Fjordhus Reivers 3
Grange Development 4
EAST MEN’S DIVISION ONE
REIVERS welcomed Grange for their first home match of the season. Player unavailability and work commitments meant that the host team had a slightly cobbled together look about it, but once everyone had woken from their slumbers a squad of 15 was on hand.
Grange are a mixed bag of enthusiastic youngsters with a few wily old characters to pull the strings, a combination which is notoriously hard to break down.
The opening exchanges proved this would be another of those occasions as the visitors laid siege to the home goal. A flurry of short corners were repelled and numerous circle penetrations were broken up before serious damage could be done. The home defence looked well organised, but was being tested to the limit.
Reivers looked dangerous in possession, though lacking a little cohesion.
The first-half deadlock was broken by Reivers after veteran right back Bruce Montgomery took charge of the ball on the edge of the circle before beating two men along the backline. As Montgomery shaped to pass, a chink of light appeared at the near post and he somehow managed to thread the ball across the line for his first goal in living memory.
Reivers, now with the upper hand, pressed on fluently for the rest of the half, but failed to increase their advantage.
The homesters needed a solid start to the second period – what they got, however, was a rifled pass across the circle to a free man at the back post, allowing Grange to level the score.
The older heads in the Grange team took a grip of the game and started to force the Reivers back, their second goal coming from a short corner.
Reivers were now reeling and frustrated. This frustration only helped to make matter worse as players flew into tackles and tried to force passes that weren’t on. The third goal for Grange came with this in evidence. An attacker stole the ball from the home defence before driving at the circle, one-on-one with the keeper, shifting the ball to his right before firing home.
But Reivers regrouped and good work by the midfield led to a short corner, from which a powerful Garth Roberts shot found the net.
The two-goal lead was soon restored, however. Another short corner was forced by Grange and this time a strike from the top of the circle found a gap between goalkeeper and post man to rattle the backboard.
Reivers had a frantic last five minutes trying to salvage something from the game. They did pull a goal back from an excellent volleyed Roberts finish, but it was too late.
Next up for Reivers is another game against Grange – this time in Edinburgh.
Fjordhus Reivers: S. Young, B. Montgomery, P. Cairns. P. Conkie, S. Girvan, J. Bure, A. Rajput, G. Lofthouse, G. Roberts, J. Fletcher, J. Lamb. Subs: B. Culham, R. Jackson, C. Tucker, B. Moffat.