Five second half goals see Petershill dispatch St. Cadoc’s

St. Cadoc’s U21s hosted Petershill at Eastwood High School on Saturday afternoon in the West of Scotland Youth Football League. The home side came into the match hoping to pull off an upset against fourth place Petershill, who have only lost one game this season and will be planning a title push.

The away side came into the match full of confidence and playing well. With some of the side utilising the club’s pathway midweek and getting the opportunity to train with the first team at Petershill.

The home side got the match underway but found it difficult to make inroads in the match as Petershill dominated the ball early. Despite the early dominance, the first big chance of the game went to St. Cadoc’s who hit the woodwork after a nice piece of play down the right-hand side, offering Petershill their first warning of the match.

St. Cadoc’s continued to look threatening and managed to win the ball back causing the first caution of the game to go the way of the Peasy skipper, Drew White. White took down St. Cadoc’s forward, Harald Martins as he attempted to latch onto a ball which had found its way past the back line. A challenge he had to make, or Martins may have been clean through.

Petershill had the ball in the net in the 25th minute, as Mohammed Nije was deemed to have been released just a second too late by teammate Daniel Gonga. Nije poked the ball calmly under the goalkeeper but was disappointed by the whistle.

Offside calls were a theme of the first half for the away side as both the side line and the players on the pitch grew increasingly frustrated and their play suffered.

And, ultimately, an offside decision ended up playing a role in the first goal of the match. As St. Cadoc’s played quickly after an offside decision and found themselves clear down the right-hand side. The ball was flashed across the face and tucked away neatly by number 10, Michael Tompkins.

The goal came against the run of play but sometimes you need to ride your luck in these games and be clinical. St. Cadoc’s accomplished that in the first half, going into the break a goal up.

Peasy came out for the second half all guns blazing and only took one minute to level the scoring after the restart.

Lewis Mckechnie received the ball after some lovely interplay down the right, drove inside his defender and picked out Lewis Murray with a nice reverse ball. The striker was free in behind the St. Cadoc’s defence and took his time to calmly slot the ball home to the keepers left.

The visitors continued to attack relentlessly, with wave after wave of attack just unable to find a decisive moment.

Changes came in the 56th and 60th minute for Petershill as Marc Graham replaced Mohammed Nije and Jay McEachran replaced Euan Andrews respectively. St Cadoc’s also decided to make changes in this period, bringing on Johnny Cunnion and Josh Gallagher for Finlay Ramsey and Tom Rodriguez.  

St. Cadoc’s had, probably, their best chance of the match as Kraig McKay manages to get off an awkward shot as the ball finds him near the edge of the box. The onrushing Petershill goalkeeper was in no man’s land and was very fortunate to see the ball hit the inside of his post and bounce harmlessly across the goal and Peasy recovered possession.

Perhaps this near miss was the impetus they needed to seize the lead in the 65th minute. Marc Graham finished off a lovely cross into a dangerous area to put the away side a goal to the good.

It was two goals in quick succession for the away side as 16-year-old substitute, Jay McEachran drove to the by line and fired a ball across the box; only for it to be turned in by St. Cadoc’s centre back, Josh Gallagher.

After this goal St. Cadoc’s made two more changes, introducing wingers Charlie Rodgers and Marc McColgan for Kraig McKay, Mattew Bell to chase the game.

The own goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home team however, and Peasy smelled blood, as McEachran again showed his appetite for the fray by cleverly beating two defenders and slipping a nice ball into Lewis Murray in the box. The striker held off his defender and assessed the situation, electing to pick out Marc Graham who easily dispatches his second and Petershill’s fourth, 4-1.

It was a prolific 15 minutes for the visitors who rounded off a 5-1 victory with a penalty goal and second of the afternoon for Murray. The front man stuttered in his run up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way bringing an end to the flurry of goals.

More changes were made after the final goal as Lewis McKechnie, Johnathon Gibson and Ross Clark were replaced by Lewis Morton, Scott Inglis and Joe Campbell. Riordan Gavan was also introduced to replace Callum Pratt for St. Cadoc’s.

The home side will be disappointed they let the scoreline get away from them towards the end of the game, but they showed a battling performance throughout with Petershill ultimately just too strong on the day. Peasy will hope to continue in this good form and challenge for the title, they played some fantastic football, with a few real stand-out performers also.

St Cadoc’s Player of the Match: Kraig McKay

He was a bright spark in a tough afternoon for St. Cadoc’s, carrying them up the pitch well. He troubled defenders with his runs down the wing and also managed to hit the woodwork.

Petershill Player of the Match: Lewis McKechnie

It could have been a number of the Peasy players but McKechnie was the stand out. His trickery and direct play caused problems all afternoon, bagging himself a couple of assists.

St Cadoc’s Magic Moment: Counter-attacking goal

The goal in the first half was expertly taken after a very quick counter-attack and cross; catching the away side completely by surprise.

Petershill Magic Moment: McKechnie’s magic feet

Lewis McKechnie’s skill to draw the penalty was exquisite. At least three feints and changes of direction had his defender sprawling and caused him to give away the spot kick with a handball.