JUNIOR FOOTBALL – PA FRIDAY DECEMBER 30

Dec 30 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE five weeks without games has left team managers with the task of keeping their players motivated with training sessions and friendlies.

They are all hoping that there will be no further holdups and they will return to action next Saturday, but it’s all in the hands of the weather man.

Jeanfield Swifts met Super League side Kelty Hearts in a friendly at the McDiarmid Park all weather pitch and it was a closely contested and highly entertaining encounter with end to end play throughout the 90 minutes.

There were a few near things at either end before the Hearts opened the scoring in 35 minutes and they did so with an excellent goal.

Swifts had attacked the Kelty goal but their attack was repelled when the ball was cleared and played forward to Kelty’s Greg Meikle who dribbled his way past a couple of opponents and finished it off in style cracking the ball into the corner of the net from the edge of the penalty box and this proved to be the only goal of the half.

Swifts swept into the attack from the restart and they had Kelty on the back foot.

They came close with a couple of chances and after six minutes they got the breakthrough they were striving for.

A corner from Gavin Mackie was headed down by Jamie McKenzte into the path of Robbie Holden and the striker smacked the ball past the keeper from a few yards out and the game was all square.

Kelty came fighting back after this setback and after a sustained bout of pressure they regained the lead. A combined move was finished off when Conrad Courts rifled the ball past the Swifts keeper from just outside the penalty box.

The Kelty joy lasted little more than a minute as Swifts retaliated immediately and John Anderson was in their penalty box with the ball at his feet when he was fouled and from the resultant spot kick Tony Holt did the business to make it 2–2. While both sides had chances that could have won them the game a draw was a pretty fair result.

Coupar Angus met Premier League side Downfield at Foxhall Park and they surprised the Spiders, by holding them to a 1–1 in the first half. Coupar went a goal behind midway through the half.

Ten minutes later they were back on level terms when a clearance from the Spiders goalkeeper hit one of his defenders and fell to Coupar striker Ryan Valentine, who was making his comeback after being confined to the sidelines for a spell with an injury, showed he had lost none of his skills as a predator as he snapped up the loose ball and went on to round the keeper and slot it into the back of the empty net.

The Spiders power was the telling factor in the second half and they went on to win 6–1.

Coupar had their two most recent signings in their lineup – goalkeeper Danny Turner and midfielder Stewart Cassidy and they have both been involved in amateur football.

Stewart Cassidy’s dad is a well known personality in the junior game.

He was a stalwart defender who played with a number of clubs one of them being Jeanfield Swifts where he was a team mate of the current Swifts manager Scott Brown.

He is now a coach with Downfield and while Stewart junior turned in a steady performance it was Stewart senior who came out on top.

Kinnoull’s friendly with Premier League leaders Oakley at the Loch Leven Campus went on despite the high winds and driving rain.

That wasn’t the only problem Kinnoull boss Gavin Price had to contend with as he had a number of late call offs that left him a bit short in numbers and he had to play himself.

The conditions were such that quite a number of players kept their track suit tops on and understandably Oakley who were pretty much at full strength had the upper hand and when the interval came along they were 2–0 ahead.

Early in the second half Kinnoull had a great chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a penalty.

Daryn Smith took the spot kick only to see it well saved by the Oakley keeper and this proved to be most fortuitous as Oakley went on to make it 3–0.

Kinnoull reduced the leeway to 3–1 when they won a corner which was taken by Calum McKinlay.

His cross into a packed goalmouth saw Chris Webster meet the ball and beat the keeper with a header but if they felt that this was their second chance to get back into the game those thoughts were soon blown away as Oakley responded with two goals which increased their lead to 5–1 and that’s how the game ended and it’s safe to say nobody was sorry to hear the final whistle.

Kinnoull and Jeanfield have arranged friendlies for next Tuesday. Kinnoull will play West of Scotland side Cumbernauld at Cumbernauld while the Swifts will take on the Super League leaders Hill o’ Beath at the Loch Leven Campus.

MIDWEEK friendly results – Jeanfield Swifts 2, Kelty Hearts 2; Coupar Angus 1, Downfield 6; Kinnoull 1, Oakley United 5.