Tayluerian Cup 10/11

Tayleurian Cup 2010-2011

Tayleurian Cup - Sponsored by McQueens Trophies

Quarter-Finals

Maxwelltown Thistle 3-1 Dynamo Star

Morton Thistle 4-8 Lochar Thistle

Upper Annandale 8-0 YMCA

Terregles Athletic 2-10 Lochmaben

Semi-Finals

Maxwelltown Thistle 2-3 Lochar Thistle

Upper Annandale 5-3 Lochmaben

Final - Played at RaydalePark, Gretna 29th April 2011

Upper Annandale 0-2 Lochar Thistle

Scorers

Uppers - None

Lochar - T.Jardine 1, W.Dempster 1

Match Report

Lochar Thistle took on rivals Upper Annandale in the Tayleurian Cup final at Raydale on Friday night in a match which took place in difficult windy conditions. With both teams significantly understrength the result was always going to be hard to predict. In the end Lochar won this cup for the first time in their long history surprisingly easily, which was a bit of a surprise.

Both teams were a bit tentative in the early stages of the match which took around 20 minutes to settle down. The big Gretna pitch was hard and the strong breeze meant that good football was difficult for both teams. Uppers tried to release Michael Swan down their left wing as often as possible early on but despite decent possession in the last third Uppers failed to capitalise and in the end Lochar re-adjusted and that avenue was closed down.

Lochar forwards Terry Jardine and William Dempster never stop running and on the big pitch found space easily and only good defending by Kevin Wilson and Peter Pagan prevented them from getting a clear sight of goal on more than a few occasions. The best early chance fell to defender and captain for the day Alan Milligan when a Kieran Krause shot was blocked on the line and fell him 12 yards out. Despite taking time to line up his shot it flew over the bar. The side from Moffat responded and from a corner Marc Leighfield found space 8 yards out and his powerful header was on target but was well saved by Ryan Chambers. Within a minute Lochar were in front. A through ball by Ross Woodward found Jardine who had lost his marker. The striker controlled the ball with his mid-rift before drilling the ball home from 14 yards out. It should have been two a few minutes later but an unmarked Dempster fired high and wide from the edge of the box. Almost immediately Uppers had a chance to equalise but Ryan Johnstone scuffed his shot from 12 yards out after a neat Leighfield stepover.

A few minutes later a Grant Watson pass found Darren Ferbie wide on the right and the winger fired in a good cross and with Uppers having numbers in the box it took an excellent Milligan header to snuff out the danger. This led to Uppers best spell in the game as they kept the pressure on but they failed to create any decent opportunities and eventually Lochar re-asserted themselves in the last five minutes of the half.

Lochar started the brighter at the start of the second half and it took an excellent Pagan challenge to prevent Jardine from getting a clear sight of goal. Dempster then had a great chance to make it two nil when he was free at the back post, Jardine delivered an excellent cross but the striker headed over from 7 yards out when unmarked. He did make it two though in the 65^th minute. He picked up a Krause throughball and drove at the heart of the Uppers defence and despite the defenders efforts he battled through to score with a scuffed shot from just inside the box. Uppers pressed for a goal and Neil Roddick had a shot saved by Chambers but his shot wasn’t cleanly hit and Chambers saved easily and despite some decent pressure they lacked a cutting edge and always looked susceptible to the counter. The last opportunity fell to Lochar, substitute Dale Talaszko was put clear by Jardine but the striker hit his shot directly at Uppers keeper Ian Jardine.

At the final whistle Upper Annandale could have no complaints at the result. They never managed to a cleanly hit shot to fully test Chambers in the Lochar goal and from a defensive point of view allowed the ball to bounce too many times allowing Jardine and Dempster to pressure the ball in their last third. Lochar for their part didn’t have their best game either but with Milligan, Scott Neill and Colin Coulter strong at the back and with the movement of Dempster and Jardine up front they had too much for an Uppers team who missed their unavailable players more than Lochar missed theirs.

After the match the cup sponsored by Morrell MacKenzie of McQueen Trophies President Mausrice Sproat presented to Lochar captain Alan Milligan. The big defender also added the Man of the Match award to his winners medal to round off a fine evening personally. The match officials performed well on the night and allowed the game to flow as much as possible. The League would like to thank cup sponsor Morrell MacKenzie as well as Gretna 2008 for the use of Raydale which was in excellent condition.

Photos