Station turn game around as Dalkeith are shell-shocked

Published on Tuesday 18 August 2009 09:41

UPHALL STATION plundered four goals in 11 frantic second-half minutes to overturn Dalkeith Thistle 5-2 in the season-opening Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA Premier Division 1 game at Iron Mills Park, Dalkeith.

Station were bemused to find themselves 2-1 down at the interval having enjoyed the better of the first half against their hosts, but emerged for the second period in rampant form to clock up an unassailable lead.

Steve Clark, the Uphall head coach, praised the turnaround in attitude by his team and identified 40-year-old striker Ally Innes, who bagged two goals, as a standout performer.

He said: "I told them at half-time where I thought they were going wrong. We were giving Dalkeith too much time on the ball, and I said to my boys to keep it simple. Their workrate had to be better, and they certainly delivered in the second half!

"I'm happy for Ally – he's just back in football and managed to score two and played very well.

"We'll take each game as it comes this year after working hard to avoid relegation last season."

Judging by this display, Uphall will be looking to establish themselves higher up the table but must eradicate the sloppiness in defence that allowed Thistle to twice take the lead in the opening 35 minutes.

On 19 minutes, Rory Mair drove home an emphatic finish from close range to punish Station for slack marking, but just over ten minutes later it was all level.

Station's Gary White sent a teasing ball down the right flank for veteran forward Innes to chase, and the number ten instinctively found the net from nigh on the touchline with home goalkeeper Stuart Duncan leaving his near post badly exposed.

Just when it looked as though Uphall were impressing their authority on the game, Thistle had goalscoring ideas above their Station counterparts.

There was a hint of handball in the centre circle as Dalkeith initiated their forward surge, but Paul Walkingshaw was the quickest to react once the lofted ball reached the penalty area and he made the finish look easy.

Chris Wright almost stretched the hosts' lead shortly before the interval but his strike cannoned off the post after Paul McDermott's eye-catching killer pass on the turn from midfield. Whether it was a sense of injustice from the build-up to Dalkeith's second goal, an inspirational team talk by Steve Clark, or the magical powers of the half-time refreshments, Uphall took to the field invigorated and with a sense of urgency for the second 45.

There was no stopping them once they had obliterated Dalkeith's 2-1 advantage and built a 3-2 lead of their own within 60 seconds of the restart. George McGreagor executed a perfectly-timed jump to head Station level on 46 minutes, then a long punt by the visitors' goalkeeper Steven Vannet was followed by an inviting cross by Bamba Jobarteh and Innes bundled in.

Station had Dalkeith shellshocked and went on to add a fourth and fifth, the final goal of the game arriving as early as the 56th minute. Chris Norris showed admirable skill and persistence on the left wing before squaring to Lee Cruickshanks who, from 12 yards, drilled the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.

The piece de resistance came when, out of nothing, White arrowed a rasping drive from fully 40 yards into the top right-hand corner past a despairing Duncan.

With three goals the difference Thistle were a beaten side and wearily played out the remaining 34 minutes which must have seemed, in the words of one articulate gentleman on the sidelines, "as slow as a week in the jail".

Dalkeith Thistle: Stuart Duncan, Gareth Brown, Darren Combe, Darren Stewart, John Cooper, Scott Craft, Neil Herbert, Paul Walkingshaw, Rory Mair, Paul McDermott, Chris Wight, Craig McIntosh, James Henderson, Michael Laing, Laurie Flynn, Brian Mair.

Uphall Station: Steven Vannet, Derrick Drumond, George McGreagor, Charles Wright, Vasice Iftode, Gary White, Lee Cruickshanks, Bamba Jobarteh, Alister Innes, Chris Norris, Gary Martin, Kevin McGee.