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Bo'ness United 0 v 0 Albion Rovers |  |
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Bo'ness United 0 v 0 Albion Rovers | |
| Friendly 20th July 2004 |
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Attendance : Approx. 250
A fair sized travelling support made their way to Newton Park considering the match was little publicised and it was a very wet Tuesday evening. New signings Jamie McGowan and Graeme McLaren made their public debut in Rovers colours, former Rovers Peter Cormack and Billy Struthers appeared for the opposition.
Rovers first real attempt on goal came in 10 minutes when Graeme McLaren had a good attempt from a Stirling corner. The match ebbed and flowed for a while until 28 minutes when Chris Fahey pulled off a quality save from a Jeffrey shot, he had to do it again a couple of minutes later when Smith was on the attack.
In 35 minutes John Martin Jnr. (son of former Airdrieonians stalwart of the same name who was on the bench) jinked around Rovers penalty area but the resultant shot was disappointingly over the bar.
Rovers finished the half strongly with Marc "squib" McKenzie seeing his shot go an inch over the United bar and a good move involving John Bradford ending with Graeme McLaren shooting wide.
Second Half
The second period started like the first finished with Marc McKenzie on a run which gave the ball to John Bradford who fluffed his shot, Boyle followed up with a shot which 'keeper Cairns got down to smother. McKenzie was again attacking but his shot was again too high.
In 47 minutes John Martin Jnr. was through on goal but 'keeper Fahey tackled the striker ending the danger. Visiting captain Jim Mercer had a low shot parried by Cairns onto the Bo'ness post to safety.
Martin Jnr. once more found himself in a good position but failed to capitalise, then John Bradford managed a shot which could have easily been mistaken for a passback. Mark Yardley followed up with a decent attempt from 20 yards which failed to trouble Cairns who caught it.
After a near miss by Mooney for the homesters Chris Silvestro tried a diagonal shot from just outside the Bo'ness penalty area. The ball clearly made contact with the arm of Peter Cormack which looked far from innocent but referee Chambers thought nothing of it despite calls from visiting fans and no penalty was awarded
With 8 minutes remaining young Kerr Potter stopped a Bo'ness attack in full flow with a brilliantly judged tackle just outside the penalty box. McKenzie mad the last significant contribution to the game when he spanked a shot that rattled the crossbar.
Summary
A disappointing match for both sides but fairly evenly balanced which neither team deserved to win.
Bo'ness United : Cairns, Smith, Cormack, C. Martin, Foster, Murphy, Jeffrey, Donnelly, J. Martin Jnr., Shirra, Mooney. Subs. J. Martin Snr., McCluskey, Dolan, Struthers.
Albion Rovers : Fahey, Silvestro, Stirling, Potter, McGowan, McLaren, McKenzie, Boyle, Yardley, Bradford (Watson 88), Mercer (Patrick 62). Unused Subs : Carr.
Referee : G. Chambers
Man of the Match - Marc McKenzie