Edinburgh triumph as Glasgow slump to second successive defeat

Glasgow Uni Men’s 1st suffered their second successive BUCS defeat as they went down 2-1 to Edinburgh 1st in a thrilling contest at Garscube Sports Complex.
The visitors attacked from the outset and looked more confident on the ball in the opening stages with Jack Beacher and Cyrus Moosavi causing problems down the flanks for the Glasgow defence.

Glasgow were lucky to be level inside the opening five minutes as a well-worked Mark Gair corner to the edge of the box caught the Glasgow defence flat-footed inside the six-yard box, but James Craigen’s shot flew wide.

The home side then had a corner of their own from the left, but unmarked at the far post, Anthony McLaughlin was able to get a header on target to trouble Craig Bald in the Edinburgh goal.

Edinburgh took the lead on 11 minutes when another Gair corner to the edge of the box again found Craigen in acres of space, and he hammered the ball past Jamie McFarlane in the Glasgow goal.

Glasgow rallied back immediately, and were unlucky not to grab an immediate equaliser as Bald was at full stretch low to his right to keep out a Calum Leitch’s 25-yard shot, and from the resulting corner Calum Tevendale got the better of Dan Ward, but his header was sailed high over the bar.

Mid-way through the first half, Edinburgh ramped up the pressure, and should have stretched their advantage, Mike Gray wasted three opportunities, first failing to get on the end of Beacher’s cross after a good break down the left, seeing another chance from 25 yards just minutes later comfortably gathered by McFarlane, and then firing just wide of McFarlane’s left post from 12 yards out.

With the game now end-to-end, Glasgow had a chance to equalise after good work down the right from McLaughlin, but Aaron Scoular failed to trouble Bald from close range.

Gallacher then had a glorious chance to pull Glasgow level, but Bald produced a stunning one-handed acrobatic save to tip the ball over the bar.

After Bald produced a smart stop with his legs to deny Adam El-Mansi, Edinburgh inevitably doubled their lead eight minutes before first half as Beacher got between Tevendale and Ferguson to head a Moosavi cross beyond McFarlane.

It could have been worse for the home side as Edinburgh continued to make ground down the flanks, but their defence held firm to go in just 2-0 down at the break.

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Glasgow regrouped at the interval, and looked more assured in the second half, but were guilty of wasting glorious chances to get back into the game.

Five minutes into the second half, El-Mansi broke down the left, powering past, and avoiding a sliding tackle from Stefan Ross at right back, but his shot from eight yards was charged down by Shawn McMaster.

Just three minutes later, Glasgow had another half chance from a cross from the right, but Edinburgh threw themselves at the ball to deny Scoular. El-Mansi’s shot was again charged down by McMaster, and Moffat’s header from the resulting corner was tipped over by Bald.

Edinburgh finally got a footing in the second half, but missed two great chances to kill off the game as headers from Beacher and Gray both failed to test MacFarlane, but on 55 minutes Gray pounced with a fierce left-footed drive from the edge of the area, which was spectacularly tipped over the bar by the Glasgow keeper.

The mood turned from the resulting series of corners with Edinburgh adamant they should have been awarded a penalty after Ferguson appeared to push Gray in the box, chasing the referee back to the half-way line to protest as he waved play on.

As the hosts ramped up the pressure, Edinburgh buckled slightly under the pressure, and appeared to lose their heads, continuing to argue with the officials over contentious decisions, but did enough at the back to prevent Glasgow from pulling a goal back until 72 minutes.

Coming in from the left, Ferguson pounced to rifle the ball past Bald to his right after Edinburgh failed to deal with Leitch’s ball across goal, much to the delight of the Glasgow Uni Men’s 3rd team who were making their way past the goal after their game–a 3-3 draw against Strathclyde Uni Men’s 2nd on the adjacent pitch–had already finished.

Just a minute later, El-Mansi again found space down the left flank, but his cross was unable to find Scoular, and put out for a corner by Ward. The corner led to a near goalmouth scramble, but El-Mansi was unable to control the ball, and Edinburgh were able to clear the danger.

On 78 minutes, two second half Edinburgh substitutes came close to killing the game when Roy Chatterjee’s fierce drive from the edge of the area was spilled by MacFarlane, by Calum Frain’s follow-up was charged down by Ferguson.

Both side had half chances in the final ten minutes, but with the defences on top Edinburgh held on to a famous win at Garscube to propel them to the top of the league with two wins in their opening two games.

Speaking to The Journal after the game, Glasgow Uni captain Neil Buchan said: “Overall, I feel that we definitely deserved something out of the game; the chances we had and our share of possession merited a draw at least.

“The first goal was certainly a disappointing one to lose, especially as it has been such a tight encounter up until that point. We switched off, and the man that was supposed to be covering the edge of the area was dragged into the box to cover a runner.

“The second half was a big improvement from us, and I think we showed good character to come back and score the first goal, and felt like we could really push on from there.

“We had a couple of gilt-edged chances to get an equaliser, which we just didn't take. Obviously this is all ifs and buts, and the fact of the matter is that we lost the game, and all of the guys are bitterly disappointed about that.”

Glasgow 1st are now second bottom in their BUCS group with one win in three, but it is their off-field problems which are more of a concern for their captain.

“Three points from three games is a return which none of us are satisfied with, and the defeat to Stirling 2nd last week was frustrating as, with the University increasingly unwilling to allow for Wednesday afternoons to be set aside for sports, we were without a good portion of our first team.

“I can't say I’m sure why sport has become such a low priority of the University, but it is very disappointing, as it doesn’t allow us to field as strong a team as possible, and is certainly a factor in our current position in the table.”

Buchan believes that their second half performance against Edinburgh shows the team’s capabilities, and they can still come from behind to win the league.

“There were certainly positives to take from the game,” Buchan added. “Our position in the table at the moment can be easily changed by the next two or three results, and, if we can keep together a squad similar to that which played yesterday, I believe we still have a great chance to win that league.”

Edinburgh captain Gair agreed with Buchan’s belief that they aren’t out of the hunt, but had a warning for his rivals.

“Glasgow are a good side that will take points off other teams and cannot be written out of the race,” Gair said.

“We were missing 4 or 5 players who are currently away on placement, so we can only get stronger as the season progresses. I think we have sent out the message from the start that we are Scottish Champions and have no intention of giving away that status lightly!”