By C McFarlane
November 1 2005

TYNECASTLE 1 AS AIRDRIE 1

airdrie had to settle for a point after a well fought contest at lochend.

airdrie nearly scored from kickoff when hendrie just failed to get on the end of a pardoe cross.airdrie should have made it 1-0 minutes later when,after good work down the right,gray burst into the box but with 3 men waiting for an easy finish gray went himself and fired weakly at the keeper.tynecastle had some chances as well with the number 11 looking impressive and only 2 or 3 good blocks stopped possible opportunities and then johnny pulled of a nice save with strikers lurking for the rebound.airdrie took the lead with a fine goal.a good pass from edgar found hendrie on the right hand side and from his pass big mark ran on and fired by the keeper from about 10 yards.but tynecastle came back into the game and found an equaliser 10 minutes from half time.a free kick into the box found the number a 11 in space and from his knockdown the tynecastle player slid the ball under johnny for 1-1.the half finished with tynecastle in the ascendancy.

the second half started like the first half ended with castle having the early pressure and pushing airdrie back.tynecastle had a great chance to take the lead but a fine save from johhny at the strikers foot then a follow up shot from the edge of the box which he held kept the score at 1-1.for the first 20 mins of the second half airdrie struggled to get possession of the ball and as a result gray was being isolated up front with the defence falling to far back.but a change for airdrie with clarky coming on for gordie helped ensure airdrie worked themselves back into the game.with clarky holding the ball up it allowed airdrie midfield to get further forward and from such an attack edgar forced the castle keeper into the save of the match tipping over a first time volley from 8 yards.airdrie kept up the pressure and gogs hit the bar with a header and after a scramble in the box walker could only fire tamely at the keeper.as airdrie pushed forward looking for the winner castle were still looking dangerous and more than once big gogs was there to header the ball clear from dangerous positions.with 10 minutes to go airdrie made their final change with kenny coming on for mark. a minute later clarky fired over the bar from 12 yards and it looked like that was airdrie last chance to score but seconds later kenny robbed the defender and after slipping the ball by the last defender ran in on goal but rather than firing a low shot he tried to go round the keeper and it left him with a tight angle and he hit the side netting with his effort. 1-1 ft

a draw was about right.tynecastle had more of the ball but airdrie created the clearer chances.not the best from airdrie but more changes to the line-up than normal before and during the game led to a bit of a disjointed performance.but credit to tynecastle who,after getting a good win last week,r a decent outfit with some good players especially the number 11 who looked a fine player.for airdrie scottish cup duty next saturday with redbrae from kirkintilloch their opponents at airdrie sports centre with a 2 pm kick off.(so no perth trip next saturday)

team

j rowan

g drummond
g cooper
f burton

n pardoe
a edgar
m johnstone
s smith
r hendrie

a gray
s walker

g arbuckle for f burton
a clark for g drummond
k pardoe for m johnstone
s graham