Redhall dig deep and fight back to overcome Cramond

An emphatic 9-2 victory on the opening day had the home side in confident spirits ahead of the Division Four clash, but visitors Cramond proved to be no pushover as they sailed into a 2-0 lead at the break.

However, a resurgent second-half performance had Redhall coach Gavin Millar commending his team’s efforts at full-time. He said: “I thought we were the better team throughout the game, but I didn’t think the goal was ever going to come. As soon as we scored though, it changed the game.”

Against the run of play, Cramond took the lead on the 20-minute mark. Brodie McDiarmid’s expert delivery was met by Jamie Jennings who guided a terrific header into the bottom right corner to put his side one to the good.

Cramond then doubled their advantage five minutes before the break. The trickery of McDiarmid proved too much for the Redhall defence and he broke free into the box and rifled a low-driven shot into the bottom corner giving Ryan Green no chance in goal.

Ryan Greig did pull a goal back ten minutes into the second half. Great play on the left-wing from Blair Salvona created the opportunity for Greig to smash the ball into the back of the net from ten yards.

With the momentum now in Redhall’s favour, they pushed and pressed their opponents back and duly levelled the game after being awarded a penalty.

Robertson advanced into the area and with three defenders around the No. 12, he appeared to be caught by a trailing leg resulting in referee Gordon Bain pointing to the spot.

Nathan Robertson took the spot-kick himself and was lucky to see the ball cross the line as Forsyth had almost done enough to keep it from going over.

Two minutes later, Redhall completed their comeback. Salvona broke free on the left and his effort on target wasn’t dealt with efficiently by Forsyth, who could only palm the midfielder’s shot into the path of Lorenzo Parente, who had the simplest of tasks in knocking the ball into the net.

Redhall’s tally became four with seven minutes remaining when Forsyth’s clearance went straight to Robertson and he needed little encouragement as he struck a hard shot into the corner for his second of the match.

Adam Robertson perhaps should have added a fifth in the dying minutes when he found himself through on goal, but Forsyth maintained his composure and stood up to the challenge in turning the ball behind for a corner.

Cramond’s Sean Harris couldn’t fault his side’s commitment, but felt the better team gained all three points.

He said: “That’s only our  second 11-a-side game so we’re really pleased and I think it was a fair result. We don’t mind where we finish in the league, as long as the boys do their best and work hard then we’ll be happy.”

Redhall Star Youth: Ryan Green, Mark Daniel Hannah, Liam McClune, Jack Anderson, Andrew Gordon Dixon, Ross Graham, Blair Salvona, Max Dumayne, Lorenzo Parente, Ryan Greig, Dean Geddes, Nathan Robertson, Lloyd Gauld, Adam Robertson, Daniel Allison.

Cramond FC: Charlie Forsyth, Jamie Harris, Scott Allen, Cameron Boath, Matthew McKinley, Kesar Hassan, Charlie Cumming, Kyle Cranston, Alfie Torbet, Brodie McDiarmid, Jamie Jennings, Scott Russell, James Henderson, Reece Blyth.