Darvel Juniors' promotion hopes still alive

Mar 27 2009 by Clair Fullarton, Kilmarnock Standard

Dallas scores then gets hit

DARVEL’S promotion hopes are very much alive after beating Whitletts in what proved to be a bruising encounter.

The first chance of this physical game came on 20 minutes when Darvel scored the only goal.

Keeper Ally McGhee’s long kick out was picked up by Chris Dallas, who brought the ball down on the left and bulleted in a fine strike from just inside the box.

Dallas’s skill and pace caused the visitors all sorts of problems and it wasn’t long before the Whitletts defence started to take their frustrations out on him.

Darvel manager George Grierson said: “Chris’s pace is a great weapon for us, and it was frustrating the Whitletts defence.

“So much so that I heard shouts from the sidelines of ‘break his legs’, which they nearly managed, because Chris had to be taken off after 35 minutes.”

On 33 minutes Dallas was brought down on the edge of the box and a free kick was awarded and the player involved was given a yellow card.

Two minutes later another player took a lunge at Dallas and this time he suffered a nasty ankle injury and had to be taken off.

Said Grierson: “I was absolutely incensed by what happened to Chris. His ankle blew up like a balloon, but we are hopeful the injury isn’t as bad as first feared.

“But for people to shout for players to break his legs is just scandalous and I spoke to the referee about it.”

The second half was a bit more peaceful, although Whitletts piled forward looking for an equaliser.

But the home side had one or two chances of their own, Craig Parker coming close with 20 minutes to go with a long-range effort.

Keeper McGhee pulled off a couple of saves to keep his side in front, one particular fingertip save into injury time being crucial.

Despite the Whitletts onslaught in the last 10 minutes, Darvel held firm and marched ever closer to their promotion dream.

Grierson said: “I’m really proud of the team. They are working their socks off and doing everything that’s asked of them.

“It is our work ethic that has got us this far and we just have to keep it going to the end of the season. We’ve got six games to go and if we win five of those, we go up.”

Darvel: McGhee, Harvey, Johnston, Sloss, Parker, Taylor, Black, Bonner, Lynn, Kirkland, Dallas. Subs: Stewart, Nolan, Kelly, Martin, Roy.