Huntly vs Albion

Having come through the previous round with a confidence boosting win, Huntly came up against some sterner opposition in the form of A League 3rd place team Albion.

From the whistle it looked like Albion would stamp their dominance on the game, with quick passing, movement, & retaining possession well, and with two goals inside the first 5 minutes it looked like Huntly may be in for a Sunday to forget.
But going behind early seemed to stir the lads, and they started to come back into the game, creating a few good chances for themselves, and certainly not letting Albion have it all their own way.

However, another goal was lost before a 10-15 minute period of excellent sustained pressure from Huntly which had Albion on the back foot, and led to an excellent strike from Higgins from the right of the 18yd box.

HT 1-3

The second half saw Huntly lose an early goal, but after this, despite more Albion goals, the half was pretty evenly contested.
Albion looked like a team who had come expecting an easy win but then realised it wasn't to be, with the Huntly lads simply not allowing them the pleasure, and Albion had to fight hard for the rest of the game.
With the score at 1-5 Alexander produced a superb long range strike from the left which gave the Albion keeper absolutely no chance, and if the score had remained there, at 2-5, it may have been a fair reflection of the game overall.

The difference between Albion at the upper end of the A league and Huntly? On todays showing, not a lot really, especially not in terms of actual ability, but it was in the simple things that the lads can improve on if they have the desire. Like passing, movement, and being first to the ball.
They can do it, the ability is there. For example, on the right there were excellent exchanges between Bremner, White and O'Neill, which Albion struggled with, and which led to a few half chances.
A bit of work on the simple things & a wee bit more hunger from Huntly, especially in midfield, and there could be some interesting games ahead.

The lads should be in no way disheartened by the final score, which doesn't reflect the overall game.

FT 2-7

Team: 1 Callum Ross, 2 Greg McInnes, 3 Jack Meinen, 4 Prentice Hammond, 5 James Bremner, 6 Ryan Higgins, 8 Mathew Henderson, 19 Jonathon Pratt, 7 Ethan O'Neill, 9 Kieran Reilly, 11 Liam Donaldson, 10 Kieran Brooks
Subs: GK Connor Merson, 14 Lewis White, 21 Daniel Astridge, 22 Lee Alexander