personnel that started the victory over Deva Dons on Saturday would kick off this top of the table clash. However, just before kick-off, Duncan McGill pulled up in the warm up with a groin strain which allowed Steven Beaton to take his place in the starting eleven. Martyn Duncan made his return after five weeks away to take his place on the substitutes bench at the expense of Graeme Giles.

In the opening ten minutes of the match, Ellon looked nervy and the visitors had the best of the possession without threatening the Thistle goal. As the home side began to settle, chances fell to Mikey Wild who dragged a shot wide from 18 yards before Beaton hooked a right footed effort over the bar after Insch failed to clear a Cockburn corner. Wild later looked certain to score but was denied by a well-timed tackle despite the howls from the Ellon support for a penalty. The Ellon forward was an obvious danger to the Insch rearguard, and it took four defenders to deny him another effort at goal and the first half ended goalless.

Half Time: Ellon Thistle 0 Insch 0

Thistle stepped up a gear in the second half and continued the pursuit of the opening goal. However, the Insch frontline looked dangerous on the counter-attack but Henderson, Anderson and Alexander successfully suppressed the majority of the visitor's foray's into the Ellon half.

Midway throught the second half, the home side went in front thanks to a goal from Ryan Birnie. Michael Wild caused all sorts of problems for the Insch full-back and his cross was met by the head of captain BIRNIE who beat the Insch 'keeper from close range.

Insch came close to equalising soon after when Thistle goalkeeper Adamson was called into action to smother a goal bound free-kick from 25-yards. However, it was the Jag's who extended their lead when once again Michael Wild was the thorn in the Insch defence as he ran his marker ragged before being scythed down inside the penalty area. Wild reluctantly handed spot-kick duties over to Bruce ALEXANDER who made no mistake from 12-yards.

With less than five minutes to play, in true Thistle fashion, the home side managed to concede to reduce their lead to one goal. Insch were rewarded for not throwing in the towel as Adamson could do little to deny the Insch forward who struck a perfectly executed volley from outside the penalty area. This set up a tense finish but Thistle held on to record a valuable three points.

Final Score: Ellon Thistle 2 Insch 1

Ellon Thistle: D. Adamson, B. Alexander, N. Henderson, D. Anderson, M. Cockburn, D. McKeitch (A. McLean), C. Duncan, S. Cruickshanks, R. Birnie, S. Beaton (M. Duncan), M. Wild. Unused Subs: D. McGill, A. Kerr