GALA FAIRYDEAN ROVERS 5
GRETNA 2008 2
FERARRI PACKAGING LOWLAND LEAGUE
Gala Fairydean Rovers stormed to their first win of the season on Wednesday night, comfortably dismantling a physical Gretna 2008 side 5-2 at the 3G Arena. In an entertaining first half, GFR were almost pegged back early, with Gretna midfielder Aaron Kelly skimming a shot over from 25 yards. From the resultant goal kick Gala went straight up the park and drew the first save of the game with John Jamieson in the goal easily catching a shot from captain Billy Miller following a cross from Ross Aitchison. Next up to test Jamieson was Jamie Gullan, who saw his shot fumbled and Ross Aitchison followed in well to tap in and force GFR ahead in the twenty first minute.
Gala smelled blood and continued their barrage on the Gretna backline, with Jamieson called into action to save a stinging Stuart Noble shot just a minute after the goal. A further two minutes later and Gala had doubled their lead. Adam Watson taking the ball square from Stuart Noble and beating the defender with a lovely turn before firing emphatically into the net. It was a hectic few minutes, with Gretna getting one back after twenty-four minutes through Matthew Reid. A corner wasn’t cleared well, resulting in a stramash which in turn resulted in Reid heading home.
Much like Gala, Gretna pushed harder after scoring and were gifted an equalizer ten minutes after their goal. A defensive mix-up between the two Gala center halves allowed Kevin Connolly to finish clinically past Mark Walters in the net. All credit to Gala, where the heads should've dropped they didn’t, and this was rewarded with a Stuart Noble goal in the forty third minute to edge them back ahead. Adam Watson drove the ball into Noble's path from the right wing and Noble duly rolled the ball in effortlessly with the outside of his boot beyond a stranded Jamieson. Much like their first goal, Gala didn’t let up, and Billy Miller sent a lovely defence splitting ball into the left channel for Gullan, who's shot was saved unconvincingly before fellow Hibs loanee Adam Watson grabbed his second and Gala's fourth, smashing the ball in on the rebound.
Gala looked good for their two-goal lead at half time and would have more than merited an even bigger lead. Unfortunately, the second half wasn’t to be even half as entertaining as the first with Gretna disrupting proceeding with numerous niggly fouls and quite a few injury breaks slowing down the tempo. The first notable action arrived in the sixty second minute with Jamie Gullan embarking on a lovely run and having his shot blocked for a corner. Rhys Craigie came on for Darren Smith to make his debut in the sixty sixth minute and showed some good touches and drove his team up the park well.
Gala wrapped up the scoring with a freak goal in the seventy fifth minute with Jamie Gullan seeing a shot cannon off him into the net deservedly placing him on the score sheet after a terrific performance. Immediately after the goal, Gullan made way for Sean Paliczka and Stuart Noble soon followed young Gullan onto the sidelines, Daniel Pattenden his replacement.
GFR Team: M. Walters, L. Stephen, S. Main, G. Windram, D. Smith (R. Craigie 66'), D. Bonnar, B. Miller ©, R. Aitchison, S. Noble (D. Pattenden 83'), J. Gullan (S. Paliczka 78'), Adam Watson