Mr. Toad returned, after his 3 week absence, in finest regalia to captain his troops and to make sure that he got into the annual Friendly Bench Portrait. Excitement levels went through the roof on arriving at Jordanhill and seeing that the Primary School had built a castle wall around the bench, with portcullis and thrones. Picture to feature soon.
The match started swiftly, the light rain making the pitch greasy and quick, and possession and territory was shared equally between the two sides. However, Grange were able to carve out 2 excellent chances from turn-over ball, however, Mrs. Jim & The Seagull were profligate in front of goal. We slowly built the pressure for most of the first half, until about the 25 minute mark, when several players suddenly suffered from collective brain farts. Forcing passes, making poor decisions and generally chuffing over possession very cheaply. Fortunately, Hillhead were also struggling to get shots on target and the half ended 0-0.
Despite the poor end to the first half, we went back out in good spirits, knowing that we had the firepower to win the match. The front line - Cosh/Hoff/Mrs. Jim & debutant Tom - worked exceptionally hard to close down the opposition backline and they forced a lot of mistakes. Pressure finally told with Kevin bundling the ball home from short range after about 50 mins. It took a while to get the next one, but it came from The Hoff after excellent work down the right-hand side had opened up our opponents. Cosh quickly sealed the win following a decent break out of defence.
A 3-0 win, a competent clean sheet and a positive debut for new member Tomas Frenzel. We host Kelburne in the league on Saturday (1400 start at EA), where a win would put us top of the table. And we play CALA in the cup on Sunday (1230 start at EA). Spectators welcomed and appreciated.