[NoSkillz]

Sat. August 18, 2018

Ladbrokes Scottish League Two
Annan Athletic (2-0-0, 6 points, 3rd) vs. Queen’s Park (1-0-1, 3 points, 5th)
Galabank, Annan, Scotland

Betting Odds: Annan: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Queen’s Park: 13-8
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

We are the slightest of underdogs as we face undefeated Annan Athletic in their home park. They’ve been impressive so far, knocking off Elgin City and Cowdenbeath in league play and played very well in the Scottish League Cup as well, getting results against Morton and Stranraer while losing on penalties to Queen of the South. The team is coming off a 7th place finish in League Two last year but generally have been a mid-to-upper table side for the last ten years.The media predicted a fourth place finish in league play this year and their key man is left back Lewis Strapp, an 18 year old who just joined the club from Morton.

This is obviously a winnable game but I’m going to go with a “balanced” mentality today, essentially in-between a positive mentality and the cautious approach we utilized against Falkirk to good effect. Jordan Hart is back in goal, Sam Lidington is in at left back for the departed Ciaran Summers, Kesi Omolokun is back in at centre halfback and James Grant is back in at right back. Also back in the side are midfielders Dylan Thomas and Kurtis Roberts.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, James Grant
DM – Ross Finnie
M – Dylan Thomas, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Ewan MacPherson, Josh Peters
Bench – Kyle MacDonald, Cammy Foy, Sam Robertson, Gregor Fotheringham, Derek Young, Dominic McMeekin, Connor Higgins

Annan are out in a flat 4-4-2 and it’s Andrew Stobie in goal. Max Brown and Aidan Smith are their strike force, with seven goals between them already. I tell the boys to go out there and have fun.

4’ – We gave up a really good chance in the first minute but Jordan Hart made a great save. A couple minutes later, it’s captain Jamie McKernon, very quiet thus far this year, making a brilliant pass upfield to Ewan MacPherson. He has a step on the defense and left foots a shot past Stobie and it’s in! Another great start men! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

23’ – I like the way we’re playing right now but they take advantage of an opportunity. Annan recover the ball on the right flank and a Kyle Bradley cross is karate kicked past Jordan Hart to tie the game at one. ANNAN GOAL 1-1

25’ – We win a corner and Kurtis Roberts sends a cross to the near post. It’s headed by Kesi Omolokun and then headed again by Josh Peters and it’s past their keeper and IN! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 2-1

27’ – Ugh…this game. We just are defending very poorly and turn the ball over up the middle and it’s Scott Roberts putting a shot off Hart and it dribbles past him and in. ANNAN GOAL 2-2

37’ – THIS GAME! Hart rolls one out to Daniel Nimmo who passes left to Lidington. He bombs one up field and there is that man MacPherson, behind the defense again and he rips a bomb that deflects off one of their sliding defenders and it’s past Andrew Stobie for our third lead of the half! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 3-2

HALFTIME – What a crazy half of football! We score three goals and we also hit the woodwork three more times. In all, we outshoot them 11-8 (5-4 on target) and held 54% of possession that half. I tell the players to keep it up in the second half.

46’ – Right off the opening boot, we move up field and another gorgeous long ball from McKernon finds Ewan MacPherson and he takes the ball in strike and hits it into the top corner for his HAT TRICK!!! That took all of 12 seconds!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 4-2

69’ – We take off the excellent Josh Peters and bring in young Connor Higgins. We hope some fresh legs up front can secure one more goal to lock this up.

76’ – We continue to look fantastic out there and off a free kick, we work the ball up to MacPherson. This time, he decides to be a playmaker, slotting a pass over to young Higgins and he throttles it past the beleaguered Annan keeper for his first senior level goal!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 5-2

78’ – We pull off the excellent James Grant and bring in Sam Robertson.

86’ – Our captain Jamie McKernon gets a yellow so we pull him off and bring in Kyle MacDonald. McKernon’s best game thus far!

88’ – Our domination continues, as we work beautiful little passes along the right side deep in their territory. In the end, it’s Ewan MacPherson again with a lovely ball into the six yard box and there is Kurtis Roberts touching it home. His first at Queen’s Park and we are in complete command!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 6-2

What a great performance!

Annan Athletic 2 - 6 Queen’s Park
Goals – Ewan MacPherson 3 (9.7), Josh Peters (7.4), Connor Higgins (7.2), Kurtis Roberts (8.5)
Assists – Jamie McKernon 2 (8.8), Ewan MacPherson 2, Kesi Omolokun (8.3), Sam Lidington (8.1)
Man of the Match – Ewan MacPherson
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.2), James Grant (7.3), Daniel Nimmo (7.9), Ross Finnie (8.1), Dylan Thomas (7.6)
Attendance - 473 (120 away)

Boy was that ever fun! Every single one of our starting eleven get ratings over 7.0, MacPherson has five points and we may have something with our tactics now. I still feel that we give up too many grade-A chances but our offense is on tilt right now. Brilliant stuff. We end up holding 54% of possession and outshoot Annan 16-11 (9-5 on target).

-- We move up to second on the League Two table after the victory, one spot behind the idle Clyde due to goal differential.



League Two Team of the Week

-- Our huge win over Annan brought accolades from the media pundits, with six of our players making the Ladbrokes League Two team of the week. Among the eleven players honoured were Sam Lidington, Daniel Nimmo, Kesi Omolokun, Kurtis Roberts, Jamie McKernon and, of course, Ewan MacPherson.



Transfer OUT

-- We release 29 year old DC Gerry McLauchlan from the team on a free. He was a peripheral member of the squad and a fifth choice option at best so I decide to let him go.



U18 Update

-- Our U18s drop another decision, this time losing 2-0 versus Fife Elite FA. No one performed well in that contest for us by the looks of it.



Next Up -

-- We’re back home and will host Albion Rovers, currently bottom of the table, in Ladbrokes Scottish League Two play.