12th February 2022 St Machar S1 vs Harlaw S1 Match Report

Report on St Machar Academy First Year v Harlaw Academy First Year, CNR International League - Saturday 12th February 2022, by Walter Craig

Leiper Treble Sets Up St Machar’s First League Win.

St. Machar Academy First Year
Isaac Volpi, Kenzie Innes, Matthew Campbell, Tyler Gordon, Wicktor Mischuda, Max Wetherly, Jamie Walosek, Cohen Leiper, Thomas Pimbley, Tyler Dixon and Lucas Bergeron. Subs: Jack Low, Saugat Bhandari, Lee Cruickshank, and Nathan McIntyre.

Harlaw Academy First Year
Alfie Forbes, Aaron Weir, Hamish Gray, Viswhak Prasath, Ross Patterson, Reece Sharp, Tom Daglish, Jack Rafferty, Daniel Polgar, Luca Evans and Aiden Clink. Subs: Nathan Williams, Lewis Mitchell and Ben Morrison.

Referee A. Cunningham

St. Machar and Harlaw locked horns in a mid term league encounter with both sides hoping to register their first victory of the season. St. Machar began very slight favourites but it was Harlaw who set the game off to an explosive start.

They took the lead in fifty-five seconds. A long ball out of defence saw Tom Daglish gather wide on the left before outstripping the home defence and sending his drive over Isaac Volpi’s outstretched arms and into the far corner of the net.

Back came St Machar and gained a corner in five minutes when Luca Evans was forced to head a dangerous cross behind. Cohen Leiper took it but the ball hit the post and was cleared. Another left-wing corner three minutes later produced an equaliser. Again it was Leiper who took it and his well flighted kick was headed home by Lucas Bergeron.

St Machar had the bit between their teeth now and Max Wetherley set off on a good run down the right only to see his tempting cross blocked before it could reach its target.

The home team struck the post again midway through the half. This time Leiper left four defenders in his wake on the right and when he squared the ball to Jamie Walasek, the midfielder struck the ball well only to see it hit Alfie Forbes’ left hand upright and rebound to safety.

It seemed that a goal had to come and it was Bergeron who got it in eighteen minutes. Good work by Thomas Pimbley in midfield saw him move the ball forward to the striker who gathered and hit a lovely shot over the keeper’s head and into the net.

Seven minutes from the break, Bergeron had the ball in the net again, but it did not count as the whistle had gone for a foul outside the box. Leiper took it and sent a well placed drive soaring into the top corner of Forbes’ net.

It was now Harlaw’s turn to fight back and led by Daglish that they did. St Machar’s defence needed to be alert to crowd out the striker after another run down the left. The same player’s curling free kick unluckily found an attacker straying narrowly offside just as the whistle went to end a pulsating period which illustrated that both teams were willing to play positive football. The half time feeling was that anything could happen after the interval.

Half Time: St Machar Academy First Year 3 - 1 Harlaw Academy First Year

The second half began in similar fashion to the first although a fine move down the right involving Aiden Clink and Hamish Gray was kept in check by St Machar and it was the home team who notched an early goal this time round. Leiper stormed down the left but looked to have lost his chance when he caught the ball between his feet, but he managed to send in a shot which Forbes parried. Two St Machar players then had attempts blocked but when the ball was crossed over he nipped in quickly in front of the defenders to side foot home.

Once again Daglish led the visitors up field with a strong run and shot which brought out a brilliant save from Volpi who turned the ball round the post for an unproductive corner. There was a controversial moment in the seventh minute. Leiper took a St Machar free kick twenty five yards out on the right. The ball appeared to travel straight into the net but the goal was not given as the referee had spotted an infringement.

Once again the goal was merely delayed. Jamie Walasek took a long throw near the corner flag in twelve minutes which was met at the far post by Tyler Dixon who calmly slotted the ball home giving the keeper no chance of stopping it.

Fourteen minutes remained when Daglish pulled a deserved goal back for Harlaw. He embarked on a fine run down the centre of the field and finished it off by sending the ball over the despairing keeper from the edge of the box.

The score of five goals to two gave Harlaw just a little bit of hope and what a chance they had moments later. A stramash in the home box following a corner saw Reece Sharp’s attempt from close range fly narrowly over the crossbar. They were not deterred by this, and Daglish fired just over from distance.

It all came to nothing two minutes from time when Leiper completed his hat trick in scoring St Machar’s sixth goal. He gathered a long pass on the left and moved towards goal before dinking the ball over Forbes from ten yards.

The icing was on the cake for the home team sixty seconds later. A great long ball found Dixon on the wing. He ran towards goal and drove a low shot into the net.

What a game! What an advert for Schools’ football! This match had everything. St Machar were fully deserving of the victory, although Harlaw could feel that the five goal margin was more than a little harsh on them. They gave as good as they received for long parts of the game.

Footnote: The original plan was for a match report to be written for a game that, unfortunately, had to be postponed yesterday. It would have needed to be something special to match what we saw in this one, I would say!

Final Score: St Machar Academy First Year 7 - 2 Harlaw Academy First Year