Gretna U19s 0-2 Hearts U19s

After the many postponements due to the dreadful winter weather we have all been experiencing recently, it was good to be back playing.

The visitors to Raydale for our first league fixture since the 23rd November were our Youth Cup conquerors Hearts. On that occasion after a spirited display we unfortunately ended up losing 4-1, so it was time for revenge!

The game started at a frantic pace with both teams fully committed in the tackle coupled with some excellent football, it was turning out to be a good game to watch.

Hearts were very physical and were proving dangerous at set pieces, but as the game progressed Gretna were beginning to get the upper hand, playing some neat flowing football with Nathan Fisher on the right proving a real handful for the Hearts defence.

Ryan O’Hara was having one of his best games for a while in the middle of the park, and ably assisted by young Alex Redfern, they were making sure Hearts had restricted service to their front players.

Our defence, although makeshift, with Jack Sharples and Nicholas Faulds out through injury and Eric Shultz-Eklund and Conor Grant on first team duty, were coping admirably with the few chances that did come Hearts way.

On the 25th minute we were pressing and won a corner on the left after a strike by Liam Cusack was deflected wide. From the resulting corner, Hearts broke and played a long ball through the middle, Jake Cunningham our goalkeeper came out of his box to clear, as the ball dropped the Hearts forward nipped in first and lobbed the ball over Jakes head and into the net.

This gave Hearts a lift, and for the next 10 minutes they pressed forward, playing some good football but our defence coped well, kept calm and continued to play the ball out of defence.

At this stage, the whole team were working really hard in closing Hearts down and through their endeavor, gradually began to take control of the game once more although still went in a goal down at half-time.

In the second half, the pattern of play was very similar with Gretna getting the better of the exchanges. Callum McKinlay was showing some tantalizing skills on the left-hand side and opened up their defence with neat play reminiscent of our own Fabian Yantorno.

But with 10 minutes remaining, Hearts doubled their advantage with the Gretna bench screaming for offside, but to no avail. A hard knock to take considering the tremendous effort by the players.

Gretna: Cunningham, Robinson, Easton, Campagna, Moffet, Fisher, Redfearn, O’Hara, McKinlay, Cusack, Taylor (Hughes). Sub not used: Smee.