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Undoubtedly one of the best matches of the season at
Ferguson
Park
took place with the visit of Spartans. Welfare were
smarting from two heavy defeats in the first half of
the season and were immediately on the offensive
with Brown forced to save at the feet of Shanks in
the opening minutes.
After twelve minutes Young sent Hogg through on goal
but a crisp challenge halted him only for the ball
to break to McDonald and
his shot was deflected over the bar off the keeper’s
legs.
The game was only 15 minutes old when
Clyde
was forced to go off with an ankle injury and he was
replaced by Ross Johnston. Within a couple of
minutes of the enforced change Welfare carved out
another chance when McDonald raced in on a Seeley
passback which was short . He beat the keeper to the
ball but with the angle too tight to try a shot, he
worked the ball out to Young only for his weak
effort to give the keeper no trouble.
Manson was looking lively for Spartans and forced
McGurk into a save for the first time in the match.
Welfare were forced into another change when Shanks
limped off to be replaced by Baigrie. Another chance
came Welfare’s way when Young flicked a superb ball
into McDonald but the striker’s shot was weak and
wide of the mark.
Spartans were coming more into the game and a well
struck shot from Manson forced McGurk to save with
his legs at his right hand post at the expense of a
corner.
On the half hour mark another chance went a begging
when Young and McDonald combined well to set up
Whyte inside the box only for a weak effort which
went straight at Brown.
Spartans then enjoyed a period of possession and put
in some dangerous cross balls which the Welfare
defence coped with easily where Murray Hunter was a
tower of strength mopping up everything.
Welfare eventually broke the deadlock in the 39th
minute. Hogg set up Birrell for a shot from a Lee
throw-in but the shot went astray. McDonald chased
the ball wide and sent in a dangerous cross to
Whyte
inside the six-yard box and a glancing header beat
Brown on his right-hand post. It was no less than
Welfare deserved after their earlier pressure.
The second half began with an early booking for
Young who did not retreat after a free-kick award.
Welfare kept pushing with Baigrie and Birrell
working a hard shift in the middle and Whyte and
Hogg both had chances to score. Lee was then forced
to clear off the line as Spartans pushed up and
Welfare replied with Birrell shooting over after a
nice one-two with Baigrie.
Spartans continued to look menacing when they came
forward and equalised with just under 20 minutes to
play. Manson flicked the ball on and Hunter and
Mitchell collided as they went for the ball. It
broke into the path of
McLeod,
who kept his composure to slide the ball into
McGurk’s bottom right corner.
Welfare had chances to go ahead in the last quarter
with McDonald and Hogg seeing goal-bound shots
charged down. Then McDonald sent in a powerfully
struck shot which went straight at the keeper and
Young scooped the ball over from six yards as it
failed to fall properly into his path. Welfare could
and should have won this one and their play
certainly merited more than the point they
deservedly took.
Whitehill
Welfare:
McGurk, Hunter, Lee, Clyde, Jamieson, Shanks, Young,
Birrell, McDonald, Hogg, Whyte. Subs: Baigrie,
Johnston, Curran, Faichney.
Above:
Darren Whyte
about to hit a weak shot which Brown saved easily.
Above:
Better luck for Daren Whyte with a superb glancing
header to open the scoring against Spartans.
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