A third home game in eight days saw Pollok host Glenafton on match day fourteen of the West of Scotland Premier Division, but it was to be a disappointing afternoon as the Glens took the points back to New Cumnock.
The Southsiders started brightly and Nelson found Tran out wide. He jinked into the box and clipped a cross to the back post. Lapsley headed it down to the trialist Howe whose shot was deflected wide. From the corner Gow got a glancing header but it went wide of the far post.
Tran was involved again a couple of minutes later when his initial low cross was blocked and the ball came back to him. He tried to find the far corner but Markey got his fingertips to it and Lapsley couldn’t quite mange to turn it home from beyond the far post.
With ten minutes on the clock Gaffney was dispossessed inside his own box but Fry was right behind Erskine’s low shot. A few minutes later Pollok hit Glenafton on the break. Tran skipped past a challenge on the halfway line and for a moment Pollok had a four on one break. Tran’s cross picked out Howe but his header went wide.
Despite losing Lapsley to injury Pollok remained the dominant side and his replacement – O’Donnell – produced a wonderful cross from the right which almost led to an own goal but the ball slipped past the far post.
After a superb low cross from Tran across the six-yard box found no takers Howe had a try from distance but was off target. At the other end disaster was narrowly averted when a Forrester clearance hit off Gow and trundled towards goal but Fry got back in time to gather.
On the stroke of half-time Nelson forced Markey into a smart save seconds after he had blocked an attempted clearance from the keeper. The home side will have gone in at the interval frustrated not to have been leading.
HALF-TIME: POLLOK 0 – 0 GLENAFTON ATHLETIC
The second half was a more even affair in terms of possession and a good passing move from the Southsiders led to a corner which Howe headed wide. More good passing through the midfield moments later ended in a tempting Tran cross which was well defended at the expense of a corner. From Nelson’s set piece Gow just failed to connect.
Glenafton delivered a sucker punch just after the hour mark with a superb breakaway goal. A Bain free-kick was headed out and the ball passed to Erskine. The experienced midfielder released the ball at the perfect moment to play McKee in behind the Pollok defence and he applied a brilliant finish into the bottom corner.
Five minutes later a Lindsay cross found fellow ex-Lok man Kerr in space but he sent his header over the bar. However Glenafton’s second goal did arrive in the sixty-eighth minute. A long ball up the park from Markey was not dealt with and Mullen gathered before driving a low shot into the bottom corner.
As they looked for a route back into the contest Pollok worked the ball down the right and when it came into the box Faulds got a shot away but Markey saved with his left foot. With Forrester playing upfront as an emergency striker Tran got a shot away but it curled away from goal.
Glenafton could have had a third when a flowing move ended with a shot wide of the mark. Pollok finally found the target in the last minute and what a goal it was. Tran laid it inside for Duncanson who set himself before rifling home a thunderous strike into the top corner. However it was too little, too late.
FULL-TIME: POLLOK 1 – 2 GLENAFTON ATHLETIC
Pollok Man of the Match: Josh Tran
Report by Peter Thomson
Photos from James Graham
Highlights and post-match interview sponsored by Scottish Property Centre:
