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Tonight’s focus was on the Glasgow Cup. The one remaining fixture in Group A was between Colin Berry and John Halpin. To qualify Halpin needed to win whilst Berry needed only a draw. This was a close fought match which swung back and forth. At half-time the players were locked at 1-1 but it was Halpin who edged the second half and qualified with a 3-2 win. The quarter final line-up was therefore:

Lees	v	R McKenzie
Fleming	v	Bari
Gladman	v	Houston
Halpin	v	Burns

The first two matches were played. Malcolm Lees powered past Ronnie McKenzie with an emphatic 4-0 victory. The other tie between Willie Fleming and Baver Bari was a much tighter match which was decided in the first half when a weak Fleming shot deceived the Bari keeper and found the corner of the net. After this, few decent chances were created by either player as the game was fought out in midfield. But, since he had the lead this suited Fleming quite well.

Four league matches took place and in one Tom Burns title hopes took a knock. Colin Berry has made himself a very difficult opponent this season and tonight that was proved at Burns’ cost. It could have been worse as for Burns as he trailed Berry with only two minutes remaining. Burns did have the chances to win this match but it wasn’t to be. As a result Malcolm Lees can now overtake Burns by one point if he wins his two games in hand. Lees wasn’t expected to drop points in his match with John Mathieson and the final score of 4-0 suggests a comfortable win. Mathieson did play and compete well and the result was an improvement on his last Lees’ encounter.

John Mathieson’s only league victory this season was against Baver Bari and he was hoping for a repeat tonight. In an entertaining game Mathieson did lead but Bari came back with two goals to record his third league win.

Ronnie McKenzie has a number games to catch up in the league having played as many Glasgow Cup as league matches. Tonight he drew 2-2 with Dave Gladman. Gladman had far more shots on goal in the first half but could not find the net, most of his chances coming from wide angles. It was McKenzie, however, who took the lead just into the second half. It became a much more open game with Gladman no longer dominating the ball as he had in the first half. Twice McKenzie went ahead and twice he was pegged back.

Glasgow Cup

Group

Halpin

3

2

Berry

Quarter Finals

Lees	4	0	R McKenzie
Fleming	1	0	Bari

 

League

Burns	2	2	Berry
Mathieson	0	4	Lees
Gladman	2	2	R McKenzie
Bari	2	1	Mathieson

 

v

The single remaining game in Group B of the Glasgow Cup was played tonight. Not unexpectedly Tom Burns was victorious over Ronnie McKenzie. Burns pushed his number of goals scored in the group to 20 but McKenzie did manage two goals in reply. The 4 qualifiers are therefore Tom Burns, Dave Houston, Baver Bari and Ronnie McKenzie. With the seeding system in place Baver Bari will play Willie Fleming and Ronnie McKenzie will face Malcolm Lees. The others ties will be decided after the final game in Group A.

Ronnie McKenzie was to have better luck later, winning both the two league games he played. First was a close encounter against Baver Bari where the match was decided by a trundling McKenzie shot which deceived the Bari keeper. Second was a more comfortable victory over John Mathieson. These wins, his first points, took McKenzie off the bottom of the table. Having played only four games he still has a lot of catching up to do.

Although not picking up the points he would like, Mathieson has become much more competitive in his matches. Tonight he led John Halpin by a goal at half-time. Halpin had chances but couldn’t take them. Mathieson was unable to keep his lead, however, and two second half goals gave Halpin the points which take him back to third in the league.

Willie Fleming recorded only his second league victory by beating Dave Gladman 3-1, Gladman’s second loss in 14 matches. Fleming led 2-0 at half-time after being the fortunate beneficiary of a penalty right on the whistle. Gladman did score early in the second period but Fleming countered within a minute and ran out a worthy winner. It was his first victory over Gladman for 2 years.

Glasgow Cup

R McKenzie

2

5

Burns

 

League

Gladman	1	3	Fleming
Halpin	2	1	Mathieson
Bari	0	1	R McKenzie
R McKenzie	2	0	Mathieson

 

w

Six league matches took place this evening. In the absence of Malcolm Lees, Tom Burns was able to pull away at the top of the league. Burns is now 7 points clear with Lees having two games in hand. Burns wasn’t really tested in either of his matches, a 3-0 victory over John Mathieson and a 4-0 win over Dave Houston. Mathieson did offer some resistance and managed to hold at 1-0 until half-time. Two clean sheets for Burns although he has in fact conceded more goals than any of the top six players. Burns’ game, however, is about scoring goals.

Dave Houston, unlike Burns, is a player who is having great difficulty finding the net. His scoring average is only 0.2 goals per game or two goals in total. Admittedly tonight he had three tough matches against Burns, Barry Corr and Dave Gladman. Houston has constantly changed the figures he uses so perhaps he needs to stick with the same team. Choosing a modern team might also lead to an improvement in performance.

Before tonight Dave Gladman had only once this season conceded more than one goal in a league match. It was to happen again this evening and surprisingly, it was to John Mathieson. Gladman struggled to maintain possession in the game and went behind to two well-struck Mathieson goals. Gladman came back to level but could not find the winner. For Gladman it was a blow to his chances of finishing third and for Mathieson it was another marker in his progress.

Barry Corr improved his chances of making third spot with two victories, one over fellow contender John Halpin. The pair had drawn 1-1 in their previous encounter but this time Corr had a decisive win.

League

Houston	0	2	Corr
Burns	2	0	Mathieson
Corr	4	2	Halpin
Gladman	1	0	Houston
Mathieson	2	2	Gladman
Houston	0	4	Burns

 

Only five matches took place this evening, four in the league and one in the Glasgow Cup.

Malcolm Lees and Willie Fleming fought out a 1-1 draw in the Glasgow Cup. Lees took the lead in the second minute but never managed to build on that early advantage. Fleming also found it difficult to create good chances but did score the equaliser well into the second half. Lees is favourite to win the group but leads Fleming by a single point, each having one match to play.

In the league only one point separates Lees and Tom Burns. Burns moved three points closer to Lees tonight and he still has one game in hand. If we were to say that Burns lost five goals in two matches we might think it had been a disappointing night for him but in fact his goals scored tally was fourteen. Baver Bari was 4-1 down to Burns at half-time but was able to steady the ship a little in the second half eventually losing 5-2. But it was Burns match against Fleming that produced an incredible scoreline the like of which we haven’t seen since early GTSA days. Fleming’s team were in the colours of Partick Thistle but his goalkeeper was surely wearing Frank Haffey gloves. Nine times he had to retrieve the ball from the back of his net. We know that Burns likes to attack and shoot when he can and in this match his shooting boots were fitting perfectly. Burns’ attacking policy does leave him vulnerable in defence and ordinarily Fleming’s three goals would have been enough to win most matches. If Burns is scoring more than he is conceding then he won’t be too unhappy.

Fleming started the evening with a decent draw against Lees and they were to play again in the league and once more Lees led 1-0 at half time. But this time time Fleming resistance was broken with Lees adding three second half goals.

John Halpin and Dave Gladman lie third and fourth in the league but in this match neither could find the net. The first half was even but Halpin had the better opportunities in the second. Right at the end Halpin almost set up a winning chance but a fine last ditch block flick by Gladman prevented the shot. This was Gladman’s sixth 0-0 draw of the campaign.

Glasgow Cup

Fleming

1

1

Lees

League

Burns	5	2	Bari
Fleming	3	9	Burns
Gladman	0	0	Halpin
Lees	4	0	Fleming

 

 

The first club night of 2017 saw a good turn-out of players. Play focussed on the Glasgow Cup with 4 matches in Group A and 3 matches in Group B taking place. In Group A the pressure was on Willie Fleming who had lost his opening match against Dave Gladman. His opponents tonight, John Halpin and Colin Berry had both drawn with Fleming in their league encounters. Tonight, however, Fleming found fine form and gave notice that 2017 could be a good year for him with two 3-0 victories.

Colin Berry had better fortune against Malcolm Lees. Lees led 1-0 at half-time but he never managed to boss this match as his play was riddled with errors. Berry was compact in defence but he seldom was able to set up chances until late in the game when a deflected shot went high over the goalkeeper into the Lees net. It was a deserved draw for Berry. After Fleming’s two wins Lees was able to return to the top of Group A with a 2-0 win over Gladman. Both players had a similar number of chances but twice Lees was able to take advantage when Gladman couldn’t force a throw.

In Group B Baver Bari, Dave Houston and Ronnie McKenzie played a round robin with each player winning one and losing one. Houston started with a single goal victory over Bari but then lost by two to McKenzie. In the final match of the evening Bari and McKenzie were pitched against each other. Bari scored in the first half and kept the lead until mid-way through the second when McKenzie fired in the equaliser. It looked as if the match would finish in a draw but in the final minute McKenzie chose to block the ball instead of the man and Bari pounced. Bari’s scream of joy woke up several children in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Glasgow Cup

Group A

Fleming	3	0	Halpin
Berry	1	1	Lees
Berry	0	3	Fleming
Lees	2	0	Gladman

 

Group B

Houston	1	0	Bari
R McKenzie	2	0	Houston
Bari	2	1	R McKenzie

 

 

Fleming is back!

This was Willie Fleming’s first competitive night of the season. He began with a Glasgow Cup match and then played two league matches. The Glasgow Cup match was a Group A fixture against Dave Gladman. This was not a memorable match as both players struggled to create chances. Neither player ever really gained the upper hand but it was Gladman who sealed victory with a single second half goal when he took advantage of a large gap in the Fleming defence. Also in Group A, John Halpin took on Malcolm Lees. The last time the two players met Lees won 1-0 and that scoreline was repeated tonight. It was another close hard-fought match but it was Halpin who dominated possession and had most of the attack. He forced many corners but could not breach the Lees defence. Lees was always dangerous on the break and in one of those second half attacks Lees found the back of the Halpin net.

In Group B of the Glasgow Cup Dave Houston took on John Mathieson. In the league they had played out a 0-0 draw and in this game there weren’t many chances but it was Houston who at the third time of asking played a perfect ball out of defence into the opposition shooting area where he found the net with a fine shot. It was Houston’s first win of the season.

Willie Fleming made an unbeaten start to his league campaign managing four points from his two matches. Against Dave Houston it was Houston who scored the opener with a fine shot on the run. It was to take Fleming until the final minute to equalise and deny Houston a first league win of the season. Fleming didn’t have to wait long for his first win which was a 4-0 win over John Mathieson. Although Fleming was deserving of this win, Mathieson contributed to his own downfall with poor goalkeeper positioning.

League

Fleming	1	1	Houston
Mathieson	0	4	Fleming

Glasgow Cup

Gladman	1	0	Fleming
Lees	1	0	Halpin
Houston	1	0	Mathieson

 

 

 

 

Fraser McKenzie made his first appearance of the season tonight and had to play four consecutive fixtures. The first match couldn’t have been tougher – it was Malcolm Lees – but the scoreline of 0-2 was a decent result. In truth Lees should have scored more. He peppered the McKenzie goal in the first half but half-time came and still the scoreline was blank. McKenzie was to have more of the game in the second period but two early goals were enough for Lees. Next up for McKenzie was John Mathieson. This was an interesting encounter since Mathieson has been improving well and last week had defeated McKenzie senior. Both players chose a cautious approach but it was McKenzie who had most of the ball and who scored twice to win the game. Perhaps Mathieson should have committed more men forward, especially after going a goal behind but in the end it was a deserved victory for McKenzie.

John Halpin has had a good start to the season and must have been confident going into his match against Fraser McKenzie. But Halpin never really got going in this game. He didn’t look in any danger but neither did he have any cutting edge. It looked as if there were to be no goals but two minutes from the end of play McKenzie picked up a ball from distance and took Halpin’s keeper by surprise with the follow up shot. A draw would have been fair but it was a good bit of skill which won the game. It was quite a start to McKenzie’s game against Dave Gladman. Gladman scored in his first period of possession from the kick-off. McKenzie centred and straight away he was level at 1-1. A few minutes later and Gladman was ahead 2-1. Gladman couldn’t quite set up a shot and elected to force a throw. The ball took a wicked deflection and spun into the McKenzie net. Both players are not renowned for fast play but this game was proceeding at a fair pace. It was late into the second half before Gladman made the game safe and he was to make the score look more convincing than it really was with a last second fourth.

Ronnie McKenzie also played his first two league matches and was unfortunate that these were against Malcolm Lees and Tom Burns. McKenzie had a great start against Lees, taking the lead and then missing a good opportunity to go two ahead. Lees equalised before half-time but then found his shooting boots with four second half goals. Tom Burns then ensured that Lees’ league lead was no more than four points with a 4-0 victory over McKenzie. McKenzie will be relieved that his next few matches will not be so difficult.

Two Glasgow Cup matches were also played. In Group B Tom Burns notched his third win with a 3-1 defeat of John Mathieson whilst in Group A John Halpin and Dave Gladman fought out a draw. After a goal-less first half Halpin scored early in the second. But it was only a couple of minutes before Gladman drew level. There was no further scoring.

League

F McKenzie	0	2	Lees
R McKenzie	0	4	Burns
Mathieson	0	2	F McKenzie
Lees	5	1	R McKenzie
Halpin	0	1	F McKenzie
F McKenzie	1	4	Gladman

 

Glasgow Cup

Halpin	1	1	Gladman
Burns	3	1	Mathieson

 

Seven matches went ahead this evening, five in the league and two in the Glasgow Cup. It was the first appearance of the season for Ronnie McKenzie. He elected to play only in the Glasgow Cup where he was pitched against John Mathieson. It was a close match with McKenzie having most of the play. McKenzie did have the ball in the net but he hadn’t noticed a player lying in an offside position. McKenzie’s lack of match practice was to prove his undoing and it was Mathieson who broke the deadlock to notch up his second win of the season at the club.

John Halpin has represented GTSA on a number of occasions over the last three seasons. It might have been argued that he had been making up team numbers over that period of time. That is definitely no longer the case. After seven matches he stands third in the league. Tonight he had a 2-1 victory over Colin Berry and lost narrowly to Malcolm Lees by 1-0. Halpin was convinced that he had taken the lead against the league champion. His acute angled chip had rebounded back off the inside of the post. The referee, however, did not share Halpin’s certainty that the ball had crossed the line. A single second half goal gave Lees the points. But Halpin had matched Lees in this game and did not deserve to lose.

Lees 3-0 defeat of Colin Berry suggests a comfortable win but Lees had to work hard for the points with Berry only conceding the third goal in the final seconds. Lees goes back to the top of the league but he only leads Tom Burns by one point. Both players have the same goal difference but Burns has scored more goals. This is due to Burns’ emphatic 7-0 victory over John Mathieson. Mindful of the importance of goal difference in his title battle with Lees, Burns showed no mercy to GTSA’s newest recruit.

After tonight’s 0-0 draw with Dave Houston, Dave Gladman has now had clean sheets in seven of his eight games but he has only scored four goals in total. He dominated possession in this game especially in the first half and really should have won. Scoring goals remains a problem. Houston who was dogged and defended well, could have stolen the match but he too has difficulty finding the net and is still seeking his first win.

Houston did score in his Glasgow Cup encounter with Tom Burns but also conceded three. It was a decent performance by Houston though and Burns had to work hard for the victory.

 

Results

League:

Lees	1	0	Halpin
Burns	7	0	Mathieson
Berry	1	2	Halpin
Gladman	0	0	Houston
Lees	3	0	Berry

 

Glasgow Cup

Mathieson	1	0	R McKenzie
Burns	3	1	Houston

 

 

 

 

 

With only five players attending only three games were played tonight. Barry Corr lifted himself up to third place in the league after a 5-0 demolition of Baver Bari. After Corr took the lead there was never any doubt about the outcome of this match as he dominated until the end. After two early victories Bari has now lost four matches in a row.

In his seven matches so far Dave Gladman has had six clean sheets. Only Baver Bari has scored against him and he did so three times. Tonight it was Gladman’s fourth 0-0 draw, this time against John Halpin. Gladman excells at denying his opponents the ball but he just can’t find the net. In those seven matches he has scored only four goals, two of them coming in the game against Bari. Halpin did have a fair amount of the ball tonight but the match was rather scrappy with neither player having many opportunities. In the later stages Gladman did push men forward seeking that all important goal. At a late corner he had seven players around the Halpin shooting area. The corner was wasted and possession lost but Halpin could not find the through ball which could have taken advantage of the sparse Gladman defence.

The first Glasgow Cup match saw Baver Bari take on Tom Burns. In their previous encounter Bari had twice taken the lead but each time Burns had come back and then went on to score seven. Once again nine goals were scored but this time they were all for Burns who showed no mercy to his opponent. It was a lesson in finding the net not only for the hapless Bari but also the watching Dave Gladman.

 

Results:

League

Corr	5	0	Bari
Gladman	0	0	Halpin

 

Glasgow Cup

Burns

9

0

Bari

 

1