Saturday 22^nd November

Barnton vs Macclesfield Saints

First Half

Macc Saints began strongly in the first half with an early shot by Jack going high over the crossbar and another near miss by Tom. James was excellent in defence helping to keep the ball in Saints possession, ably supported by Mike in midfield. Sam made a great run and crossed to Jack but the ball went wide of the mark, this was soon followed by an excellent pass from Ross again to Jack but it wasn’t to be. James then took a free kick for Saints. He defied the Barnton wall but missed by inches as the ball skirted the left side of the post. The play then passed to Barnton who made a shot on goal, this was cleared once by Joseph, the ball then rebounded but Ross was well positioned to deflect it again. Callum played strongly again this week with great passing  and strong defending. Unfortunately however a foul on Barnton’s No 9 earned them a free kick. The subsequent goal was thankfully offside. After some good midfield play, George replaced an injured Eddie and soon made his presence felt on the pitch. After a notable header from Jamie, Matthew made a great pass to Jack whose shot on goal was comfortably held by Barnton’s goalkeeper. Once again despite having more of the possession in the first half Saints failed to convert their chances leaving the halftime score a disappointing 0:0.

Second Half

Rested for the first half, Rhys, Al and Alex Kry  came on determined to make a difference. Early in the second half Matthew had a shot on goal but failed to score. Play then passed to Barnton who failed to score from a free kick, well caught by Joseph. They were quickly awarded another and this time scored to put Barnton ahead. Fired up, Saints responded with a great clearance by Al and a great run from Jack who replied with an equaliser for Saints. The pace of play picked up and there were some anxious skirmishes in the boxes at either end. On one occasion a great through ball from Al to Matthew missed the top left of the goal by inches. The frenetic pace continued and Alex Kry (great to see him back after a few weeks absence) made an attempt on goal, back it came and he shot again, only to rebound once more off the Barnton goalie but on his third attempt he scored almost from a sitting position. His determination finally rewarded to see Saints move ahead 2:1. Barnton, desperate to claw back then took possession, unfortunately their No 9, dogged with injury throughout the match, went down again this time in the box after a tackle by Ross and Barnton were awarded a Penalty. Joseph made a FABULOUS save, by leaping high in the air, straining his back in the process. Saints’ relief was short lived however when the referee judged that the penalty had to be retaken as the other players, in their enthusiasm, had surged forward into the box before the ball had been struck. Joseph had to defend again but this time Barnton missed. After a few more nail biting minutes for the Saints spectators, the final whistle blew with the final score being 2:1 to Saints.

This win catapults the team to the top of the League!! Well done boys.

Man of the Match - Eddie

Thanks again to the Hunters for the above report