After a battle against the frost and a delayed kick-off an
expectant crowd gathered for the Southside El Classico. It was
match-day twenty-three of the West of Scotland Premiership
and it was third top versus third bottom in the table. Pollok v
Arthurlie.

Maxwell made three enforced changes to the side who had
won convincingly the previous week. Sideserf and Duff missed
out due to injury and Esplin due to suspension. They were
replaced by Brownlie, Gary McCann and Fraser.

As is the norm Pollok were kicking down the slope in the first
half and started on the front foot. An early booking for McNeill
for a foul on Stuart McCann allowed Forde to swing in a
dangerous free-kick which Rumsby headed back across goal. It
was just out of reach of a stretching Stuart McCann and went
wide of the far post.

Arthurlie started to come more into the game and had the first
shot on target. Then in the eighteenth minute they were
awarded a penalty. Longmuir dived into block on the bye-line
with the ball almost definitely going out of play. He caught the
striker as he attempted to cross the ball and the referee
pointed to the spot. Former Pollok stalwart McGregor stepped
up but Longmuir saved it with a low dive to his left.

Pollok saw a Christie effort curled wide and had appeals for a
penalty when a Stuart McCann effort was blocked at close
range by an arm.
At the other end McGregor passed up another good chance
when he found himself unmarked at the back post but his
diving header went inches wide. Burns then had a shot on
target at the other end but it was straight at the keeper.
Pollok carved out their clearest chance of the first half in the
forty-third minute. Lyon won a corner which was swung in by
Christie. It was flicked on and Brownlie drove in a low shot
which was well saved by the keeper’s feet.
The away side started the second half in the ascendancy and a
corner offered them a clear sight at goal. The shot was well hit
but Rumsby did well to deflect it wide for another corner.
Longmuir then had to save a long range free-kick.
Just after the hour mark Pollok very nearly took the lead. A
Fraser free-kick into the box was half cleared to Christie whose
low shot squirmed under the keeper but he was able to recover
just in time to grab the ball on the goal line.
Pollok’s next attack saw Stuart McCann taken out once more by
McNeill and he picked up his second yellow. It didn’t take the
home side long to make their numerical advantage count. First
Lyon did brilliantly to set up Stuart McCann whose shot was
cleared off the line and then in the next attack Christie was
fouled in the box as he cut back inside. The referee had no

hesitation in pointing to the spot. Fraser stepped up and fairly
thumped it right down the middle. The keeper hadn’t dived but
he was beaten by the sheer venom in the spot-kick.

After a lengthy delay for a facial injury to McGregor – who was
getting a mixed reception from his former supporters and was
having a typically eventful game having played right-midfield,
centre-half and up front as well as missing the penalty – the
home side managed the game beautifully before adding to the
scoreline in the final seconds.
Substitutes Docherty and Nelson combined perfectly down the
left and Nelson side-footed Docherty’s cut-back into the net.
The very late addition to the home side’s lead did not allow
time for a debut appearance by substitute goalkeeper Ryan
Dakhil. Maybe one day Ryan.

In the end it was a merited three points to the home side and
much of the credit must go to the ground staff and volunteers
who got the pitch in such good shape whilst numerous other
games were being called off. For Pollok the next few weeks will
see them take on teams much closer to them in the league
table. For Arthurlie it will be a continuing battle against
relegation. We wish them luck.

Today’s 3pm kick off between Pollok and Arthurlie is ON.

POLLOK v KIRKINTILLOCH ROB ROY

Pollok hosted Kirkintilloch Rob Roy on match day 22 of the West of Scotland Premiership. Stewart Maxwell’s former side arrived at Newlandsfield in mid-table and off the back of a home win over Hurlford.

The manager made four changes to the team which started the previous week’s win over Cumnock. Gow was unavailable and was replaced by Sideserf. Burns, who was returning from suspension came in for Horne as they lined up with a back four. Further up the pitch, Stuart McCann and Forde replaced Fraser and Docherty.

After a fairly tepid opening ten minutes in which the only thing of note was the unfortunate departure of Sideserf due to injury a taste of what was to come arrived in the twelfth minute. A Menzies header out of defence was picked up by Christie who passed to Forde. He immediately released McCann down the right wing. He skipped past one challenge before delivering a superb cross to the back post. The onrushing Duff headed it back across goal and just wide of the post. 

Three minutes later Duff did find the net. Rob Roy threatened to break from a corner but it was snuffed out by Menzies who fed Lyon. His ball down the left wing found Christie who was on that side of the pitch having taken the corner. When his cross reached the far post it was Duff who controlled the ball and faced with a massed defence worked his way to the bye-line before chipping it over the keeper from an acute angle.

The lead was to last all of two minutes. A free-kick from the left was swung in and Longmuir gave the goalie’s shout. Esplin ducked out of it as the ball headed straight to Longmuir who had his hands ready. Perhaps already looking to start a quick counter-attack he let the ball slip through his hands and McNab was there to head home from six yards out.

Lyon, Duff and Christie were playing some eye-catching stuff and from one such move Christie saw his shot blocked after Aitken had missed a Duff cross. Pollok retook the lead in the twenty second minute with a truly stunning goal from a lovely passing move. Esplin played a first time pass out to Christie who cut inside and switched the play to Duff on the left. He drove forward before slipping it out to Lyon whose low cross was perfectly into the path of Duff whose finish was emphatic.

A Rob Roy break from a corner saw them have a four on two situation as they approached the Pollok box. With hindsight they may have wished they had attempted a pass or two but instead shot from outside the box and Longmuir was able to push it away. Of more significance to the match during the breakaway Duff pulled up with a tight hamstring denying him a chance of a hat-trick. He was replaced by Gary McCann.

Pollok’s next goal came from a corner and it was scored by the taker although it was his fifth touch which put the ball in to the net. Christie took the corner short to Lyon. The return pass was a bit short which forced Christie into jinking past the first defender. He then rode a couple of challenges as he made his way into the box before finding the far corner with a composed, curling finish.

The Christie/Lyon set piece double act would create Pollok’s fourth with three minutes to go before halftime. From a free kick on the left Lyon’s return pass was inch perfect to allow Christie to pick out a cross to the back post. Stuart McCann rose highest and headed down and in off the post despite a fingertip from the keeper and a despairing attempt at a clearance off the line.

The second half got off to a sluggish start with a Rob Roy effort over the bar and a Forde shot deflected wide. Then just before the hour mark Rob Roy got a lifeline back into the game. A corner was swung in from the left. Longmuir – under pressure – got a fairly decent hand to it but Hughes was beyond the back post to produce a very composed finish from a tight angle.

With twenty-five minutes to go Pollok began to reassert themselves as the dominant force. A Christie free kick was headed back across goal where Brownlie – perhaps hampered a little by Forde going for the same ball – could only loop a header over the bar.

In the seventy second minute Pollok got their fifth. A superb cross-field pass from Lyon found Christie in space on the right. His cross found Stuart McCann six yards out and his downward header found the net.

 Three minutes later Pollok passed up a great chance to extend their lead. Another Christie free-kick curled into the box and Brownlie met it with a powerful diving header. Unfortunately it was straight at the keeper and allowed him the chance to save with his feet. Moments later Burns won the ball in his own half and set off towards goal. Having carried it half the length of the pitch his well-struck shot from twenty yards rose just over the bar.

The home side were really purring again now and looking for more goals. A Brownlie knockdown was driven towards goal by Gary McCann and was brilliantly tipped round the post by Aitken. Gary was involved in Pollok’s sixth. His cross from the right was headed back into the danger area by Buchanan. Barr’s first shot was blocked but when the rebound fell to him he side footed the ball into the bottom corner for his first Pollok goal.

Gary McCann had one final chance to make it seven when a Barr through ball intended for Docherty evaded the defence and allowed Gary to nip in. His shot beat the keeper but slipped inches wide of the post.

A convincing win and some periods of scintillating football sent the Newlandsfield faithful home happy and the players away to their team night out in buoyant mood. It had been Pollok’s eleventh home league game of the season. The first was a nil-nil draw with Largs. The last ten have produced forty-one goals, twenty-six for the home side. Tremendous entertainment.

POLLOK v CUMNOCK

After the disappointing display and result at Troon on the Wednesday
evening Pollok returned to the comfort of home for Matchday 21 of the
West of Scotland Premiership and a game against Cumnock.
The manager made seven changes to the starting eleven with only
Gow, Rumsby, Esplin and Christie retaining their places. Mullen was
suspended and joined Sideserf, Barr, Forde and the McCann
brothers on the sidelines.
Josh Lumsden picked up an ankle injury in the final moments of the match against Troon.
In their place were Longmuir, Menzies, Duff,Lyon, Horne, Fraser and Docherty.
The change of formation to three at
the back and the re-introduction of Horne meant that Esplin played a
little further up the park than usual.

Having impressed in recent outings from the bench Docherty was keen to
make an impact and had a shot on target in the opening seconds. It was
not a sign of things to come in the opening period. After a very cagey
opening quarter of an hour the first decent chance arrived when
Menzies played a game of keep ball by himself until a decent pass was
on. He found Christie on the right wing. His cross picked out an
unmarked Lyon whose first touch caused his shot to be rushed and
skied over the bar.
Longmuir miskicked a clearance and did well to tip the resulting shot
round the post as Cumnock started to pose more and more of a threat.
Boyd and Moore combined to set up a chance for the later but his shot
on the turn was screwed wide of the far post.

A clever move down the Pollok left saw Lyon and Duff combine to
create a chance for Docherty but his left foot shot went over the bar.
Cumnock then had the ball in the net but the referee had already blown
for a foul on Gow. As an uninspiring first half drew to a close a dipping

Fraser shot from twenty-five yards had Barclay diving to his right to
make the stop.
The start of the second half wasn’t much livelier than the first half until
the game burst into life in the fifty-third minute. With the ball bouncing
about in the middle of the park Esplin won it and it broke to Christie. He
burst forward, cut inside and passed to Duff. He stepped inside a
defender and produced a quite stunning finish with the outside of his
left foot which kissed the underside of the bar on the way in, giving
Barclay no chance.

Just after the hour mark Cumnock produced the move of the match. A
swift break out of defence saw them work the ball down the right. Play
was then switched to the left and a curling cross found Moore six yards
out. His header was goal bound until Longmuir flung himself to his right
to fingertip it round the post.

At the other end Barclay produced a stunning save to deny Stuart
McCann after he’d been found in the box by an expert pass from his
strike partner and fellow substitute Forde.
A mistake in the heart of the Cumnock defence with twenty minutes to
go allowed Stuart McCann to flick the ball to Forde. He set himself
before firing a low left footed shot into the bottom corner of the net to
give the Southsiders a two goal lead.

With ten minutes left a poor clearance by Gow presented Cumnock
with a way back into the game but Longmuir bailed his centre half out
with an acrobatic tip over the bar from the resultant shot.
The home side were now playing some nice stuff and an incisive pass
from Forde allowed McCann to fire across goal but the ball just evaded
Nelson. It was a different story a few minutes later when Forde
harassed the Cumnock defence into a mistake and McCann was able to
poke the ball to Nelson. He made the most of his unmarked status and
calmly took a touch before rolling the ball into the corner of the net to
give Pollok a three goals to nil victory.

A much improved second half showing saw Pollok collect a well
deserved three points. A slightly disjointed first half saw Cumnock pass
up a couple of presentable opportunities but with the changed
formation in the second half Longmuir’s goal was rarely threatened.
And manager Maxwell will have learnt a little more about his squad.