[NoSkillz]

Sat. July 21, 2018

Betfred Cup – Group E
Airdrie (0-0-0-2, 0 points, 4th) vs. Queen’s Park (1-0-0-0, 3 points, 2nd)
The Penny Cars Stadium, Airdrie, Scotland

Betting Odds: Airdrie: 4-6 (Favourites) Draw: 9-4 Queen’s Park: 7-2
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

Airdrieonians are in big trouble in this competition, sitting 0-2 with losses to Dumbarton and Kilmarnock and are longshots to move on. They finished two spots ahead of us in League One last year but the media feels they’ll be stronger in 18/19, with a third place prediction. My advance scout feels they are a hard working club but they don’t look to have any superstars. They usually play a 4-1-2-3 with a defensive mid, two wingers and one striker.

We’re pretty big underdogs here and I’m going to go with a more balanced approach to start while maintaining our 4-4-2 diamond narrow formation. We make one change to our starting eleven, inserting veteran Derek Young at midfield in place of 16 year old Malky Breen, who looked overmatched in our first game. AMC Dominic McMeekin is on the bench in this contest, replacing the departed Amin Bouzaig.

Queen’s Park: 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow – Balanced Mentality
GK – Jordan Hart
D – Ciaran Summers, Daniel Nimmo, Izhaak Ahmed, James Grant
DM – Gregor Fotheringham
M – Derek Young, Jamie McKernon
AM – Kurtis Roberts
S – Josh Peters, Ewan MacPherson
Bench – Sam Lidington, Cammy Foy, Gavin Lachlan, Derek Young, Dylan Thomas, Dominic McMeekin, Billy Mortimer

As expected, Airdrie come out in their 4-1-2-3 DM with one striker, two goal man Darryl Duffy. Scott Gallacher is their keeper.

HALFTIME – A drab affair but we are the better club so far, holding an impressive 64% of possession and a 4-2 (2-0 on target) shot advantage. Their keeper made a stunning save on a Derek Young shot to keep things scoreless. I tell the lads they’ve been the better team and to keep doing what they’re doing!

60’ – We continue to dominate possession and Airdrie have made a change to try to get things going. We work the ball outside and fullback James Grant is up on the play and crosses into the box. Airdie attempt to clear but it’s headed to captain Jamie McKernon just outside the box. He one touches a pass to fellow midfielder Derek Young and he steps into a ROCKET that goes past the diving Gallacher and it’s IN! What a strike!!! QUEEN’S PARK GOAL 1-0

68’ – We are pressing again but fullback Ciaran Summers loses the ball and Airdrie send the ball long. They have numbers and the ball eventually works its way to a wide open Kyle Wilkie and he easily deposits the ball past Jordan Hart and level the score. Shocking defending. AIRDRIE GOAL 1-1

71’ – We make our first substitution, taking out an exhausted Summers and inserting Sam Lidington.

77’ – Another substitution, with Dylan Thomas replacing our goalscorer, the excellent Derek Young.

We hold them off for the balance of regulation time but this competition doesn’t see overtime…we immediately move into a shootout!

And it’s a wild one, as their first five players all score…but they are matched by Josh Peters, Kurtis Roberts, Dylan Thomas, Ewan MacPherson and Gregor Fotheringham! So we move to sudden death…

Jonathan Page scores for Airdrie. AIRDRIE SCORES 5-6
Jamie McKernon scores!!! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 6-6
Kieran Miller scores. AIRDRIE SCORES 6-7
Fullback James Grant also scores! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 7-7
Josh Edwards keeps the pressure on. Damn! AIRDRIE SCORES 7-8
Can a goalkeeper make a save? Up steps young Izaak Ahmed and he scores! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 8-8
Mark Finlayson is up and JORDAN HART MAKES THE SAVE!!!
Stepping up with a chance to win is disgruntled centre back Daniel Nimmo and he rips one into the bottom corner!!! QUEEN’S PARK SCORES 9-8

What a win!!!

Airdrie 1 - 1 Queen’s Park (Queen’s Park Win 9-8 on Penalties)
Goals – Derek Young (8.3)
Assists –Jamie McKernon (7.0)
Man of the Match – Derek Young
Other Dover Notables – Jordan Hart (7.0)
Attendance - 570 (198 away)

A very impressive road performance against a team in a higher league, as we hold 59% of the ball and an 11-5 (6-3 on target) shot advantage. Their keeper made a couple of point blank saves in the second half to keep the score level but we score on all nine penalties to take two out of three points!

-- Kilmarnock continues to dominate, beating up on Dumbarton 3-0 to move to 3-0-0-0 in the group with only us to play. We are comfortably in second place with 5 points and Dumbarton is in third with 3. If we can squeeze out one more win against either of those clubs, I’d say our chances of moving on as a wildcard are very good.



U18 Update

-- Our U18’s defeat Montrose U18 4-0 in a preseason friendly. Kieran Balfour scores twice and we get singles from Kieran Moore and David Fraser.



U18 Transfer IN

-- We sign 18 year old winger Lewis Hutchison to our U18 squad. Hutchison comes over from Aberdeen and is a 2.0/4.0 talent.



Transfers OUT

DC Dom McLaren (Released)
MR Ali Miller (Released)
ST Brendan Sharpe (Released)

-- We release three players that were all surplus to requirements. We have much more roster pruning to do but this is a start.



Tom McLaren Stays On

-- U18 fullback Tom McLaren decides to stay on board and rejects overtures from three other clubs. I have a feeling stuff like this will continue all year so I’m not going to mention it unless the player elects to leave.



Next Up -

-- We face another League One opponent in Betfred Cup Group E play, as we host Dumbarton at Hampden Park.