Armadale Thistle v Jeanfield Swifts (08-08-15)

Swifts travelled to West Lothian to face Armadale Thistle, relegated last season from the Super League via a hard fought playoff with Broughty Athletic. With 4 of the first team squad missing (Carr - injured, Deans - family commitments, Baker - work commitments & Smith - Holiday) 3 of the Under-21 squad and our Under-17 GK, made up the bench.

The game started with Armadale controlling much of the possession and Swifts defending deep in the face of a strong wind.
Armadale's frontman and attacking midfielders showed some good touches and movement with Feeney leading the line and Dalrymple, Gray and Shanks offering support.
However, Swifts back 4 managed to contain the majority of the Armadale pressure and limited them to half chances and long range opportunities.
Armadale did see an opening midway through the first half, when a loose ball by the Jeanfield midfield presented Dalrymple with an opportunity to bear down on goal, however Mitchell and Anton combined to force him wide and the opportunity to shoot was lost.
Dalrymple tested Mitchell shortly afterwards from distance which forced the Swifts keeper to turn it over the bar. However, the Swifts keeper was rarely troubled.
Swifts continued to keep Thistle at bay and offered up their own attacking threat on the counter attack. Swifts best opportunity came when neat play between Kelly, Anderson and McLeish allowed Dodd to be set free down the left. The wide man cut in but his shot was well saved by the Armadale keeper. From the resulting corner, Anderson rose well at the back post but could not quite direct his header on target.
Armadale continued to command the majority of the possession in the first half but could not find a way past the Swifts defence.

Half-Time Score: Armadale Thistle 0 - 0 Jeanfield Swifts

The second half began with the roles reversed. Swifts took the game to Armadale from the outset with Fowler and Holt controlling the central midfield area allowing Dodd & Kelly to get further up the park in support of Anderson & McLeish.
Swifts, in contrast to Armadale in the first half, capitalised quickly on their superiority in possession and McLeish got in behind the Thistle defence to score the first on 55mins.
5 mins later and it was 2 - 0. Dodd pressured the Thistle left back into losing possession and played a one two with Anderson. Dodd's left foot strike from 20 yards cannoned off the underside of the cross bar, but McLeish reacted quickest to nod the ball home.
Thistle looked shellshocked with the start Swifts had made and errors became common place. Misplaced passes, of which Armadale had very few in the first half, became common place a frustration grew. This frustration boiled over on 64 minutes when Taylor challenged late and high on Kelly close to the halfway line. The referee took the view that it was reckless and dangerous and opted to show a straight red card.
Armadale's day would get worse just a minute later and from the resulting free kick. It was floated into the box where Anderson got a flick onto McLeish and he headed home to complete his hat-trick.
With the game effectively over Swifts did not stop their and continued to attack at every opportunity and on 76 minutes McLeish, running onto a through ball, was brought down in the box by Armadale's Brown. Holt made no mistake with the resultant Penalty kick making it 4 - 0.
Swifts made 3 changes in quick succession with Booth replacing Anderson, McDermid replacing Gunnion and McPhee replacing Kelly. And 2 of the youngsters combined for Jeanfield's 5th goal of the game. Booth chased down a through ball and outpaced Armadale's centre half. With the keeper rushing out to meet him he showed a cool head to slip the ball to is right and into the path of McDermid who passed the ball into the empty net.

FInal Score: Armale Thistle 0 - 5 Jeanfield Swifts
Scorers: McLeish (55mins, 60mins, 65mins), Holt (Pen - 76mins), McDermid (87mins)

Team: Mitchell, Anton (C), Gunnion (80), Fleming, Mollison, Dodd, Holt, Fowler, McLeish, Kelly (82), Anderson (75).
Subs: Booth (75), McDermid (80), McPhee (82)
Sub Not Used: Kinnon (GK)