SANDYS HIT TWEEDDALE FOR SIX
A young amateur side from Peebles, Tweeddale Rovers, were hit
for six in a devastating second half show from home outfit
Sandys in their Anderson Cup clash in Craigmillar, with the
rampant premier division combine running out 6-0 winners.
The scoreline
could have been much worse for the visiting team from the
Borders, as their goalkeeper, Robert Hall, had an outstanding
game and he pulled off several breathtaking saves to keep the
score down to 6-0. In a very even first half, marked by good
passing football from both sides, the home side played against
the wind but they still created the better chances, although the
young Rovers players looked full of running and enthusiasm.
Club spokesman,
Frank Robinson, said: "We have two teams at Tweeddale with many
of players still still quite young to play in amateur football.
We try to encourage them to play good passing football at all
times in the hope that all our players will improve. We also
ensure that 95 per-cent of our players come from the Borders."
Tweeddale did look good in the first half, but their attacks on
Sandys' goal were dealt with efficiently by the experienced home
defenders. Most of the action was in the Rovers' goalmouth with
Hall showing magnificent reflexes in keeping the score line
blank at half-time.
It all changed in
the second half, however, with a non-stop procession towards
Hall - and what a brilliant show he put up, despite losing six
goals! Nine minutes after excellent match official, Michalis
Tsagrarakis, got the second half on its way, Sandys made the
breakthrough, with a quite wonderful cross from John Robertson
on the right being spectacularly headed past Hall by James
Clarkson to make it 1-0 for the Craigmillar side.
It was a terrific
goal and it opened the floodgates for Sandys. With Rovers under
constant pressure, they went 2-0 down, with Robertson again
providing a perfect cross for Thomas Crease to outjump the
Rovers defenders to place a perfect header in to the corner of
the net. The third goal came when a huge wind-assisted ball in
the Tweeddale goalmouth was not dealt with and Robertson
showed great skill and poise to bring the ball under control
before firing it past Hall to take the scoreline to 3-0 for
Sandys.
Robertson
is was who scored the fourth goal of the game, this time showing
wonderful opportunism to smash a spectacular first-time effort
past Hall from 16yds out. With Tweeddale in danger of being
overrun, it was no surprise really when Sandys got their fifth
goal of the game, and it was a real howler by the match referee
that allowed Darren Hainey to collect the ball in a blatantly
offside position before going on to beat Hall to take the
scoreline to 5-0. In the closing minute, a cross from the left
by Thomas Crease was caught by the wind and the ball swirled
over Hall in to the far corner of the net to make it 6-0.
Crease did not
even blush when he said: "I meant it to go in!" It was an
embarrassing final score for the Borders players and it possibly
does not reflect the effort they put in to the game. On any
other day, they might have scored a couple of goals themselves,
but Sandys defence, as a unit, was outstanding. Veteran, Duncan
McNeil, uncle of young Hibs keeper, Andrew, had an great game in
the second half.
Two of the home side's most experienced players missed the tie,
with Alex Hood and Steven Handren watching from the sidelines.
Somehow, they were not missed by this very good Sandys outfit.
This was another good game at amateur level, with both sides
playing excellent passing football in a cup tie played
throughout in a freezing cold wind.
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