Gretna FC (2008) 0 Edinburgh City 2

GRETNA FC (2008) 0 (0) Edinburgh City 2 (0) Gair pen 50, Allum 90+

The football saying made famous by TV pundit Jimmy Greaves “ a game of two halves” could well be used in this instance. With the home side playing a Jekyll and Hyde performance, the first half belonged to Gretna with enough chances to win several games, all went begging and in the second half they created very few chances.

Gretna kicked off towards the Loanwath Road Stand and soon put the visitors on the back foot when Dave Wallace ran onto an Alan Inglis flighted free kick but the centre backs header flew over the City crossbar.
Next to go close was Brandon Longcake who cut in from the right wing but his shot flew over the bar.
City did venture into the Gretna half of the field and were rewarded with a corner in the 10th.minute. The home side went ever so near to open the scoring but Worrall was just out of reach from a Longcake cross. 0-0.

City’s number 8,Dougie Gair was fortunate not to collect a caution when he clattered Gretna’ Iain Anderson 30 yards from goal. Inglis' free kick flew harmlessly into Stobie’s arms and the danger was gone.
The visitors defence were having to work hard to keep Gretna out and Anderson should have opened the scoring in the 20th.minute when Main slipped the ball inside the box for the big forward to strike, his shot was deflected behind for a corner.

Jordan Caddow suffered a “dead” leg after a collision with Greig Thorburn and limped off to be replaced by Grant Vanson in the 25th.minute. With most of the play Gretna could not find the back of the net as City were struggling to cope with the home sides pacy attack. In the 32nd.minute Chris McKee entered the officials notebook for a reckless challenge on Anderson. An Inglis free kick on the left found the head of Wallace whose header produced a spectacular acrobatic save by Stobie, as he ficked the ball over for a corner kick.

Again the City goal survived another scare, this time a lobbed pass by Main to Connor Graham across the 18 yard line saw the youngsters shot beat Stobie but also eluded the far corner of the net and out for a goal kick. 0-0.
Five minutes before the break Throburn got round behind the City defence and his inch perfect cross into the six yard box was agonisingly headed over by Worrall when it appeared easier to score.
The visitors almost took a shock lead just on half time when Ross Allum broke free from his marker but his rising shot hit the top side of the crossbar and over. H/T 0-0.

The visitors kicked off the second half and looked to have changed their formation as they began to press the Gretna defence. However the first strike of the second half came from Gretna’s Connor Graham, but his long range effort was wide of the target. In the 49th minute City’s Allum went to ground after a Dean Rea challenge inside the box and the official awarded the spot kick which Gair duly converted sending Greenall the wrong direction, 0-1.

The home side appeared to struggle to adjust and passes were going astray and mistakes started to creep into their play. The Gretna support thought their team had won a penalty for themselves in the 65th.minute when Anderson broke down the right only to be felled from behind by McKee on the edge of the area. With confusion amongst the officials players were momentarily left wondering what the outcome was to be, eventually a free kick was given to Gretna and McKee escaped caution, Gretna’s Graham was not so fortunate and was cautioned for dissent. Inglis swung in a low cross to the near post but Worrall could only steer the ball harmlessly behind. 0-1.
Stuart Rome made his first substitution replacing Thorburn with David Renyard and Jordan Barker for Worrall. Rea picked up a caution in the 80th.minute for a reckless challenge and was followed shortly afterwards by Adam Main for a similar challenge. As the game entered the final stages Gretna launched everything into attack as City sat back waiting for their opportunity to hit on the counter and it came in added on time when Allum fired home a Mark Osborne cross to put the result beyond the home side. There was just enough time for the official to issue a red card for Allum for over celebrating. F/T 0-2.

GRETNA FC (2008):
J.Greenall, D.Rea, G.Thorburn, A.Inglis, D.Wallace, D.Addison, B.Longcake, A.Main, I.Anderson, C.Graham, M.Worrall.
Subs: S.Rudd, J.Baxter, D.Graham, D.Renyard, G.Cowper, C.Thompson.

Edinburgh City:
A.Stobie, J.Caddow, G.Donaldson, C.McKee, F.Paterson, J.MacDonald, I.McFarland, D.Gair, R.Allum, J.Dunn, M.McConnell.
Subs: M.Pentalnd, J.Wishart, P.Stenhouse, G.Vanson, M.Osborne, O.Deniran, R.MacNamara.