Dundee West Royals V Fairmuir
Starting Line-up
GK - McColl
LB - Crabb
CB - Chalmers
CB - Smart
RB - Singer
LM - Morris
CM - Johnstone
CM - Smith
RM - Mitchell
ST - Paton
ST - McManamon
Substitutes
Nixon
Hughes
Clark
Storrie
Gilmurray
MATCH REPORT
Dundee West Royals 2006’s were drawn away to Fairmuir in the first round of the East Regions Cup. West didn’t want to underestimate their opponents, having gone close in games the previous season, despite Fairmuir being close to the bottom of league below. But, confidence was high from their recent run of good performances, being unlucky not to pick up a win in the last few fixtures.
Dundee West started the game at a high tempo, closing Fairmuir down and controlling the ball, pressing to regain possession when the ball was lost.
1-0: 4mins into the game, McManamon burst up the right flank from a high ball over the top, and with the Fairmuir defence struggling, they tripped the striker as he ran clear. Smith played a lovely cross in from the resulting set piece, and McManamon met the ball with his head, glancing it into the net with the keeper helpless, to give West an early lead.
A minute later, Fairmuir were awarded a tame indirect free kick just inside the center of the box, when Smart was caught in possession and made a weak attempt to clear the ball wide to the left, which McColl gathered, under the impression it was a clearance. Fairmuir attempted a shot on goal, which went into the back of the net, but the Ref ordered a retake. West stood firm, and the wall blocked the 2nd attempt.
1-1: On 7mins, Fairmuir levelled from the spot, when another tame decision went against West. Chalmers tracked back wide on the right, and was adjudged to have fouled the striker, just inside the box. The Fairmuir striker’s effort was low and right, and McColl almost got a hand to it, but couldn’t prevent the goal.
10mins in, with West continuing to dominate the game, Crabb played in Morris up the left hand-side, who used his strength to breeze past the Fairmuir right back, and attempt a cross, but it was blocked and out for a corner. The corner was played short, and the attempted cross was again blocked, as West pressed for a 2nd.
2-1: 2mins later, West’s pressure was rewarded, when McManamon closed down a pass back to the Fairmuir keeper, and forced an error when he passed to his left, only for Paton to seize the opportunity and fire the ball high into the open net from the edge of the box, with a neat first time finish.
15mins in, West had McColl to thank for keeping them ahead, when a wide free kick from the left was headed towards the near post by Fairmuir, but McColl reacted superbly to leap and save the ball, gathering to ground after his parry fell at his feet.
3-1: On 18mins, West scored a well-deserved third, with an outstanding piece of play. With Johnstone mopping up in the center of the pitch from an attempted attack from Fairmuir, he found McManamon free up the left flank, who took a touch and knocked the ball short to Smith, and, finding space up the line, with his weaker left foot, he played an inviting cross into the near post, where Paton sneaked in between the defence and goalkeeper to guide the ball into the near post for his second of the game.
On 21mins, Fairmuir earned a corner, from a rare attack, when they broke free up the left, but Crabb put the ball behind for a corner. McColl was there again at the near post as the cross came in, but unfortunately on landing from the save, he injured his hand and had to come off.
Substitution 21mins = McColl off, Nixon on.
On 27mins, with West picking up possession wide on the right from a cleared corner, Smart almost added a fourth, when the ball came back into the near post and he threw a leg at it, causing the ball to loop high in the air, over the keepers’ head, but unfortunately the woodwork saved Fairmuir as the ball bounced over.
3mins from HT, Paton may have found himself in a one-on-one to bag his hat-trick, after great fighting yet again by Johnstone in the middle of the park. He played the ball wide to Morris, but his attempted diagonal to Paton couldn’t find its way through, with the striker completely unmarked and onside.
4-1: A minute from half time, the eventual Man of the Match Paton found the net with a wonderful finish, completing his hat-trick. From a Fairmuir goal kick, Johnstone won the header in the middle of the pitch, heading forwards to Paton, and on the turn, he hit it first time, looping high over the goalkeepers’ head, leaving him rooted to the spot.
Half-time: Dundee West Royals 4 – 1 Fairmuir
Chalmers to RB, Singer to CB
A minute into the second half, West showed no signs of slowing down, as McManamon was played in and split the defence with his pace, hitting the ball first time on the edge of the box, but unfortunately his shot was straight at the keeper and saved comfortably.
Substitution 43mins = Mitchell off, Gilmurray on.
On 44mins, McManamon almost scored a second, when he latched onto a low cross from the right, but his toe poke was just wide of the near post.
A minute later, Chalmers found himself up field, and having fought superbly to win the ball on the edge of the box, he almost released a shot on goal but was closed down. The ball then fell to McManamon, whose left foot effort deflected for a corner. The resulting corner then fell to Paton, but again the shot was blocked and cleared, as Fairmuir tried to hold on in the tie.
Substitution 47mins = Chalmers off, Hughes on. Singer to RB, Hughes to CB.
On 48mins, West should have had a fifth goal, and Paton’s fourth, but the referee blew for offside, as the ball was fired in again by Smith, and Paton met it on the 6yd line, smashing the underside of the bar and in, only to be chopped off.
49mins in, Paton again nearly added a fifth, when Smart and Gilmurray linked up well with a one-two up the right hand-side, but the Fairmuir defender just beat Paton to the header to clear, from another perfect cross.
On 54mins, Nixon was called into action as Fairmuir burst through with West high up the pitch, but his swift decision making to rush out and clear kept the tie at 4-1, despite some hearts in mouths on the side-lines.
Substitution 56mins = Morris off, Clark on.
Substitution 59mins = McManamon off, Storrie on.
5-1: West finally found a deserved fifth goal with 11mins to play, with substitutes Clark and Storrie involved. Storrie did well to hold up a throw in wide on the right, and release Gilmurray up the wing. Gilmurray sent in a fizzing low cross, across the 6yd line, where Clark was waiting at the back post to finish past a helpless Fairmuir keeper, scoring minutes after coming on to the field.
5-2: On 61mins, Fairmuir scored a consolation, from a dubious refereeing decision for yet another indirect free kick. With Smith tracking the Fairmuir winger down the right, the loose ball from a last-ditch tackle rolled into the penalty area, and was collected by Nixon. The ref blew for a pass-back, despite it being a clear challenge on the ball. Fairmuir took a touch and fired the ball high into the near post top corner, and despite a hand to it, Nixon couldn’t prevent it hitting the back of the net.
On 63mins, Clark was again a handful for Fairmuir, sprinting clear up the left from a West defensive clearance. He then played the ball forward to Gilmurray, crossing first time into Paton, who took a lovely touch to take the weight off and play it back into Gilmurray’s path for a shot on goal, but the ref blew for offside, despite it looking like Paton was in line with the defender, who misjudged the flight of the ball.
6mins from time, Fairmuir almost closed the gap, when they ran through on goal, and with Nixon saving the shot but spilling the ball, their striker should have done better, but ultimately ran the ball out of play.
6-2: West ended any hopes of further consolation for Fairmuir, when they added their sixth 2mins from the whistle. Smith played in another great cross from a free kick wide on the right, which ended up sailing into the back of the net at the back post, when no one in the box could put a foot on it.
To add to Fairmuir’s poor performance, they received a Red card just before the final whistle, as one of their players made a foul remark to the ref, further highlighting the frustrations of their team, in a one-sided match.
Full time: Dundee West Royals 6-2 Fairmuir
Man of the Match: Paton
Scorers: Paton (3), McManamon, Clark, Smith
Dundee West advanced to the Second Round of the East Regions Cup, with a dominant performance against Fairmuir at Graham Street. The 6-2 score line was thoroughly deserved, having controlled and pressed the game for the full 70 mins, creating several chances and taking most of them to take the game out of sight from Fairmuir. This will give them great confidence when they travel to face a tough Monifieth side, for their Ross Balantine Cup Semi-Final next week.
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