U16s not intimidated by reputations

Sep 26 2008 by Stephen Lowson, Strathearn Herald

Crieff Juniors 4

Drumchapel Amateurs 1

CRIEFF U16s entertained crack Glasgow side Drumchapel Amateurs at Market Park in the second round of the Scottish Cup last Saturday.

Drumchapel have a proud history with former players, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Andy Gray and Asa Hartford amongst others.

But these Crieff boys don't let reputations stand in their way and they set about the opposition with a gusto that had them on the back foot from the kick off.

The Juniors were rewarded after only five minutes when Andrew Kirkaldy stole round the defence at the back post to rifle home a Stewart Smith free kick.

They added to their lead ten minutes later when Graham Duncan moved forward to accept a short corner, tee the ball up before drilling an unstoppable shot into the far corner of the net.

The Glasgow team were not ready to call it a day though and they battled hard to get back into the game. However, the Crieff defence of Smith, Wilson, Anderson and Duncan were resolute and keeper Ben Tough remained untroubled. The midfield battle zone was also won by the home team with Gary McGlashan and Euan Carter dictating matters.

Despite losing striker Dave McKay to injury, Crieff made it three ten minutes before the break when Matthew Stevenson latched onto a defence splitting pass from David Lawrence to rattle the ball into the rigging. Drumchapel continued to show some fight and were thrown a lifeline just before half time when their centre forward deflected a shot past the helpless Ben Tough to make it 3-1 at half time.

The second half continued where the first finished off with both teams battling to gain the ascendancy. It really was a cracking cup tie spoiled only by the negative behaviour of the Drumchapel coaches who continually harangued the referee for every decision. The Crieff boys were wise to this age old tactic and remained focussed. Their concentration was rewarded fifteen minutes from the end when Fraser Cramb sent a pile driver of a free kick past the bewildered Drumchapel keeper.

The Juniors had a couple of chances to further their lead but failed to convert them. This was another tremendous performance from the boys and they must be congratulated for the quality and professional way they went about their business.

BUOYED with confidence from an unbeaten start to the campaign, the U13 Blues travelled to East Kilbride for a second round Scottish cup tie.

However they came up against a very proficient East Kilbride Burgh team who proved to be too strong for the Juniors.

After a dismal display in the first half the team did improve after the break but by then the game was long over, the only highlights were a Cramb free kick hitting the net and an excellent display from goalkeeper Taylor Brown.