By C.MacFarlane
February 26 2006

KELVINBANK 2 AS AIRDRIE 1

airdrie were deservedly knocked out the cup by their 3rd division opponents at nethercraigs.a poor second half saw them crash out at the first hurdle and they now enter the 2nd round of the tommy marshall cup.

airdrie could and should have been 2 up after 5mins but the chances were missed and star took the lead not long after when a corner was poorly dealt with and the striker finished with a neat strike into the bottom corner.airdrie had most of the play however and gogs hit the bar from a corner then walker fired past.airdrie restricted star to little chances but they kept the ball at times and knocked it about.airdrie thought they equalised when capaldi knocked the ball over the line but the ref was in a poor position and couldn,t give the goal.however not long after airdrie drew level when a long throw in wasn,t dealt with and the ensuing scramble ,in which the keeper may have been impeded,capaldi bundled the ball in.the half drew to a close with both teams settling for 1-1.

second half started pretty evenly with few chances and mistakes affecting both sides.star had a couple of half chances and airdrie had likewise but a goal wasn,t forthcoming.star regained the lead when gordie failed to knock the ball out for a throw in and gave possession away.a couple of neat passes down the wing saw a lovely ball played into the box and the star player finished neatly at the near post.at 2-1 airdrie,surprisingly,lost their shape in trying to get the equaliser and were leaving big gaps in their midfield and defence which star didn,t take advantage off.twice the striker was through on goals and both times his lobs went past the post then johnny pulled of a fine save from the number 9 and finally star hit the post when it was easier to score.airdrie best chance came from a corner with 10 minutes to go when the keeper pulled of a great save from gordie,s header at the back post.airdrie couldn,t create any more chances and a final score of 2-1 was no less than star deserved.

not a good day at the office.too many players had an off day but star get the credit for a nice second half performance which could and should have saw them win by 3 or 4.they try to play the game the right way especially for a 3rd division side and good luck to them in the competition.for airdrie its down to the players and the management to get the heads up for the rest of the season.as stated too many of our players weren,t up for it today which is disappointing.however its only 1 game and there is another cup too look forward too and important league games.shawbridge next wk at home so an opportunity to bounce back against one of the leagues better teams.

team

j rowan

g drummond
g cooper
f burton

n pardoe
a edgar
r graham
k pardoe
s walker

a gray
g capaldi

m johnstone for r graham
s graham for s walker
g arbuckle for k pardoe
g trench