Spurs beat Scalloway in Bloomfield Cup final as season winds down
ONLY one match remains in this season’s senior football programme, with Whalsay taking on Unst at Symbister tomorrow afternoon. In last Friday’s match Spurs defeated Ness United to leapfrog Celtic into third place, the club’s highest finish for some years.
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Delting 4, Ness United 0
With Ness travelling to Brae last Wednesday missing several key players, getting any kind of result was always going to be a tough ask.
Despite their makeshift line-up the Ness players acquitted themselves well in the first 20 minutes, defending well when called upon.
Delting knew that they only needed to secure victory to win the league and, at times it seemed that there were signs of nervousness. With Alan Duncan driving the midfield, they created several early chances but couldn’t take them. The breakthrough eventually came after 25 minutes when good build-up play ended with Peter Peterson striking the ball into the bottom right hand corner.
Fraser Hall then added to his already impressive haul of goals before half time, connecting well with a cross from the right. The second half was very much dominated by the home side, with Ness being unable to get out of their own half.
Good defending by Iain Smith and John Rosie in the middle of the Ness defence and a couple of excellent saves by Duncan Flaws in the Ness goals kept the score down. However, when a Leighton Flaws 30-yard shot squirmed under the Ness keeper’s grasp, they must have realised that this wouldn’t be their night. With the wind at their backs, Delting grabbed a fourth goal late on when Stuart Lavender turned in a clever knock back from Martin Binns.
In accepting the league trophy from Shetland Football Association president Magnus Flaws, Alan Duncan expressed his delight at winning the club’s seventh title in a row, pointing out the fact that with so many injuries this season, it had been a great achievement from the whole squad of players.
Thistle 2, Whalsay 2
Both teams were missing key players for this end-of-season encounter on a breezy night at South Clickimin.
Thistle played with wind advantage in the first half but it was Whalsay who almost opened the scoring in the first minute when Lawrence Pearson ran through, rounded Steven Henry in the home goals but blazed his shot over the bar.
Playing with the wind proved little advantage to either side as the ball carried through to the repective keepers or over the byline for a goal kick.
Thistle opened the scoring when a well flighted corner from Khalid Rasul was nodded home by Craig Gerty after 28 minutes.
Whalsay levelled the scores minutes later when Pearson put in a cross from the right and young Stuart Goodlad knocked the ball home from close range.
The home side regained the lead when Richard Manson’s shot from distance went in off the post.
The second half saw Whalsay dominate territorially but Thistle defended well, restricting the vistors to long range efforts from Pearson in particular, but most were wide of the target.
The home side conjured up a few dangerous breaks with Stuart Smith troubling the visiting defence down the left. Whalsay equalised in the 75th minute when the ball fell kindly for Gary Sandison around the six-yard box and he despatched it into the corner.
Both sides pressed for a winner in the closing minutes but neither was able to create a clear chance and overall a draw was about the right result.
Spurs 2, Celtic 7
Celtic ran out comfortable winners last Wednesday despite the whites staging a comeback from two goals down that had hoops rocking on their heels for 10 minutes.
Celtic dominated the first half, were sharper in the tackle, crisper with their passes and generally on top. Spurs squandered three good chances to take the lead before Lowrie Simpson put Celtic ahead before the break, showing customary good feet and finishing skill to strike home from six yards.
Dominic Mann put the hoops two up before the comeback. Connel Grisham fired Spurs back into the game and Ally Graham squared things as the visitors’ rearguard looked to have been shaken to the foundations.
However, the Spurs flurry only served to galvanise the Celtic side into action and the went on to overcome Spurs with a further five goals.
Simpson completed his hat trick in style to earn the sponsors’ liquid prize for the season, Mann got a second, Paul Leask scored his standard six yard box tap-in (you’ve got to be there to take the chances) and young Connor Regan scored the goal of the game by waltzing from the halfway line past several challenges before coolly slipping the ball past Kyle Duncan in the Spurs goal.
Spurs 5, Ness United 0
No scorers or report was received.
Bloomfield Cup (final)
Spurs 3, Scalloway 0
With Spurs and Scalloway beating Delting and Whalsay respectively in the semi-finals is was up to them to fight it out for the Bloomfield Cup.
The match started nervously for both sides but Spurs settled the quicker, even with top scorer Adam Sharp having to depart injured in the first five minutes.
With Spurs dominating the first half with a number of attempts on goal and numerous corners they still couldn’t find the breakthrough, thanks to some ruthless defending from Scalloway.
Spurs ended the half on a negative note with midfield dynamo Tommy Walterson, who was having a lively match, stretchered off due to a pulled hamstring.
Half time came and it was time for both teams to regroup.
Scalloway started the second half the better and made a couple of chances but couldn’t convert them. This drove Spurs on, only for them to be forced into using their final substitute early with manager Jamie Robertson coming off injured.
The match was starting to fizzle out a bit until goal machine Connel Gresham grabbed a quickfire double, the second a delightful chip over the stranded Scalloway keeper.
Scalloway tried to respond but to no avail and were killed off with a Tony Yeboah-esque rocket in off the upright from Alan Page.
Spurs captain Stuart Jamieson lifted the Bloomfield Cup aloft, the man of the match was his son Shane, and credit must go to Scalloway for making it a fiery final.
