Gretna U19s 7-2 Kilmarnock U19s

The U19s hosted Kilmarnock last Saturday hoping to put the memory of their performance against Rangers behind them.

The game started with the home side making one or two mistakes, presenting Kilmarnock with goal scoring opportunities; however, Conner Grant abated the danger with two good saves.

We began to get a foothold in the game but were shocked with the award of a dubious penalty, allowing Kilmarnock to open the scoring. We tried to claw our way back into the game creating two half chances, nevertheless on this occasion we were unable to convert.

Kilmarnock were defending well and competing for every ball making play scrappy at times in midfield. Striker Scott Anson caused us one or two problems with his power and from one long ball over the defence he was able to force a corner.

Initially the corner was cleared, however when the ball was played back in to the box, it fell straight to the feet of one of their players who swivelled and drilled the ball low passed Conner Grant in to the bottom left hand corner.

At this point we all thought it was going to be another disappointing day at the office but were soon proved wrong. Joe Hughes started the recovery when he sprinted on to a long pass out of defence and under extreme pressure was able to shoot in to the bottom corner with a powerful drive across the Goalkeeper.

Gretna’s tails were up and within three minutes we were level. An accurate free kick from Matthew Poulson was only half-cleared and Ryan O’Hara turned the ball into the roof of the net.

We were now dominating and quickly took the lead when Joe Hughes skipped passed their right back and crossed for Ryan O’Hara who arrived in the box at the right moment to score with his head.

After the break we picked up where we left off and within four minutes scored another goal from Ryan O’Hara after good work by Hughes down the left. Unfortunately the referee disallowed the goal for offside.

But we did not have to wait long for the next goal, Callum McKinlay opened his account for the season when he stole in behind the central defenders and finished with a strike low down to the keepers right.

Dan Robinson scored our fifth goal with a well rehearsed free kick. As a coach there isn’t anything more satisfying than when something you have rehearsed in training is replicated on the park, especially when it results in a goal. This brought great delight to all involved and proves the point that practice makes perfect.

We made three substitutions with Eric Shultz-Eklund, Liam Cusack and Mario Campagna making way for Chris Moffet, Daniel Smee and debutant Andrew Johnson. The change did not affect Gretna’s attacking flair and it was substitute Daniel Smee who scored goal number six when he calmly rounded the goalkeeper and passed the ball in to the empty net.

Everyone thought that would be the last goal of the game but there was still time for Andrew Johnson to intercept a throw from Kilmarnock’s goalkeeper and from thirty five yards drive the ball over his head into the far corner of the goal.

This was a well deserved result for our U19 team and will hopefully go a long way to restoring their confidence.

GRETNA: Grant, Campagna (Johnson), Poulson, Shultz-Eklund (Moffet), Faulds, Sharples, Robinson, O’Hara, Cusack (Smee), McKinlay, Hughes. Subs not used: Pattison, Easton.