Saturday 12th March 2022 Westhill S1 vs Grammar S1

Report on Westhill Academy First Year v Aberdeen Grammar School First Year, CNR International League - Saturday 12th March 2022, by Walter Craig

Westhill Keep The Points At Home.

Westhill Academy First Year
Joe Huntington, Owen Forbes, Gabe White, Matthew Grassick, Robbie Mitchell, Samuel Dennis, Seif Fahmy Mahmoud, Finlay Mitchell, Ewan McLeish, Matthew Rangel and Jack Taylor. Subs: Javi Da Camara Piccone, Archie Black and Callum Cowie.

Aberdeen Grammar School First Year
Callum Vargesson, Charlie Dalziel, Liam Harkin, Kit Jessiman, Kai Ryrie, Evan Glover, Robbie Brown, Matthew Taylor, Joe Inglis, Dylan Fiddes and Keiron Heron. Sub: Yahya Ibrahim, Yahya Rahman, Connor Masson and Cameron Findlay.

Referee A. Cunningham

Things are hotting up in the Aberdeen Secondary Schools Football Leagues and nowhere more so than in the Under 13 League A where five of the six teams still had a chance of making top spot.
Westhill and Grammar were both on a high after midweek wins with the former narrowly edging past Hazlehead while Grammar found their scoring touch against Harlaw.

Home advantage just about made Westhill slight favourites, but they could not afford to underestimate a visitors’ team approaching full strength.

Heavy overnight rain saw the pitch do well to be deemed playable but it was clear that a strength sapping game was likely. The homesters kicked off shooting downhill but Grammar spent most of the early play in the Westhill half.

Robbie Brown sent Keiron Heron clear on the right and his twelve yard shot was well struck but Joe Huntington brought off a fine stop.

The game quickly moved to the other end and Callum Vargesson did well to push a strong drive from just outside the box wide of the post.

Robbie Mitchell was next to try his luck with a free kick from just inside the centre circle but it carried just over the bar. A fine three player move involving Brown, Dylan Fiddes and Heron forced the home keeper to make an even better stop from the visiting attacker than he had done previously.

The deadlock was broken in the fourteenth minute when Samuel Dennis sent a long diagonal ball from the right into the path of Matthew Grassick. He moved in and his shot was wide of the keeper before it fell to the alert Matthew Rangel who slotted home from six yards.

Sixty seconds later a similar move nearly brought a second. This time Grassick did not hit his attempt cleanly but it found Jack Taylor unmarked in front of goal. It seemed that he had scored but Vargesson pulled off a superb save.

There were six minutes left in the half when Westhill doubled their advantage. A long pass out of defence saw Grassick making progress towards goal. When he crossed the ball it fell kindly for Ewan McLeish who gleefully hit the ball past the Grammar keeper from ten yards.

At the break Grammar would feel that they were still in the game particularly with the advantage of the slope in the second half.

Half Time: Westhill Academy First Year 2 - 0 Aberdeen Grammar First Year

The second period began with the visitors attacking right away. A long pass from Brown in the middle of the park found Heron racing in on goal. His shot beat Huntington but went narrowly wide of the post.

Grammar kept up the pressure for a number of minutes but they found keeper Huntington on top form. A misplaced passback, which gained them an unproductive corner, was their only respite during this spell.

The home team were coming more and more into things, though, and only a superb block from Vargesson kept them at bay as the game entered the final quarter.

Westhill had weathered the Grammar storm and scored a third in sixteen minutes. McLeish collected a pass from the left and sent a hard drive towards goal from just outside the penalty area. Vargesson did extremely well to jump up and get a hand on it but he could not prevent it bouncing over the line.

A free kick for Westhill on the right in a dangerous position in line with the penalty spot, was cleared by the Grammar defence.

The visitors were soon to have the best chance of the match with ten minutes left on the clock. Brown went on a mazy run and crossed the ball from the right. Two Grammar players had a chance to net but somehow managed to let a home defender nip in to clear the ball.

The game was put out of Grammar’s reach seven minutes from time. A pass from the halfway line found Dennis on his own wide on the left and he moved in to release a shot which gave the keeper no chance as it flew into the net.

Another free kick from Mitchell with two minutes left and in a similar position to one in the first half was well gathered by Vargesson but the keeper had to admit defeat again moments later.

A cross from the right found Seif Fahmy Mahmoud in space inside the six yard box and he was left with the easy task of tapping the ball home to complete the scoring.

The final whistle was blown seconds later and Westhill could be pleased with what had been a well merited win. They played the conditions better than their opponent but Grammar could count themselves a bit unlucky not to see their name on the scoresheet. They created a number of good chances and at least that would have been a positive to take into their next match.

Final Score: Westhill Academy First Year 5 - 0 Aberdeen Grammar First Year