Yell record a rare win as Delting and Whitedale forge ahead
Delting and Whitedale have moved joint top of senior football’s G&S Flooring Premier League, both teams taking maximum points from their opening four games.
Delting came from behind to defeat Whalsay last Friday, then thrashed Yell on Monday, while Whitedale won against both Unst and Scalloway.
Elsewhere Yell recorded their first league victory for some time with a home triumph over struggling Scalloway, Ness put on an impressive performance to inflict more misery on Thistle’s poor start to the season, and Spurs did well to defeat Celtic and take a point from Whalsay.
G&S Flooring Premier League
Whitedale 8, Unst 1
Paul Molloy opened the scoring for Whitedale in the eighth minute after clearance from a corner hit the striker and ended up in the net. Two minutes later a long throw from Duncan Anderson was flicked on by Kevin Nicolson to Molloy who scored his second.
Whitedale kept up the pressure with Kevin Nicolson heading the ball across goal to find Jamie Wilson who made it three.
Unst pulled one back when good move down the left involving David Thomson resulted in Davie MacMillan scoring with an easy tap in.
That lifted Unst and the remainder of the half they played their best football of the game. With three minutes of the half remaining, however, a great ball into the box by John Moncrieff found Molloy who scored his hat trick.
The second half saw Wilson score in the 54th and 57th minutes for his own hat trick. Then Malloy, who had been causing problems all night, added another two goals to his tally, his fast feet and pace proving to be a handful on the night for the Unst defenders.
Unst created two good chances late on with David Thomson’s shot forcing keeper Martin Young to make a fine save, diving to his right. Shortly afterwards Matthew Mouat had only the keeper to beat but his strike missed the target.
It was a convincing, all-round performance from Whitedale and besides the scorers Martin Clark and Jon Moncrieff put in good shifts. Best for Unst was the talented David Thomson.
Yell 3, Scalloway 2
Yell started off quickly, determined to continue their improvement since the Ness game, and were unlucky not to take the lead after 10 minutes when Neil Petrie was allowed space outside the box only to see his volley touched on to the post by the Scalloway keeper. This was Petrie’s last piece of action before being substituted with a groin injury.
Both teams were playing some good football and making decent chances. Yell were the first to strike in the 28th minute when Michael Nisbet placed a perfectly weighted through ball to Brian Henderson who blasted home.
Scalloway pushed for an equaliser before half time and got just that when Danny Moncrieff cut in from the left to finish past the Yell keeper.
Both teams started the second half with more good passing play and plenty of chances. On the hour mark and for the third time of asking Lee Jamieson rounded the keeper to put Yell back into the lead.
Scalloway piled on the pressure and equalised again in the 79th minute when a free kick was partially cleared to the edge of the box and Alan Davidson fired a half volley into the top corner.
As both teams looked for the winner and legs began to tire chances were a plenty. In the 88th minute Yell found space in midfield and another through pass to Jack Jamieson saw him bear down on goal and he finished calmly to give Yell the three points.
Scalloway had a succession of corners in injury time and if it had not been for some excellent defending from Danny Peterson and a fine save from Matthew Saunders they may have scored.
Delting 3, Whalsay 2
There was a strong wind blowing the length of the Brae park which Whalsay had the benefit of in the first half, and using that to their advantage they opened the scoring. A cross came in from the right and Bryan Irvine headed past the stranded goalkeeper. Just before half time the Delting defence failed to clear a ball and Keith Pearson capitalised by rifling a low shot into the net, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead at the break.
Delting started the second half in determined mood and almost straight from the kick-off they pulled a goal back through Leighton Flaws when his long range shot squirmed from the keeper’s grasp and crossed the line.
Three minutes later Delting found themselves level. Flaws sent a long throw into the penalty area and Peter Peterson stole in at the back post to side foot the ball into the open goal.
Delting were rampant at this stage and Stuart Lavender came close to adding to the score but was thwarted by Grant Thomson in the Whalsay goal. However, Delting were not to be denied when Ross MacDougal was tripped by Colin Leask and from the resultant penalty Flaws made it 3-2.
Delting controlled the rest of the game and could have increased their goal tally but for resolute defending from Whalsay.
Spurs 5, Celtic 1
Spurs started by moving the ball well around the pitch and made the breakthrough after a good run from James Johnston ended in a neat cutback for Alan Page to smash home.
The lead was increased after 15 minutes when a few neat passes ended in a nice through ball again from Johnston which was latched on to by Sam Goudie who beat on rushing goalie Paul Grant by firing home at the post.
Celtic looked neat going forward with youngsters Grant Wood and James Aitken producing mazy runs and pulled one back when Lewis Kay unavoidably put in his own net due to consistent pressure from Robert Smith.
Spurs again started the second half the faster but it was Celtic who had the first chance. From a long ball Daniel Johnston found himself through but a great Kyle Duncan save kept Spurs 2-1 ahead.
Almost straight away Spurs increased the lead when Connell Gresham’s shot was blocked and fell to Johnston on the edge of the edge of the box to slot home on the half volley.
Spurs were now in control and soon scored again with the best goal of the match with great passing down the left hand side ended in Gresham hitting a pitching wedge-esque effort over the keeper coming out to block.
It was soon five with a corner from the right being left to bounce and Josie Kay hit a volley into the right corner. Best on the night for Spurs was Johnston with Gresham having a decent game after being introduced at half time. Celtic can take heart from decent performances from juniors Aitken, Johnston and Connor Regan.
Scalloway 1, Whitedale 3
Whitedale arrived at the Fraser Park minus a couple of first team regulars to face a Scalloway side whose start of season injury list is well into double figures.
The game started at a frantic pace as both teams looked to gain the upper hand and it was Whitedale who created the first opportunity when Paul Molloy burst through on goal only to be denied by keeper Bryan Johnson.
Molloy passed up another good opportunity after picking up a misplaced defensive pass but he opened the scoring minutes later after outpacing the defence.
In the second half Whitedale made a dream start when the Scalloway defence failed to deal with a long throw and Duncan Anderson fired the ball into the net.
Scalloway dragged themselves back into the game when David Sjoberg picked out Steven Umphray with a free kick and the midfielder headed the ball inside the far post. Umphray almost found an equaliser when he picked up an Aaron Leask pass but his shot found the wrong side of the post.
With Scalloway pushing for an equaliser Whitedale always looked dangerous on the break and restored their two-goal advantage in controversial circumstances. A long ball over the top of the Scalloway defence was picked up by defender Magnus Henry who was left in a heap after what appeared like a push.
As the Scalloway defence claimed for the foul John Rutherford picked up the ball and ran through on goal before coolly lifting the ball over the keeper and into the net.
Whitedale deserved their win with Molloy the stand-out player although Anderson also impressed in midfield. For the home team Umphray had an outstanding game and led by example and Kevin Sinclair also deserves mention after a determined defensive display despite carrying an injury.
Delting 11, Yell 1
Although the away team started brightly, drawing level with Delting early in the first half, Delting had a 3-1 lead at the break. Delting totally dominated the second half as the away team tired and ran in another eight goals.
Scorers for Delting were Ross MacDougal (5), Leighton Flaws (3), Stuart Lavender (2) and Merv Jamieson while Jack Jamieson was on target for Yell.
Thistle 2, Ness United 5
This match started evenly with both sides finding it difficult to adapt to the gusty wind and wet pitch. Ness took the lead in 29 minutes when Thistle defender Gary Teale’s mistimed clearance sailed over Steven Henry in the home goals.
Thistle then had their best spell of the game, putting Ness under real pressure, and Craig Gerty showed great composure by picking up the ball on the edge of the area and beating two defenders before slotting the ball home.
Last-gasp clearances in the goalmouth denied Neil Riddell and then Tommy Walterson from putting the home team in front, while a Ness defender sliced against his own crossbar.
Just on half time another defensive blunder set up Grant Redfern to lob the ball home from the edge of the box and give Ness the half-time advantage.
Thistle almost equalised in the first minute of the second half when Ness struggled to clear a Scott Morrison corner. But the game was decided around the hour mark when Thistle failed to clear a corner and Kieran Malcolmson’s shot took a wicked deflection past Henry.
Redfern got his second minutes later, finishing off a good move by the visitors as the home team’s resolve appeared to disintegrate.
Thistle’s defensive woes were completed when substitute Richard Manson attempted a back pass to a defender and only succeeded in playing in Kevin Smith to make it five.
Gerty scored his second from close range in 75 minutes after a good Morrison cross and from then on the home side had a lot of possession and territory but could not find a way through a resolute Ness defence, while the visitors could easily have added to their tally at the other end.
Ness deserved their victory for the commitment and sharpness they showed, while Thistle will need to improve greatly as a defensive unit if their fortunes are to improve this season.
Unst 1, Celtic 6
The wild and windy conditions dictated which half of the pitch saw the most action in a blustery encounter in Unst.
Celtic made the most of the wind advantage and punished an Unst side who failed to find the back of the net until late on.
Unst played with the conditions in the first half though never capitalised and sent several chances wide of the target and over the bar. A lack of composure in the final third and some snatched chances didn’t test the Celtic keeper enough when the conditions should have made the difference.
Celtic eventually broke the deadlock when indecision in the Unst box resulted in Justin Watson firing home from close range.
Celtic came out in the second half and immediately began to take control. A long punt up field was pounced on by Jordan Webb who stroked the ball home with a neat finish.
Celtic then seemed to score with each foray in the opposition’s half with Webb scoring four more.
Paul Henderson was the man on target for Unst.
Spurs 1, Whalsay 1
The game was only 10 minutes old when referee Ivan Sinclair brandished yellow cards for Shane Jamieson and Ian Simpson following a challenge and subsequent wrestle on the right wing.
That set the tone for a very combative match but one that was played in a fair spirit with plenty of quality on show.
In the 15th minutes the ball was sprayed from right to left through Josie Kay and James Johnston and found its way to Sam Ward who turned neatly inside to slip in Alan Page but his driven shot into the net was chalked off as the striker had strayed in to an offside position.
It was one-way traffic as Spurs continued to dominate possession and Connell Gresham tested Whalsay keeper Grant Thomson from 20 yards and then Ward sent a curling shot just over the bar.
Spurs got the breakthrough in the 25th minute when Gresham broke clear and beat the onrushing Thomson from 12 yards, no more than Spurs deserved.
Whalsay then created chances themselves. First a diagonal ball was deftly controlled by Laurence Pearson in the box but his stretching shot at goal sailed over. Minutes later Bryan Irvine pounced on to a reverse pass from Keith Pearson but keeper Kyle Duncan smothered the ball with his feet despite calls for a penalty from the Whalsay players.
It seemed Spurs had weathered the storm but with injury time being played Pearson’s high ball from the touchline clipped the crossbar and landed at Ian Simpson who spun quickly to fire a left foot volley high in to the net.
The second half saw chances for both teams to get the winner, notably Pearson for Whalsay and Jamieson, Gresham and substitute Sam Goudie for Spurs. But excellent defending from Spurs’ Gregor Manson and young Stuart Goodlad for Whalsay denied what looked like scoring chances.
Top scorers Premier League top scorers: Ross MacDougal (Delting) 10; Paul Malloy (Whitedale) 9; Jamie Wilson (Whitedale) 5; Jordan Webb (Celtic) 5; Leighton Flaws (Delting) 5.
Shetland Chiropractic Reserve League
Delting 1, Celtic 3
Delting took a deserved lead with a well taken goal from Robert Balfour but Celtic equalised through Davie Reynolds. In the second half Jordan Webb scored twice to give the visitors full points.
Scalloway 4, Spurs 3
Spurs had an excellent start and scored twice courtesy of a Torneil Halvorsen penalty and Adam Sharp.
Scalloway pulled level with Sean McCaffrey scoring from the spot and David Sjoberg making it 2-2 against the run of play. As half time approached Spurs got a deserved lead when a superb Danny Finnie shot.
The home team started the second half well and were back on level terms after McCaffrey’s driven cross was thumped into the net by substitute Scott Henderson. Henderson was on hand to score an almost identical goal midway through the half after brother Keith broke down the wing before setting up the prolific youngster.
Thistle 0, Whalsay 2
Whalsay took the lead when a hopeful ball downfield was controlled brilliantly on the thigh by John-Henry Pearson who tucked a left-footed shot into the far corner. The islanders got a second goal on the hour mark.
Whitedale 6, Ness United 3
Whitedale netted six through John Rutherford (2), Marcus Pitt, Ryan Jozwik, Piotr Drozdowski and an own goal. Ness replied with Sean Grogan netting twice, one from the penalty spot, and Martin Henderson also finding the net.
