Maccabi A #O45 vs The Gentlemen of Dunbar #GODs – the day the wheels came off

It was always going to be a tight contest. They got their first goal early on from a corner, their second from a well struck free kick that one of their players deflected up and over Jason, with his head . It had all been pretty even and the two goal lead flattered them. We kept our composure, really started disrupting and winning the midfield, pushing their defense deeper. We got our reward with a lovely goal just before half time; a ball floated into the box met by Richard who steered it over their keeper with his head, a really well timed run and finish.

In the second half we were playing up the slope. The competition in midfield became very intense with a few ott challenges and some retaliation going unpunished. Maccabi sat a bit deeper tried to hit us quickly on the break but we were dealing with everything they tried; we defended well from open play throughout. We created enough chances in the second half but it wasn’t to be. Their keeper made two good saves to deny us. The second, a full length dive low to his right was superb. With five minutes to play the referee pointed to the penalty spot when Graham went down in the box ….. then changed his decision to a corner.

A corner and a free kick in the first 15 minutes was our undoing but we stuck to the task and gave it everything.

Thinking back over the season this game wasn’t really where we missed out on the runners-up spot, it goes back to the start of the season. Before we’d sorted out our most effective shape, we lost the opening two games to sides who’ve finished down the table. After that we pushed on and became a very strong side.

It’s a shame it had to end yesterday but this time next year ………

Can’t wait.