Fosters Central Scottish AFL- Division 1A Aikenhead Thistle 4 Mill United AFC 1 1400 kick off @ Temple Parks,

Glasgow 26th April 2014

Mill United AFC

1. Chris TOBIN 2. David CARSON 3. Daniel ROBERTSON 4. Andrew MURRAY 5. David MCAULIFFE 6. Mitch TOBIN 7. Mark SMITH 8. Alan INCH 9. Riccardo SCALA 10. Martin MCATEER 11. Dillan MACDONALD 12. Malcolm CAMPBELL 13. N/A 14. Paul DRAGSNES

Shots Fouls for Corners for Offside

10 13 7 1

On Target conceded conceded Yellow cards

4 8 6 10

Goal times 2, 5, 6, 39, 48 Penalty 1 1st Half duration 45.10 2nd Half duration 46.33

Mill Uniteds recent run of positive results came to an abrupt end on Saturday away to title chasing Aikenhead Thistle. Aikenhead dominated for long spells of this match and were clinical with their finishing which proved to be the decisive factor in this contest. The game exploded into life and within the first 6 minutes the match had produced three goals. The first came courtesy of the home side in the second minute. A throw in on the right flank was directed into the Mill United penalty area and was met by the unchallenged Aikenhead number 8 who controlled the ball before lobbing over the advancing Chris Tobin. Three minutes later the game was level when Riccardo Scala swung a corner in from the left which was headed into the net by David Carson who had timed his run to the back post to perfection. However, the away side did not stay level for long as, almost from the restart, Thistle went back into the lead. A 30 yard strike from the Aikenhead number 11 flew right over the head of Chris Tobin to make it 2 1. To their credit Mill United came right back at Thistle and they were awarded a penalty in the twelfth minute after Scala was upended in the penalty box. Martin McAteer took the kick placing it low to the keepers left. The shot was however saved and the rebound was neatly tucked away by Scala. As the United players and staff celebrated they were stunned into silence when they noticed that the referee had disallowed the goal and had in actual fact awarded a free kick for Thistle, as in the refs opinion, McAteer was in an offside position and obstructing the keepers view when Scala scored. A decision that only one man on the pitch agreed with. The game was now being dictated by the home side but despite their possession they were unable to carve out any real chances. In fact it was the away side that had the clearer chances on goal with both Scala and David McAuliffe having decent chances. This was to change though in the 39th minute when Aikenhead went 3 1 in front. A neat move down the left wing produced a fine cross to the front post area which was directed low inside the far post by Aikenheads number 11 for his second of the match. You could actually see that the goal had knocked the stuffing out of the United players as they realised the task they faced in the second half. That task became even more difficult three minutes after the restart. A speculative ball into the Mill United penalty box broke kindly for Aikenheads number 8 who drove the ball low past Chris Tobin for his second of the game and his sides fourth. The game was now, for all intents and purposes, over as a contest. United were forced into a substitution when Malcolm Campbell replaced Mark Smith who appeared to have had injured his hip. And a few minutes later, Paul Dragsnes replaced Martin McAteer who was struggling with a groin injury. The remainder of the second half was incident free the goalmouth action in the first half was more than enough for one game. The home side didnt seem to play with the same intensity as they did at the start of the match and Mill United appeared

deflated. This was unfortunate as the United boys have put together a string of fine performance over the last short while and could always rely on their fighting spirit. However, it was apparent that at the this stage of the season, the team who still had something to fight for in terms of silverware was the team that came out on top. Aikenhead Thistle added another three points to their title challenge whereas Mill United, with only one league game left, just might struggle to hold onto that sixth position in the table.