Craig Lairds round 18 write up

[pecker]

MATCH OF THE DAY
ELIZABETH VALE (4) SOUTHERN KNIGHTS (3)
SOUTHERN Knights have been relegated after going down to Elizabeth Vale 4-3 in a gripping contest at Mofflin Road.
Knights travelled to Elizabeth knowing that a win would seal their survival in the top flight while the Vale were looking to end a four game losing run in the league.
The home team opened the scoring through a Steve Orange free kick but the teams went to the break locked at 1-1 after Knights were awarded a penalty on 41 minutes which was fired into the roof of the net by Jamie Faulkner.
Five minutes after the break the Vale were back in front when a Tim Crawford 25 yard free kick found the bottom left hand corner.
Knight’s hearts sank on 55 minutes when the home side took a 3-1 lead through a tidy Ryan McGarrigan finish leaving the visitors a mountain to climb.
The Knights refused to throw in the towel and on the hour they had a lifeline when Ryan McGuiness scored direct from a corner to the delight of the travelling support.
Five minutes later scores were level when another wicked McGuiness corner was headed home by Scott Bradley to set up a thrilling finish to the game.
With around 10 minutes remaining the Vale grabbed the winner when the ball was fired home by James Greaves after a scramble in the box.
Knights Chairman Nick Swann “A couple of things didn’t go our way late in the season but we are a young club and we will look to have a strong year next year.”
Sean Westall Vale Team Manager “It was a good finish to the season and we now look forward to further strengthening the squad for the semi-final this Sunday.”

SALISBURY INTER (2) WEST BEACH (2)
WEST Beach have survived in the Premier division after a late goal sealed a 2-2 draw with Salisbury Inter at Underdown Park.
Beach started the day in the drop zone knowing they needed to better the result of Southern Knights to stay up while Inter were still eyeing a possible 3rd place finish.
Inter opened the scoring on 30 minutes after some good lead up play finished with a pin point Alban Martini cross which found Andrew Butler who finished neatly.
West Beach have shown some real character over recent weeks and it was on show again when on 40 minutes a Matt Quinn cross from the left hand side found Mickey Johnson who headed home strongly.
Beach started the 2nd half strongly but stand in Salisbury Inter keeper Cameron Berry was in fine form to keep the visitors at bay.
With 15 minutes on the clock it looked like curtains for West Beach when Inters Alban Martini pounced on a defensive error before slotting the goal.
West Beach threw caution to the wind late in the game and right on 90 minutes they scored a dramatic equalizer through a Ray McCoy header to the delight of the travelling fans.
When news filtered through that Knights had gone down 4-3 at Mofflin Road the celebrations started.
Beach coach Colin Agalich “I think we showed what West Beach is all about, the boys really played for each other and worked for each other.”
Inter Coach Steve Cook “Credit to Beach they really bombed forward late in the game and deserved their point.” On the season “I think we showed that we can match it with anyone on our day, I think we have progressed this season and we are close to challenging.”

PARA HILLS WEST (0) INGLE FARM (3)
LEAGUE Champions Ingle Farm sealed Para Hills Wests relegation from the Premier Division after a comfortable 3-0 win at Manor Farm Ground.
Westies came into the game knowing that anything less than a win against the newly crowned Champions would ensure relegation while Farm were looking for a good hit out prior to their Cup semifinal next week.
Within 30 minutes Westies fate was sealed when Luke Air struck twice.
The first came on 20 minutes when a Musti Ipekdal cross picked out Air who netted coolly from close range.
Air then got on the end of a long ball from Farm keeper Chris Nicholls before firing home.
The win was secured on 65 minutes when Liam Mulvaney played in Ipekdal who made no mistake with his shot.
Farm coach Paul Simpson “We wanted to keep things going with a win leading into the semi-final. We have some real selection headaches this week which is a good.”

ELIZABETH GROVE (1) PARAFIELD GARDENS (4)
THREE 1st half goals helped Parafield Gardens set up a comfortable 4-1 win over Elizabeth Grove at Dauntsey Road.
Gardens came into the game looking to finish the season with a sixth successive victory while the Peckers were looking to end the season on a positive note after a disappointing display in round 17.
The visitors opened the scoring on 18 minutes when Shane Pearce got in behind the defense before firing home from an acute angle.
On 30 minutes the lead was doubled when Pearce grabbed his 2nd and soon after Pearce set up Steve Stam who fired low and hard from distance to make it 3-0.
The Grove started the 2nd half with more purpose and on 75 minutes Kahmen Greig did superbly well after picking the ball up just over half way before ghosting past a couple of Gardens players and curling the ball home.
Late in the game Parafield made it 4-1 when Pearce played a ball to Aaron Goulding who volleyed home.
Gardens coach Duane Gray on the season “Disappointing to have dropped a couple of games but the boys have had a good season and I’ve been proud of their efforts.” Gray also announced that the match was his last after three years in charge “It’s been a great three years and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be involved with such a professional club.”
Peckers coach Shane Golder “Our goal preseason was to stay up and while the last couple of weeks have left a sour taste in the mouth the season has been a really positive one for the club.”

FULHAM (2) ELIZABETH DOWNS (0)TWO goals from Lumi Adisa has guided Fulham to a 2-0 win over Elizabeth Downs at Collins Reserve.
Fulham came into the game looking to repeat its upset 2-0 win over the Downs at Argana Park in round 9 while the Downs were looking to continue their recent strong form ahead of next week’s challenge Cup semi-final.
On 15 minutes Fulham took the lead after some good play on the left hand side led to a through ball from Anthony Fedele which found Lumi Adisa who then finished clinically from an acute angle.
After the break the Maroons pushed for an equalizer and when a Braiden Gundlach cross was volleyed by Jason Trimboli it looked like a certain goal only for Fulham keeper Michael Georginas to pull off a blinding save to the amazement of all at Collins Reserve.
Ben Aldridge was also in fine form in the Downs goal but there was little he could do on 80 minutes when Adisa got on the end of a through ball before firing home in style with his left foot to seal the points for Fulham.
Fulham coach John Christopoulos “Overall we are fairly happy with the season. We were hoping for a top half finish so we didn’t quite get that but we have blooded some good young talent.”
Downs coach Alan Mottram “Credit to Fulham today they played well. For us the focus is now all about the Challenge Cup and we look forward to the semi-final this week.”

[jim.mcguinness]

Thanks for all your work Craig, excellent reading the match reports each week , hopefully catch up with you again in a season or two , all the best ,Jim

[Robbo]

Thanks for all your work Craig, excellent reading the match reports each week , hopefully catch up with you again in a season or two , all the best ,Jim

here here, terrific work all year Craig - well done

[mushrow]

Thanks for all your work Craig, excellent reading the match reports each week , hopefully catch up with you again in a season or two , all the best ,Jim

here here, terrific work all year Craig - well done

+1

[Caretaker Coach]

Great work Craig,your write ups are a joy to read.

[swannsong]

Nice to finally meet Craig at the Vale yesterday.
Great work putting the reports together Craig...sadly next year I can supply you with a Division 2 report each week