Battling Darvel give Irvine Meadow a hard time

Oct 23 2009 by Clair Fullarton, Kilmarnock Standard

IRVINE Meadow showed their superiority right from the start, forcing Darvel keeper Ally McGhee into making three or four really good saves before the first half hour was up.

Darvel were always going to be under pressure in this tie, but they soaked it up well and even created a few openings of their own.

On the half-hour, Darvel were awarded a corner and Ryan Miller put a great ball through to Alex Hampson who headed just over.

This was probably the best chance for either side during the first half, and the sides went in goalless at half-time.

Darvel manager George Grierson kept his team’s spirits up and they went out in the second half pretty positive.

Miller had a great chance to get his team in front, but the Meadow keeper managed to reach across the goal and palm the ball away.

Darvel were doing a pretty good job, mopping up all that Meadow were throwing at them.

But with 12 minutes to go, the Meadow pressure finally told.

A long ball from the Meadow keeper was not dealt with by the Darvel defence and Meadow’s Richie Barr nipped in between Dunlop and Taylor to score.

The second goal came after a mix-up in the midfield, allowing Meadow to break up the park, this time substitute John Paul Boyle finding the net.

Darvel manager George Grierson said he was happy with his team’s performance, despite the result.

“Irvine Meadow are one of the best teams in junior football, and we managed to hold them off for the majority of the game,” he said.

“It was a great learning experience for our lads, and it will help us in the run-up to the Hurlford game this Saturday which will be an interesting one for us.”

Darvel: McGhee, Johnston, Uppal, Taylor, Dunlop, Roy, Scott, McCreadie, Hampson, Miller, Dallas. Subs: Henderson, Hislop, Whittaker, Reed, Bonner, Otigbah.

If anyone would like a place on the Bo’ness bus, please contact a committee member at Saturday’s game against Hurlford.