MATCHES

Irvine Meadow v Auchinleck Talbot

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Boyd races out wide with the ball while looking where to send in the cross.

 

GOOOOAAAALLLL!!! Talbot take a very early lead, as Gareth Armstrong gets on the end of Boylan’s cross and fires home a strong header. 0-1.

 

Armstrong gets all the plaudits from his team-mates after heading Talbot into an early lead.

 

Stafford’s deadly cross gets blocked by Medda out on the wing.

 

CLOSE!!! Glasgow is about to have a go at goal but the defender nicks the ball off him just before he was about to pull the trigger.

 

GREAT SAVE!!! Talbot go searching for a second but the Medda ‘keeper makes sure there is no way through for them.

 

Big Neily gets his team-mates fired up for the next attack.

 

We’re shooting this way, right?

 

The Talbot bench look on, as Jamie Glasgow threads the ball through.

 

You won’t like me when I’m angry.

 

Wax on, wax off Daniel son.

 

PENALTY SHOUT!!! Boylan gets bundled over inside the box, as Meadow clear the danger.

 

Tucker closely watches from the dugout, as Wilson heads the ball up the wing.

 

GAME ON!!! Meadow pull level just before the half-time whistle, as they head the ball home from a corner kick. 1-1.

 

Young Aaron Mason does his best to muscle his way up the middle of the park.

 

McCracken and Armstrong double team their opponent in order to win back the ball.

 

This time it’s Healy that teams up with McCracken in order to keep hold of the ball.

 

HAD-TO-BE!!! Aiden screams blue murder for the pass but Glasgow goes it alone and has a dig but fails to find the back of the net.

 

VAR REF!!! Wilson races in on goal and fires a powerful shot at goal where…

 

…although the ‘keeper does his best to keep the ball out, the officials award Talbot the goal. If only we had x-ray vision to see through the ‘keeper here! 1-2.

 

With the goal given, Aiden Wilson gets all the high fives from his team-mates.

 

Mason goes on the attack again for Talbot.

 

Aiden Wilson makes sure he sticks closely to his opponent.

 

OH SO CLOSE!!! Boylan goes very close to scoring but his header gets brilliantly saved by the Medda ‘keeper.

 

Everybody here is closely watching Healy head the ball back up the park, except for the one Talbot fan looking at his phone. Come on Dan!

 

COME ON AND DO THE CONGA!  EVERYBODY DO THE CONGA!

 

Steely eyed Glasgow zips through the blue walled defence and goes on the attack.

 

Mason scratches his head after missing a great chance to score, while Meadow vent their frustration at allowing Talbot to have the chance.

 

Medda shout for a foul but ‘Pee-wee’ plays on and threads the ball through for…

 

…Jamie Glasgow to chase and go one-on-one with the ‘keeper, where he calmly slots the ball home and makes sure of the win for Talbot. 1-3.

 

Jamie wheels away to celebrate, as the Talbot pensioners on the hill show their delight too.

 

Come on lads…don’t leave Dwayne hanging, as he’s looking for a couple of backward high-fives!

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAUL FLYNN.

MATCH REPORT FROM ADMIN

Talbot progressed to the 5th round of the Challenge Cup after a decent win at Meadow Park. This match would have had the supporters looking forward to a real humdinger but with the two teams meeting each other the week previous the hunger seemed to be missing in this tie.

Talbot came out the traps in determined fashion and as little as 4 minutes severe Talbot pressure paid off when they forced corner which Waters palmed into the path of Boylan who looped a cross onto the head of Armstrong to give the visitors a dream start.

Minutes later Talbot should have doubled their lead when Stafford slotted a pass into the edge of the box which the home defence were favourites to clear but for some reason the ball ping ponged around the area which Glasgow pounced onto and after getting a decent shot on target the ball cannoned off Findlay and squirmed past the post.

On the 10th minute the Meadow midfield was caught out after mounting a rare attack when Shankland picked out the unmarked Glasgow who swung the ball across the park onto the path of Boylan who homed in on the goal area but his well struck shot from an acute angle was well parried by Waters

It took until the 16th minute for the hosts to mount an attack on the Talbot goal, this coming from a Wardrope free kick which was easily dealt with at the expense of a corner which came to nothing.

The game settled down with Talbot on the ascendency as they probed constantly at the home defence with the Meadow attack coming by way of long balls up the pitch which was easily dealt with by the Talbot back line.

On the 36th minute Talbot were dealt a blow when Shankland was badly injured when he jumped with two Meadow defenders trying to win a high cross that actually looked to be going well over their heads. The striker who had not started a full match since just before Christmas seemed to twist his ankle as he landed awkwardly near the hoardings.

After a few minutes it looked as he was in considerable pain and hobbled off to be replaced by Mason.

On 40 minutes Martin Findlay became the first player in Mr McDonald’s book after he deliberately pulled Glasgow back as the player outstripped him on the left wing.

After such domination in the game Talbot were to rue their missed chances when a ball over the Talbot defence was hoofed out the park by McCracken at the expense of a corner three minutes added on for the Shankland injury. The resultant set piece proved to be a lifeline as Wardrope sent over a pinpoint cross that was met by Gow who produced an explosive header that flew Leishman who had no chance to react.

The second half had just started when McLennan  was booked for a late tackle on Healy, and shortly after Talbot should have been back in the lead when Armstrong split the Meadow defence with a pinpoint pass into the path of Boylan who after a short burst towards the goals laced a tantalising ball across the front of goals that was just missed by Mason.

Talbot continued to press and a Glasgow cross was swung onto the head of Boyd whose weak attempt seemed to deceive Waters and he fumbled the ball out his grasp which was swept away by Whyte for a corner.  With so much pressure on the home goal Talbot were reminded that Meadow were still in the game when Slooves tried his luck from 20 yards but the ball fizzed past the post with Leishman in attendance.

Waters gave his defence another round of palpitations when an Armstrong cross was dropped in front of Glasgow but the keeper made up for his mistake with a fine save to deny Glasgow the goal.

Talbot were to take the lead on the hour mark thanks to the relentless work of Bryan Boylan who’s pace was giving the home defenders a torrid time. This time the striker weaved his way into the box before placing a shot that Waters did well to palm away, unfortunately for the Meadow the loose ball fell into the path of Aiden Wilson who shot was powerful enough to squirm over the line with Waters just not getting enough of his body behind the ball to keep it from going over the line.

Meadow change of personnel in the 65th minute with G.Boyd coming on for Martin  while Hyslop replaced the hard working Boyd moments later. On the 73rd minute Talbot won a corner which Glasgow took. The corner count was now in double figures but in most occasions they were poorly hit but this time Glasgow found the head of Boylan but unfortunately for him the keeper had sensed the danger and was well positioned to parry the ball which was then cleared from danger

With the game going into the last quarter Talbot replace Boylan with Samson as they strove to put this game to bed. Aaron Mason became the Talbot’s only yellow card after he flicked a sly kick in the way of Findlay but it was spotted by the referee who had no option but to caution the youngster.

With Meadow now committing players to the attack they were nearly two down when Glasgow threaded a ball through to Samson into the path of the onrushing striker. With only the keeper to beat he managed to round the keeper but somehow Waters got his positions correct and got his body in front of Samson’s shot.

With minutes remaining Talbot finally got the goal they were desperate for when like the Samson chance the ball came off a defender into the path of Glasgow who made no mistake by rounding the keeper and slotting the ball into the empty.

This killed the game as a competition and the remaining few minutes went by with little incident. Talbot had beaten Meadow an amazing five times this season putting them out of three cups into the bargain. It was a great feat but you got the sense that the players and the supporters of both teams were fed up looking at each other.

MEADOW: Waters,  Findlay, Willet, Slooves, Gow, Whyte, McLennan, Wardrope, C.Boyd, Martin, McCloy. SUBS: G.Boyd, Sivewright, Long, McKie, Angus, Latta, McLean(GK)

TALBOT: Leishman, Stafford, A.Wilson, McPherson, C.McCracken,  Armstrong, Healy, Boyd, Glasgow, Shankland, Boylan. SUBS: Hyslop, Mason, Samson, McDowall, R.McCracken, G.Wilson, White, Hewitt(GK)

Details

Date Time Competition Season
March 5, 2022 14:00 SOUTH REGION CHALLENGE CUP 2021/22

Results

Team1st Half2nd HalfGoals
Irvine Meadow101
Auchinleck Talbot123

Irvine Meadow

Position Goals Assists YC RC
 0000

Auchinleck Talbot

# Player Position Goals Assists YC RC
10Bryan Boylan 15Forward0100
7Kieran HealyMidfielder0000
2Chris StaffordDefender0000
6Gareth ArmstrongDefender1000
3Aiden WilsonDefender1000
15Keir Samson 10Forward0000
9Mark Shankland 12Forward0000
1Andrew LeishmanGoalkeeper0000
8Willie Boyd 14Midfielder0000
12Aaron Mason 9Midfielder0000
4Neill McPhersonDefender0000
5Craig McCrackenDefender0000
 Total 2100

Venue

Meadow Park
11 Alexander Pl, Irvine, North Ayrshire KA12 0UR, UK

Officials

REFEREE
Steven McDonald

League Table

PosTeamPPts
6914
7713
8913
9712
1079
1167
1287
1385