Ardagh Glass Sectional League Cup

  Rob Roy 3 - 2 Dunipace  

The first competitive game of the season saw Dunipace travel the relatively short distance to Kirkintilloch for the annual sectional league cup encounter with local rivals Kirkintilloch Rob Roy and it was to be a familiar ending for the Pace, having lost heavilly in this fixture in the past two seasons. That said, the 3 - 2 scoreline doesn't even come close to covering the action in this encounter.

Both sides started brightly and trying to play football but without getting into any sort of dangerous position, with both goalkeepers virtual spectators for the first ten minutes, aside from handling a few crosses a piece.

On 12 minutes though, the game was to burst into life when Oates slid in to nick the ball away from the Roy centre forward and his momentum on the slippery surface meant he followed through into the forward, who had pulled out of the 50 - 50 challenge.

No doubt the striker took a sore one on his ankle as a result of the collision and no doubt that the ball was the object of the defenders tackle (which incidentally he did actually play first to knock it round the striker) but the referee had his red card out and held aloft before anyone, including himself, could possibly have had time to think about it.

With opinion split between the fans, coaches and even the players (of whom a number on both sides were in agreement that they'd have been upset at getting a red for the tackle) the one thing that can be said for certain is that the official did himself no favours with anyone with the speed at which he made his decision, without consulting a linesman who was 5 yards away. He may have come to the same conclusion after giving himself time to think and his assistant might have agreed, but from those looking on at least it would have looked a considered decision instead of a knee jerk reaction as it did.

From this point forward, down to 10 men with a long way to go, Dunipace were happy to defend their half (as would be expected in this situation) and surrender possesion to the Home Side in areas high up the park. The approach and manner that Dunipace went about their task frustrated the hosts for the majority of the half, with Blair Hutton in the visitors goal not having to make a save before half time. And this statistic makes it all the more amazing that Rob Roy did actually take the lead when Graeme MacMillan turned a cross into his own net while stretching for a cross.

Dunipace though were breaking very well when the opportunity presented and it was from one of these breaks they pulled level. Hutton in goal threw the ball out to McPhail at left back, who played the ball into McIllduff, now playing in midfield. He delightfully took two home players out of the game with his dummy to Ryan McCafferty who strode forward before finding Rodger's run into the right channel. He turned the defender before sliding the ball back to Ryan McCafferty 25 yards out who lifted his first touch up and over the tackling defender before volleying into the corner from 20 yards.

A goal that would have graced any game at any level and one that saw Dunipace go in level at half time.

The second half took a similar pattern to the first, with Dunipace happy to surrender possession in advanced areas and get their 9 men into good positions to defend, and defend they did. Rob Roy were limited to shots from distance, none of which troubled Hutton in goal and a few crosses which caught the wind that the keeper had to turn over.

With all the pressure though, the home side would eventually create a chance but when they did Hutton pulled off a fantastic save to deny them. A long ball from left to right found the onrushing midfielder who controlled his volley well, but Hutton clawed the ball away from the top corner. The striker following up tapped the ball in, but he was yards offside to keep the score at 1 - 1.

And that was to be the warning Dunipace needed as they then took advantage of another opportunity to break quickly, again playing some excellent stuff before working the ball to McCafferty on the edge of the area. His curling effort was superbly turned round the post by the home keeper down low to his left. From the resulting corner though, Marty Wright nipped in ahead of the keeper to win the ball and McIllduff was there to head the loose ball home for 2 - 1 to the visitors.

And in a similar situation 5 minutes later they were unlucky not to go three ahead, when Wright again nipped the ball off the keepers gloves and McIllduff again headed toward goal, but it was cleared of the line by the home defender.

Not to be undone, in what was one of the few genuine chances the Roy created James Orr got himself back in a great position behind his keeper to clear what was a good finish by the home striker off the line and away to safety.

With time running out the home side had there own man sent off for a second booking, persistent fouling, but with only minutes to go (or so most thought) it shouldn't have had much impact on the game.

Dunipace continued to defend beyond 90 minutes in what seemed like 'time added on till Rob Roy score' and in the 95th minute of a game with next to no stoppages aside from the ball being out of play and only 1 warning from the referee to any Pace player to hurry up, the Home side did get their goal. A long ball into the box was tamely headed towards goal by the striker and Hutton, who had been excellent throughout, failed to collect what is a bread and butter ball for him, dropping right at the feet of the home player who tapped in for 2 - 2.

And things were to get worse for the vistors who, having put everything into a game in which they were the better side were to see Rob Roy break up the play from center and move forward to score a third. Marty Wright was tackled in midfield and when Hutton could only palm the shot from 25 yards to the side the forward, who again looked offside, lifted the rebound over the keeper and in for 3 - 2 in the 96th minute. As expected, the final whistle blew almost straight after the kick off.

Despite the result and the feeling that went with it given the manner of the defeat, there were many, many positives to be taken from a game in which Dunipace played with 10 men for almost 90 minutes (with the time added on) with a depleted squad containing 5 of our Under 19 side.

For Rob Roy, they will be happy to get off to a winning start and delighted that they were able to take advantage of the time added on and grab the win, something (playing to end as they can't control the official's timekeeping skills any more than their opponents) they will hope to continue throughout their season. One thing is for certain though, following a few big wins in previous seasons, they will have been surprised at the performance of Dunipace who, with displays like this will hope for a long and successful season.