Match Detail

Salters lost for the first time this season at home to a very good St Vincents side. 

Salters started the match as we had left off against Foot Ball Club of Edinburgh. We were passing and moving well and looking to get in behind the St Vincents back four as often as possible. Salters took the lead after good work down the left hand side led to a corner, Paul Nelson swung it in and Paul Milligan jumped highest to head the ball right into the far top corner. Salters went 2-0 up after a back pass to the goalkeeper by the St Vincents centre half was chased down by Paul Milligan who robbed the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into the net. Salters continued to play well and make chances with Richard Murray on the right wing causing a lot of problems for the St Vincents back four. Good link up play by Stephen Brown put Danny Watson through, however his first touch sent him slightly wide and the chance was gone. Richard Murray also had a drive magnificently tipped over by the St Vincents goalkeeper who was brilliant all day. However we didn’t get the third goal and St Vincents got a grip of the game. They got the ball down and passed it well through midfield and started to create chances. They got a goal back after a long ball down the centre was allowed to bounce and the forward nipped in ahead of John Paget to roll the ball home. St Vincents equalised after taking a short corner, the cross was heading straight to a Salters player when it hit the referee on the back of the head and landed right at the feet of the forward 5 yards out, he buried the chance. Then St Vincents took the lead, a corner was swung in and the forward was completely unmarked right in the centre of the goal for the easiest header he will ever have. This period of uncertain defending is very unlike Salters, the blame doesn’t rest with the defence though, and we should be defending better as a team unit. Half time Salters 2-3 St Vincents.

Salters started the second half looking nervous again.  We looked like we were lacking confidence which was strange. However we hung in and defended very well under pressure for the first 20 minutes of this half. Then we got ourselves back in the game. We started to pass the ball better and close the opposition down. We were now creating chances again and looking a better team. We got an equaliser through a good team goal. Shane Thomson passing to Paul Milligan who passed to Mikey Thomson who then played Mikey Jones clean through. Mikey took one touch then buried the ball right in the top corner, what an excellent finish! At 3-3 the game was there to be won. Both teams were trying to win it by playing good football. However St Vincents got the winner in circumstances which were very harsh on Salters. The St Vincents player broke well down the right wing and cut in side, as he took on the Salters defender the ball bounced up off his hand and round the defender. Salters stopped expecting the hand ball but the referee allowed play on and the St Vincents player blasted the ball in to the far corner. Good goal, but hard on Salters. Full time Salters 3-4 St Vincents.

St Vincents provided Salters with the hardest test of preseason so far. They have some excellent players and are all comfortable on the ball. They also play the game in the same spirit as Salters, with no interest in fighting or dirty tackles. Despite this there were three “sending offs” by the referee, two for Salters which were both for bad language after the winning goal was allowed to stand. The St Vincents player was asked to leave the field for the same reason and all three were harsh although to be fair to the referee they were outwith the laws of the game. As a team in the fair play league we have to expect the referees to clamp down on this.

Salters must get back to basics and play for 90 minutes against a very good Boca side on Sunday. Let’s start supporting each other rather than complaining and moaning. We are meant to be a team, and if we stick together as a team it can only make us stronger.

Well done St Vincents and best of luck for the coming season.

Team: John Paget, Steven Illingworth, Neil McDonald (Kris Murdoch), Jon Weir, Darren Smith, Richard Murray (Mikey Thomson), Danny Watson (Mikey Jones), Shane Thomson, Stephen Brown (Paul Kivlin), Paul Nelson (Neil Wilson), Paul Milligan.