Div 3
League Match
Reviews
by Paul (EF)
Match 50
And so to the last Saturday of the season with all eyes on the battle for promotion. Second-placed Queen of the South travelled to Links Park to meet fourth-placed Montrose. The Doonhammers could guarantee themselves promotion with a. win here, but they arrived with a defence that looked a little thin, while Montrose looked to exploit that with Early Cross tactics, though perhaps lacking the quality wingers to make that tactic effective. The visitors took the lead after only five minutes, a brilliant effort from Billy Nicholl, and they continued to hold the lead going in at half time. James White beefed up his attack with the introduction of Danilo and he made it 1-1 with half an hour to go with a powerful drive. Now Arnold Yzermans made a key change, bringing Tommy Flanagan into the front line and his first touch was a cool side-foot into the Montrose net. Aaran Stramash sealed the 1-3 win for the Doonhammers ten minutes later to book their place in Division 2.
A win for Brechin City would also promote them but they faced champions Elgin City. And strangely, Fran Morillo didn’t seem that focussed, as he included two suspended players in his starting lineup. The two enforced substitutions left his defence in a sorry state, but somehow they held things steady and Fran must have been delighted to see his team taking the lead after 28 minutes after a goalkeeping error by Kyle King. The lead lasted only one minute, however, and seven minutes after that Elgin were in front – Matty Wright and Mitchell Taylor scoring for the champions. Elgin continued to dominate in the second half and added a third goal. The only blot for them was a late red card for Mitch Pinnock but that won’t spoil the celebrations, I’m sure.
This result gave Annan Athletic the chance to move into the top four if they could win their home tie against Deveronvale, who, on this occasion, decided to abandon their usual Early Cross tactics in favour of Normal. Annan looked the classier side but class alone doesn’t win matches and after a goalless first half it was the visitors who took the lead via a thunderous stroke from Gabriel Batistuta. The big home crowd rather lost heart at this, and when, with all three subs already used, Ever Rest was injured, and the Athletic were forced to play the last half hour with ten men, many of the crowd started to drift away. They missed a neat second goal from the visitors just before the end which will most likely leave Annan facing a playoff match next Saturday.
The second playoff spot is still up for grabs, with Cove Rangers in pole position. They had a home game against Queens Park. It was a game they were hot favourites to win, but they weren’t really firing on all cylinders and their visitors largely nullified their attacking efforts. After a goalless first half, Cove became frustrated and seemed gradually to lose belief, and Bryce Kalmbach saw his chance. With fifteen minutes to go, he ordered his team to press and with two minutes left James Taverner broke through from defence and fired in the only goal of the match, 0-1 to Queens Park!
This gave Stirling the chance to get one hand on the second playoff spot when they visited Dundee United. Three minutes into the match they had taken that chance, and how, with two early goals. Roy Rolsten now made the rather strange decision to switch to Opportunistic tactics – a decision that saw the Tangerine Arabs score almost immediately to reduce the deficit to 1-2. Eight minutes gone, three goals scored, and eight minutes later the tally was up to four when Alexander Graham Bell extended the Binos’ lead to 1-3. It had all been a bit frenetic, but the rest of the first half produced no more goals. The second started as the first had – an early goal for Dundee United when Ryan Strain found himself unmarked in the box with the ball at his feet but from here Stirling calmed things down and held on to a 2-3 win that gives them an excellent chance of a playoff spot.
The only other team in with a chance of a playoff was Kilmarnock, who would now need a win at Somerset Park against Ayr United to keep that hope faintly alive. The Ayrshire Derby attracted a big home crowd, but got off to a rather dull start with a goalless, and almost chanceless, first half. Things livened up a little after the interval, with most of the play going to the Honest Men. They scored the only two goals of the match, Joe Willock and Josh Mullin doing the business for them. Let’s hop that next season’s meetings between these clubs have a little more life about them.
The Wooden Spoon is not yet decided and the bottom two, Berwick and Partick Thistle met each other at Shielfield Park. It’s been a long season and the Jags in particular looked rather tired, with Marc Legowski deciding that Long Ball tactics would at least give his midfielders a bit of a rest. Berwick looked a better team than their league position suggests and just after the half hour they took the lead when D_Roberts slotted into a vacant net. Derek Purvis brought on a couple of subs and switch to Counter Attack and soon the BER extended their lead after a lovely run from D_Bonner set up M_Ryder. The Jags managed a goal of their own with eleven minutes to go but that was all they could manage, meaning that Berwick could yet avoid the Wooden Spoon.
If everything goes wrong for them, Saint Mirren could yet grab that uncoveted trophy, and things did not go right for them at Ochilview Park against East Stirlingshire. There wasn’t much to choose between the teams, but the Shire took their chances – or perhaps it was more that Nigel Spink failed to save them. The home team scored three times from four on-target shots to pull themselves clear of the bottom three.
Match 51
One automatic promotion spot was still up for grabs, would Montrose or Annan take it? The situation was that Annan needed a win – and if they managed that, Montrose would also need to win to keep fourth place in the table. So let’s look first at Brechin City v Annan Athletic. Already promoted, Brechin went for a defensive lineup, 4-5-1, while Annan fielded the stronger team in a 4-3-3 formation. Brechin looked as if the promotion party had been going on for a while and they didn’t put up much of a showing here. Annan netted three times in the first half and Mownt Taranaki completed a hat-trick in the second half as the visitors romped home, 0-4.
So Montrose needed to win their match at Stirling, for whom a draw would be enough to guarantee a play-off spot. Roy Rolsten lined his men up with their usual Ball Control tactics in a cautious 4-5-1 formation, while James White abandoned the midfield completely, playing 4-2-4 and Early Cross. The ground was packed with home supporters, who were delighted to see their team go ahead after a quarter of an hour when Raymond Tango slipped the ball home from close range. Montrose were energised by this setback and as half time approached, Danilo beat the offside trap and fired home to square things up at 1-1. Into the second half, and James White brought on Dessers to give more fire power but once again it was Stirling who struck first when a lovely passing movement led to a clean finish from Alexander Graham Bell. Montrose refused to give up, creating a number of chances before Dessers equalised for them to make it 2-2 with seventeen minutes to go. There were a couple of half chances left for them, but they couldn’t convert and the final score of 2-2 means that it will be these two teams who take the playoff places.
The remaining question was whether Berwick could avoid the wooden spoon, but to do so they would have to beat the champions, Elgin City, at Borough Briggs. To their credit, they gave it a good effort, but the gulf between the sides was just too much. Don Henley opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour, and exactly on the half hour, Mitchell Taylor made it 2-0. By half time it was 3-0 to Elgin and Derek Purvis switched to a Counter Attacking style. That was better, and the second half yielded two goals for each side, but the champions were never troubled in this 5-2 victory.
There were a couple of 0-0 draws, unsurprising with little left to play for. Partick Thistle and Dundee United were both languishing in the bottom half of the table and both offered 4-2-4 formations and Long Ball tactics for their meeting at Firhill. There were a few chances for each side, but both keepers held firm and the players left the pitch looking forward to a nice rest before next season.
There was a little more action at Love Street, where Saint Mirren hosted Queen of the South. Matthew White made the interesting decision to invest in an increased home advantage and this left the match quite evenly balanced. Archie Gemmill was booked for simulating death in the first half but nobody actually died in this goalless draw.
Cove Rangers have had an interesting season, surviving an unprecedented fitness crisis which at one point was them with only eleven fit players in the squad. They were in contention for a playoff spot at the start of today’s match at Kilmarnock, though Sitrling’s draw was to rule that possibility out. The Killie were quicker off the mark, taking the lead after 14 minutes through Danny Armstrong but the Highlanders fought back strongly with goals in the 27th and 34th minutes to lead 1-2 at the interval. There were a few scares in the second half, but they held on to their lead and could be promotion contenders next season.
Queens Park and East Stirlingshire finished their seasons with a meeting at Hampden Park, and it very much had an end-of-season feel about it. There was early action when Nairo Quintana somehow bundled the ball into the Shire’s net but after that things were pretty quiet and both managers will get a chance to regroup and go again ina few weeks time.
Finally, we’ll turn to Deveronvale v. Ayr United at Princess Royal Park where Leon Permentier returned to his favoured Early Cross tactics. Early cross, and early goals, two in the first three minutes to leave Ayr reeling against the ropes. But they bounced back and in the 8th minute Roy Syla bent the ball past Gabri Alisson into the top corner to make it 2-1. There was a lot of action here, not at all an end-of-season battle and there was another goal before half time with Gabriel Batistuta restoring the Vale=s two goal cushion. After half time, fatigue, or perhaps apathy, set in and the game drifted quietly to a 3-1 home win.
Summary
Huge congratulations to Jason Dowson for clinching the title by a 13 point margin. Congratualtions also to Arnold Yzermans, Fran Morillo and Dan Fitzgerald for their promotions and good luck to James White and Roy Rolsten in the playoffs. Annan’s Mownt Taranaki gets the Golden Boot award and Berwick the Fair Play award. And good luck to everyone next season!
ASON AGING 
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