It was a delightful day at the KG Stadium for Buffs fans as they seen their side run out 1-5 winners against opposition Blantyre Victoria in matchday 7 of the WOSFL First Division.
For the second week in a row The Buffs started the game on fire and were rewarded when Blair Macintyre opened his account for the season with a goal within the first couple minutes. A nice passage of play from The Buffs led to Eva Bembo playing a one-two with Cammy Kerr which set Eva in behind, Eva then played a driven ball across the box that Blair Macintyre managed to slide in and get a toe on it to direct the ball into the bottom left corner. A few minutes later it was once again Eva Bembo causing trouble in the Blantyre defence after he managed to get to the by-line and beat his man before firing a shot on target from a tight angle, unfortunately for Eva the goalkeeper managed to stick a foot out to save the goal bound effort. More great football from The Buffs allowed Conor Mclaughlin to receive the ball, about 30 yards from goal, who drove into the space in front of him before taking aim at the Blantyre goal, but his shot just missed the target. Blair Macintyre continued the siege on the Blantyre goal with another long-range effort that was brilliantly tipped onto the crossbar by the opposition number 1. The home side looked a bit shell-shocked in the early exchanges and it was only going to get worse for them when Eva Bembo played another give and go with Cammy Kerr which left Eva bearing down on goal, Eva missed his first effort but made no mistake with the rebound to extend Buffs’ lead in the match to 2. Bryan Boylan had a chance to make it comfortable for the Buffs with not long left in the half, but his left footed shot went well over the bar after Cammy Kerr manged to squeeze the ball through to him in the box. Right on half time Blantyre had their first chance of the game, and what a chance it was. The ball was whipped in towards the back post from a corner where the opposition player rose the highest and his header back across goal looked destined for the net, but Campbell Mclean managed to get his head onto it to clear it off the line. The hosts were very fortunate to be going into half time only 2 behind after numerous missed Buffs chances but Kevin Kelly would’ve just been asking for more of the same from his side to ensure more goals would come in the second 45.
The home side came out into the second half very well pressing high in the opening minutes and were rewarded for their energetic press when they won the ball in the middle of the park before making there way into the box and cutting back to the striker who hit the post from very close range. However, it wasn’t long before The Buffs began to retake control of the game and when Blair Macintyre doubled his tally for the day it killed off any chances of a Blantyre comeback. Conor Mclaughlin played a lovely ball into the channel between the Blantyre left back and left centre back which Blair Macintyre made sure to get on the end of before jabbing the ball past the out-rushing goalkeeper. It wouldn’t be long until the Buffs fans were cheering again after a great passage of play allowed Boylan to whip a perfect cross onto the head of the diving Blair Macintyre to complete his first ever hat-trick in blue and white hoops. Eventually The Buffs scoring was rounded off after Eva Bembo got his brace with an excellent solo goal. Bembo beat his man on the left side of the box before hitting a brilliant shot across the goal which bounced in off the foot of the far post. Unfortunately for The Buffs they wouldn’t managed to close the game out with a clean sheet after 16-year-old, debutant, goalkeeper Dylan Brown got unlucky with a clearance that bounced off the pressing Blantyre forward into the back of the net. There was nothing much to write home about during the final 10 minutes of the match as The Buffs seemed to settle for the 1-5 scoreline that was thoroughly deserved.
It was a near perfect performance from The Buffs at The KG Stadium which Kevin Kelly will be delighted with after seeing his side play some brilliant football on what was a fairly challenging surface. A special mention for Dylan Brown, Declan MacFayden and Cammy Kerr who all made their first starts of the season and looked very comfortable, putting in some complete performances on the day.
