Draws all round

Dec 23 2008 by Our Correspondent, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

ONCE again, the efforts of the amateur league sides to beat the atrocious weather of last weekend paid dividends.

Three of the four scheduled games went ahead.

Strangely enough, they all gained some reward for their determination with all three matches ending in draws.

It’s been mentioned before how well-matched so many of the sides in the league are, and this provides further proof.

It was top versus third when Maxwelltown Thistle took on Lochar Thistle. An excellent contest was anticipated and that’s exactly what the large crowd got.

Lochar started the stronger, taking a fifth-minute lead when Chris Rogerson headed in a cross from Craig Jones.

Gradually Max fought their way back into the game and they were level on the quarter hour. A lovely pass by Sean Kearney saw Ross Halliday turn neatly and fire home from 12 yards.

It was the same combination that saw Max go ahead in 26 minutes when another superb Kearney pass picked out Halliday at the back post.

Midway through a fairly even second half, Lochar were level after Mike McGauchie was felled in the box and he himself scored from the spot.

With seven minutes left, a great cross by Craig Lavan saw Graeme Carling flash a header home to restore Max’s lead but Lochar weren’t finished yet.

A McGauchie header with five minutes left meant a sharing of the spoils. A deserved result because, although Max probably had the balance of play, Lochar always looked dangerous.

At Lochmaben, the home side drew 2-2 with Morton Thistle. At half-time, Morton led 2-0 but they went down to 10 men and, in the end, that told on them.

Collecting a pass from Bob Clark, Mickey Devlin soon had Morton ahead. They added a second when the same pair combined, this time with Devlin’s pass allowing Clark in to net.

The second half was only five minutes old when Colin Robson beat the offside trap and hared through to pull one back and, with 10 minutes to go, Raymond Watson brought the scores level.

There was yet another smashing game at Terregles where the locals and Dynamo Star met for the first time this season.

Another draw in this one, this time 3-3. It was a ding-dong affair throughout.

Ross Meechan’s header at the back post gave Terregles a 30th-minute lead only for Craig Muir to slot in after the ball rebounded to him off the bar and made it 1-1 at the break.

That’s how it stayed till 20 minutes from time as play surged back and forward.

Brian Love then broke the deadlock with the best goal of the game, a beautiful shot from 25 yards, to put Star in front.

Another five minutes and Terry Jardine equalised from Nicky Paton’s square ball.

Three minutes more, Russell Milligan’s low shot put Star back in front, a lead they held for only four minutes until Steven Wilby headed Terregles level. Again, a fair result after a really exciting game.

There is now a fortnight’s break for the holidays. Fixtures resume on January 10.

Saturday’s results: Metrik Office Supplies League: Lochmaben 2 Morton Th 2; Maxwelltown Th 3 Lochar Th 3; Terregles Ath 3 Dynamo Star 3.

Quaker