Pre-Season Friendly Kirriemuir

Our final pre-season friendly against a previous unplayed Kirriemuir. I was hoping our lads would continue the high level of performance which they had displayed during the previous 2 games and to go into the new season on the back of 3 straight wins and full of confidence.

We did manage to get the job done today, but in all honesty, we were lucky to come away with the win. It was a bit of a lacklustre performance from the team, we just could't seem to get going and we were struggling to move the ball around the pitch. Midfield were not working hard enough today to win back possession and we did seem a bit out of sorts in several areas of the pitch.

We scored the opening goal through a long range effort from Ollie in the 9th minute, although it was a bad mistake by the goalkeeper, who fumbled the ball as the ball went through his legs into the net. We went in at half time 1-0 up. Kirriemuir had a number of chances during the first half, which were kept out by an excellent Layton Smith, who pulled off a number of excellent saves yet again. Rhys Wighton was relentless on the right hand side throughout the first half, battling hard and winning back possession.

I asked the lads to lift the level of performance going into the second half. Unfortunately this did not happen, and Kirriemuir began to dominate the game, scoring two quick goals to go 2-1 ahead.

However, full credit has to be given to our boys who did not let this affect them and we did began to regain control of the game, as the lads seemed to work harder towards the end of the match. With 10 minutes to go I asked Brandon, who was injured with an injured toe, if he could give the team 10 minutes, which he agreed to. He had an immediate impact on the game, travelling with the ball well and providing a more direct option with his pace up front. Maison King then levelled the match with a superb finish from inside of the box. The momentum was then with us and the lads confidence was up. Relentless running from Eze was eventually rewarded as the Kirriemuir defender brought him down in the box, with the referee awarding us a penalty with just a minute left.

Maison then stepped up confidently, as usual from the spot, and slotted the ball into the keeper's bottom right corner to secure the win for the team.

Delighted to get the win today, although fortunate to do so, there will be matches where our performance is a bit under par, and the lads need to just keep pressing to score the goals needed to win, and that's what the boys done today.

Again, credit to the lads for not letting the game slip out of their hands when Kirriemuir went a goal up in the second half. They showed character and resilience and maybe it's not a bad thing for us to be reminded that we need to be at our best going into every game if we are expected to win games comfortably.

On to next week and the start of a new challenge for the team in tier 2