After a two-month Christmas break due to a couple of postponements, this first fixture of 2008 was played in unexpectedly good weather conditions for the time of year.

 

Dyce started on the front foot with Glenn Murison testing the Banchory keeper with a couple of shots, and then Fraser Wyness was unlucky with the next effort.  Liam Strachan played a long ball out of defence for Bradley Neish to chase, but Banchory cleared the ball for a corner.  From the corner, Fraser has a shot which was blocked out to Cameron Shore , but his rising drive just cleared the crossbar.

 

Defending a period of Banchory pressure, Dyce broke up field and forced another corner.  Again the corner was blocked out to Cameron, but this time he made no mistake, firing a firm shot into the net.  Banchory responded with a strong attack and Thomas Flewker-Barker was called into action for the first time, making a smart save.

 

Glenn started the next attack with a chipped pass releasing Fraser down the left wing, and he bore in on goal but his shot was pushed past by the keeper.  Banchory attacked down the right wing and Thomas made another good save, then their No. 7 had a good run before being crowded out by the Dyce defence.  The last action of the first period saw Bruce Anderson go on a mazy run, but his shot was eventually saved.

 

End of first period  1-0

 

Bruce and Glenn each had efforts saved before Bruce fired in a great cross that Bradley only just failed to connect with.  Thomas had to rush out of goal to clear with his feet as Dyce had to defend another period of Banchory pressure.  In a deep position, Bruce won the ball and played a long through ball for Bradley, who outpaced the defence and placed a left foot shot low past the keeper.

 

Kieran O’Brien brought the ball out of defence to start the next attack and a period of better attacking play which resulted in a shot from Glenn being cleared off the line.  Successive attacks saw Glenn and Bradley make progress down the left wing but their crosses just eluded their intended targets.  But the next raid down the left from Bradley saw his cut-back fired home by Glenn with a firm finish.

 

End of second period  3-0

 

In the first attack of the third period Bradley received the ball with his back to goal and flicked the ball over the marking defender to create space but is shot was well saved.  Next to try his luck was Glenn after twisting and turning past a couple of opponents but the keeper was once more well placed to save.  Again winning the ball, Glenn played a pass through to Bradley who rounded the keeper and looked certain to score but the ball squirmed past the post – thankfully the TV cameras weren’t present!

 

The action moved to the other end and what looked like another certain goal was denied by a fantastic double save by Thomas, first a shot from distance and then the follow-up from point-blank range.  However, Banchory were not to be denied, as from the corner a shot hit the bar and the rebound was driven into the net from a couple of yards.

 

Banchory had their tails up at this point and had their best period of pressure around the Dyce goal.  The defending was getting a little desperate so to relieve the pressure Cameron punted the ball upfield for Bradley to chase after, but his shot was saved.  Dyce managed to regain their composure with some good passing play and further efforts from Bradley and Bruce.  The last action of the match saw the Banchory No. 7 bear in on goal but he was denied by a pair of sliding tackles from Liam and Fraser.

 

Full-time  3-1

 

The boys looked a little rusty after such a long time without playing, and the tight pitch didn’t help, but they stuck at it and improved as the game went on against good opponents.

 

 

Coach: Jake Petrie

 

Goals:

 

Cameron Shore              1

Bradley Neish                1

Glenn Murison               1