Match report
SWF Championship/League One Cup semi final
Sunday 3rd March
Ayr United Women 1 Dryburgh Athletic Women 2
Dryburgh left it late in this tense cup semi final at New Central Park, Kelty, but in the end Stacey McFadyen’s last minute goal was the difference between the teams, giving ‘Burgh the passage into the final. Up until then the game had been evenly matched every step of the way, with Ayr unlucky to leave empty handed.
‘Burgh started brightly and opened the scoring after only 8 minutes. The ball was whipped in to the box from the left wing and with Stacey McFadyen pressing the defence, the ball deflected off a defender and looped over the keeper into the net.
Midway through the half came another half chance, with Clara Laing shooting from the edge of the box, however the Ayr keeper made a great save to tip the ball wide and out for a corner.
Soon after, Laing was played through by McFadyen but the keeper once again had to look sharp, pouncing on the ball to make it safe. However, the next action was at the other end, when after 36 minutes Ayr equalised. A 3 way sprint to the ball led to the ball bouncing free and it fell to the Ayr striker who made no mistake with her finish.
The second half saw very few chances from either side, although with 10 minutes left Chantelle McKay had to look sharp and she made a good save, having had very little to do in the game. ‘Burgh had had some good half chances, with good pressing and hard work by Beth Collins, Klara Brady and Dez Gollan, but couldn’t quite get the final touches in the final third, and the game thus headed into extra time. Equally, ‘Burgh were solid in defence the whole game, with very few threats getting through.
Dryburgh looked like they had a bit more energy in the tank during extra time however, and McFadyen had a great chance in the first spell of extra time when she was played through behind the defence, but the keeper once again did well when she got her fingertips to the lobbed shot to parry the ball away.
However, very late on in the second period of extra time, just as the game looked destined for penalties, Olivia Moffat played in the ball to Dez Gollan at the edge of the box, and the tenacious striker held off her defender, spun round and played a pinpoint pass to McFadyen who made no mistake to slot the ball into the net to make it 2-1. With only a minute or so left, ‘Burgh defended well and held on, with the final whistle leading to delight and relief from the Dryburgh camp.
So in the end it was a tired but happy ‘Burgh squad who headed back to Dundee, but of course we have to give credit to Ayr for also giving their all in a well matched game where there was so little between the teams.
Player of the match - Beth Collins
Following their victory over Renfrew in the other semi-final, Rossvale will be our opponents in the final, which will take place on 21st April at Alloa Stadium.
Our next game is away to Morton, next Sunday.
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