1-2 loss to the Students of St Andrews uni

There are no photos when we lose. No apologies.

This game was set up for us to face a strong St A Uni side with stronger, faster opponents. They were not better organised than us, however. Chris Bonnar had drilled the set ups for defence and offence well in advance into our young team, sometimes ceding 5 years a player to our opponents.

The same fixture back in 1994 saw your correspondent line up for the students against a strong Menzieshill side for a league decider. The Menzieshill side featured your current club president. One of us was a talented and fluent player with a good turn of pace, the other was Harry Byers...

The students expected to dominate play from the outset. Grove MH had other ideas. Our boys, emboldened by the senior lieutenants, bravely went toe to toe with the opposition for the first 35 minutes.

The breakthrough came in the second quarter with a fluent move down the right between John Donald and Archie Mac. The ball came inside to Alfie Bonnar who put a sharp ball into the D. Dylan Lothian took his goal perfectly with a glancing deflection that the University keeper could do nothing about.

The work rate was admirable. Aaron Watts, Alistair Clark, Finlay (with a D) Duncan and Dylan Lothian all covered some astroturf tirelessly to give outlets against a strengthening student side.

Special mention to our young keeper, Finlay Ross, who pulled off some remarkable saves. He saved our bacon more than once.

The second half brought a more determined response from the students. A penalty stroke to the Fifers brought the sides level. Finlay Ross got a stick to the ball but not enough to stop the goal. A second goal followed from St Andrews in open play, the younger men moving fluently around our tiring legs.

The game was closed out from there by the students. Our team should be proud of their performance against a stronger side and with experience we will turn these narrow results around. The advice from the senior pros is key to this process.

Joint man of the match award goes to Dylan Lothian and Finlay Ross for their individual performances. Also a big thanks to Shams, who stood in at 45 minutes notice to umpire for us.

Wanderers 2s next weekend.