Kemnay Youth 3 - Postal ALC 5 - North of Scotland Cup - 23/10/2021

TEAM - 1. R.Laing 2. A.Riddell 3. L.Mackie 4. S.Carter 5. B.Patterson 6. S.Ure 7. S.Robertson 8. R.Law 9. S.Cotovici 10. G.Davidson 11. R.Insch 12. S.Stuart 14. K.Dowbekin 15. P.Coutts 16. I.Bruce 17. C.Patterson

OPPOSITION MOTM – N/A

Postal travelled to Kemnay this weekend to play Kemnay Youth in the 1st round of the North of Scotland Cup. Postal, still smarting from their spanking out at Auchnagatt the weekend before, were keen to show a reaction.

Probably not surprising given the previous performance, the management team made changes to the line-up (although some were forced upon them). Laing started in goal, Mackie came in for the injured Clark, Carter moved back into defence, Robertson returned from injury and Cotovici and Davidson started.

Postal had the first chance of the half on 5 minutes. Davidson did well on the right of the Kemnay box to skip by the Kemnay defender. His ball to the back post found Insch waiting for a tap-in. Unfortunately for Postal, he tapped it directly at the keeper who saved.

Kemnay took the lead on ten minutes. Postal’s Carter dived in to a tackle on the edge of the box but failed to win the ball. The player shot early from the edge of the box and scored low into the corner past Laing. Not the start Postal were looking for. 1-0.

At this point Postal were looking decent going forward but uncharacteristically “ropey” defensively.

Postal were lucky to survive another scare on 29 minutes. A corner to Kemnay was sent into the box. A Kemnay player lost his man and hit the post before it luckily fell into the arms of Laing.

Five minutes later, the home side did manage to double their lead, though, and it was a defensive shambles from Postal. Number 9 from Kemnay, at this point, was causing all sorts of problems for Postal. He ran straight through and when the ball was partially cleared he stood 5 or 6 yards behind the Postal defence offside. Unfortunately for Postal a backward header from Postal left back Mackie was headed directly back to the number 9 who made no mistake in slotting home. 2-0.

Postal responded almost immediately. A through ball from Robertson to Cotovici saw the striker keep his nerve to nutmeg the Kemnay keeper. Good finish 2-1.

On 42 minutes, Kemnay regained their two goal advantage. A short pass from Insch on the left to Patterson was easily intercepted. 10 seconds later and the ball was in the back of the net. Far too easy. 3-1.

Postal did well to keep their composure though and not panic. They pulled a vital goal back a minute before half time when an Insch corner kick found captain Patterson unmarked who headed into the net. 3-2.

HALF TIME – KEMNAY YOUTH 3 - POSTAL ALC 2

The talks at half time were calm and constructive. It was thought that Postal hadn’t started yet, so to be only one down, Postal were confident they could drag themselves back into the tie. And that’s exactly what happened as Postal’s superior fitness levels eventually wore Kemnay down.

It nearly got off to a bad start, though, when Patterson was skinned on the left of the Postal box, keeper Laing made a good save to deny the Kemnay number 9 again. Fortunately that was about as good as it got for Kemnay as Postal dominated the remainder of the match.

Three minutes into the half, a lovely through ball from Cotovici to Greig Davidson saw the forward bare down on the Kemnay box from the right. He took it a bit too wide though and his shot was comfortably saved. It was a sign of things to come though.

Two minutes later a corner into the box saw Postal midfielder Law hit the post after a stramash in the box.

Thirteen minutes into the second half and Postal were given a great chance to equalise. Sub Dowbekin was sent straight through on the keeper. He did well to round him before being cynically tripped to give Postal a pen. Unbelievably, the keeper failed to even get a yellow card. Insch stepped forward to take it (after instructions from the bench). He hit it low to the keeper’s left but saw it saved and away to safety.

At this point, Kemnay were clinging to their lead by a thread. The ball was getting launched further and further out of the park with manager Patterson getting a decent work-out retrieving, what seemed like, the only ball available.

Postal were awarded a free kick on 22 minutes just outside the box on the right. Postal right back Riddell stepped forward and hit a ferocious effort against the bar. Luckily it fell to Mackie’s feet who prodded it home for his first Postal goal. Well done. 3-3.

5 minutes later and Postal took the lead. Dowbekin had been causing all sorts of problems to the tiring defence since coming on and he scored a great goal 28 minutes into the half. He picked the ball up just outside the 18 yard box and slammed home low into the net. 3-4.

On 34 minutes Insch had the chance to kill the game off. Dowbekin drove into the box, but took it too far to the right to get a shot away. He, instead, sent the ball across the face of the goal to find Insch at the back post but his effort went just wide.

Postal did kill the game with only a minute left when a throw in down the left found Law in the box. He passed to Dowbekin who fired home from about 12 yards out. Postal into the next round. 3-5.

Overall a game of two halves. Kemnay Youth did well in the opening period (particularly the impressive number 9 up top) with Postal looking unsettled at the back. Second half, Postal got stronger and stronger as the game went on and deservedly won the tie. The Postal resolve to come-back from two down today is also worth mentioning. If last week’s attitude was unacceptable, today was a 100% turn around. Attitude and commitment to each other, across the whole squad, was excellent. Well done.