Jeanfield welcomed St. Johns to the Riverside knowing that three points were vital in the race for the league title.

The Swifts made the perfect start after 11 minutes. A long throw from R. Shillan bounced over both the striker and defender before falling kindly to J. Jardine just two yards out, and he made no mistake to open the scoring.

From that point, the match struggled to find any real flow with the whistle constantly interrupting play. Despite that, Jeanfield remained in full control throughout the first half. The lead should have been doubled on the 35th minute when a superb R.Shillan freekick from 23 yards out smashed off the bar and over the line before bouncing back up and being caught by the St.Johns keeper. Unbelievably the ref didn't award the goal. The Swifts again came close to doubling their lead on 40 minutes. N. Kennedy’s effort deflected onto the post before J. Jardine reacted quickest to the rebound from close range, only to see his shot brilliantly saved.

Unbelievably, that chance immediately led to a St. Johns counter attack which ended with the visitors grabbing an equaliser against the run of play.

Jeanfield were frustrated to go in level at the break but responded quickly in the second half. On 50 minutes, J. Jardine slipped a perfectly weighted pass into K. Brown, who calmly slotted past the onrushing keeper into an empty net to restore the lead.

K. Brown grabbed his second of the afternoon on 61 minutes. A. Abboud drove forward from halfway before turning and threading a pass through for Brown, who raced clear and finished early past the goalkeeper.

The Swifts continued to push for a fourth goal but were unable to find it, and that proved costly on 75 minutes when a deep St. Johns free-kick into the box wasn’t dealt with before eventually being bundled over the line.

That goal sparked the visitors into life and gave them belief they could take something from the game. St. Johns threw everything forward in the closing stages, with even their goalkeeper joining attacks in the dying minutes in a desperate search for an equaliser.

Jeanfield held firm under the late pressure and secured a massive three points in their push for the league title.

Fulltime
Jeanfield Swifts AFC 3
St.Johns 2

K.Brown ⚽⚽
J.Jardine ⚽

Man of the Match was Kros Brown who put in a clinical performance topped off with a well-taken brace.

#coyjs