Winning Return For Disabilty Footballers

Next up were Stirling City, Annan kicked off and were in no mood to mess around with Carl and Duffy controlling the midfield well and pushing forward at every opportunity they could. This made it very difficult for Stirling to get a foot hold in the game with the midfield boys combining well with the front boys and it was a great ball through to Paul who made short work of dispatching it to open the scoring. The boys now had their tails up and a good knock in from a corner seen Duffy side foot the ball into the goals to make it two nil. With time slipping away and Stirling kicking off Annan worked really hard to win the ball back  and within seconds Duffy made a run straight at the heart of the defence and with the keeper unsighted he bent the ball round the defenders and made it three. It was a great goal and great finish to the game from the team.

Moving on to the Spartans and the lads were really firing on all cylinders now taking total control of the game from the kick off. Passing the ball around well and with great movement off the ball Duffy put Annan ahead after a well controlled passage. Before long it was  2-0 after a great ball through to Paul who scored with a first time strike. Spartans had real trouble keeping the ball and with Jason and Joseph keeping the defence tightly closed they continued to feed the midfield eith some great through ball’s. The boys all wanted on the score sheet and with a great midfield Messi Carl found himself within shooting range and let fly to make it three nil. A little complacency creeped in and from a great through ball Spartans went down the wing and with two on one against the keeper there could only be one outcome and it was three on. Annan kicked off and they pushed forward quickly caching Spartans unaware and the ball landed with big Alder who was well out but only had one thing on his mind and with one of his well know strikes  (not many can hit a ball sweeter) he made it four one.

The lads then had a quick lunch and it was back onto Stirling City again, only this time Stirling had made a good few changes and were a totally different kettle of fish. They started well and had some great shots on goal with Robert making a good number of saves. Annan can give as good as they get, so they pushed up and passed the ball around well in midfield. Carl, Duffy and Paul all linked up well and Duffy moved into a great position just short of the six yard box, the ball was knocked into him and he sank it to make it one nil. Stirling pushed hard but with Joseph and Jason standing strong and keeping them out it was not long before Annan had a second chance but as the ball flighted in the Stirling defender put a hand up to stop the ball and it was a penalty. The Ref placed the ball on the spot and captain Duffy instructed big Alder to step up, the big man gave the ball a proper smack into the left hand bottom corner and it was two nil. Off the big man went on a celebration run,  we still don’t know where he was going but for a min we thought he was going back to Galabank to celebrate the goal. Annan had to make sure Stirling could not get back into the game and they played a great defensive game keeping Stirling out and passing the ball around midfield till the final whistle.

Final game of the day was with Blantyre and a team that is raising a few eyebrows in the League 1, given the number of championship boys playing in the side. Anyway this was a really hard game for the boys and they got stuck in working really hard for the team. Duffy had a blinder of a game chasing down every ball and Paul never shirkex a tackle, they got the sleeves rolled up and pushed as hard as they could but with five lads that should be in the championship playing against you it makes it very difficult. That said Annan had a good number of chances and but for few miss kicks and some efforts off target shots they would have taken the lead. All the lads played a blinder in this game with everyone chasing up and down the park (very proud of the lads) but unfortunately with two min left on the clock Blantyre managed to slip one in. It was a well worked goal but not easy for the boys to take as it was against the run of play. The lads kept pushing on but just didn’t happen for them as the final whistle went.

A great day of football was had by all and well done to the lads. Goalie Robert, Jason and Joseph in defence, midfield duo of Carl and Duffy, front men James and Paul and the other lads who played in various positions during the day. Jack, Chris and Darrell all performed well and everyone gave one hundred percent. Next round is on the 19th April, bring it on