10/9/'11 : AYRSHIRE DISTRICT LEAGUE

 LUGAR BOSWELL THISTLE 1 IRVINE VICTORIA 3

 

Ten-man Lugar were five minutes away from victory but the visitors' perseverance was rewarded with a late scoring burst that secured all three points.

 

The Bunnets were quick out of the blocks and Victoria's Chris Gilhooley had to clear off the line after a Ross Paul free kick set up a shooting chance for Steven Nisbet. Next it was Nisbet who laid the ball off to Mark Gilmour but his shot flew over the bar.

 

The home side's early pressure paid off in the sixteenth minute when Lex Sharpe ran into the penalty area and, although seemingly felled by 'keeper Jim Catterson, the referee waved play on and Kris Stewart won a tussle with Gilhooley to scoop the loose ball into the net.

 

 

Sharpe and Gilmour both tested Catterson before the home goal was seriously threatened by a run into the box by Steven McAvoy but Robert Kirkland remained strong and muscled the attacker fairly away from the goal. Home 'keeper Ronnie Davis cut out a low centre from Grant Valentine with Kevin Adam lurking menacingly then Davis had to rush out and tackle Bobby Calligan on the edge of the box as the Westenders began to exert more pressure.

 

Lugar responded and, as half-time approached, Nisbet sent a 20-yard free kick whistling past Catterson's left-hand post.

 

The home side threatened briefly at the start of the second half when Catterson flapped at a Tommy Sloan corner and Sharpe fired over the bar but Victoria were in the ascendancy by now and Davis did well to hold a David McCaffrey header from a corner, then a Valentine cross dropped on to the roof of the net with the 'keeper beaten.

 

Lugar suffered a double blow midway through the half with the departure of the injured Allan Paul and the dismissal of goalscorer Stewart for an extravagant display of dissent towards referee Tommy Robertson, having been booked for the same thing in the first half.

 

Even so, Lugar had a glorious chance for a second goal when Sloan threaded through a perfect pass for Sharpe but the latter was unable to find the finish to beat Catterson.

 

Lugar's James McLauchlan and Victoria's Ben Carson both saw yellow cards for overly enthusiastic challenges and the referee's next intervention denied Vics an equaliser when he ruled Carson offside as he headed in a cross from the right.

 

Five minutes from time, though, the inevitable happened when Valentine's corner to the far post was headed back across goal by Gilhooley for Lee Hunter whose header completed the job.

 

A minute later Carson met another corner from the right and although Davis seemed to have his header covered, the ball slipped from his grasp and into the bottom corner.

 

In the 89th minute Carson provided the "coup de grace" off yet another of those pesky corners, this time from the left, as if further to highlight Lugar's defensive deficiencies.

 

LUGAR BOSWELL THISTLE - Davis, Uppal, McLauchlan, Kirkland, A.Paul, R.Paul, Sloan, Nisbet, Stewart, Sharpe, Gilmour.

Substitutes : Gibson, Elstob, McGougan, Waddell, Baird, Briody, Quail.

IRVINE VICTORIA - Catterson, Gilmour, Russell, McCaffrey, Hunter, Gilhooley, Valentine, McAvoy, Adam, Carson, Calligan.

Substitutes : Frew, Delurey, McIlroy.