21/22 Match Report – 28th September

Tweedmouth made the short trip to New Countess Park to meet East of Scotland Premier opposition. Respective managers Kevin Haynes and Neil Oliver believed that the match would be ‘better than training’ and were proved correct. The grass was wet from the day’s rain but this didn’t put a dampener on the play in what turned out to be a fast paced serious friendly.

In the 6th minute, with goalkeeper Mark Walters already committed, Johnny Edmond had an easy task in putting Dunbar ahead after teammates did the initial damage down the right.

A mere three minutes later, Drew Cummings’ free kick provided the launch pad for a successful attack which Michael Robinson finished. The score remained locked at 1-1 for the remainder of the half, a fair reflection of a finely balanced opening forty five minutes.

At the away end, Rhys Dixon and Regan Graham made vital tackles on Dan Purves, Joao Vieira likewise to halt Ben Bathgate. Also in the mix were a couple of excellent saves from Walters.

In the other direction, Graham beat two men before being interrupted by a foul and followed up this run with a shot which flashed past the intersection. Another rapid Rangers’ raid ended with home keeper John Johnstone’s foot preventing a Craig Bell goal.

Eight minutes into the second half, Oliver sent on subs Ciaran Hatsell and Andy Wilson. Jack Forster moved into the back three where he was certainly kept busy as United spent much of the rest of the game camped inside the visitors’ half of the field. Replacement Jamie Devlin gave them the lead again on 65 minutes.

What followed included Dunbar being thwarted by stubborn defending and good goalkeeping rather than by missed chances though Edmond, through releasing the trigger too soon, and Darren Handling (over the bar) might have done better. Tweedmouth’s second half custodian Tom Angus made a string of star saves, the best from Handling after the Purves twins combined out wide.

Rangers occasionally broke into Dunbar territory, Bell, with a ground level drive, again forcing Johnstone into a save.

It was particularly disappointing for Tweedmouth that, after all their hard work, Bathgate made it 3-1 with the very last kick of the match.