Meadow back on the Boyle

Jan 2 2009 by John Woods, Irvine Herald

Meadow back on the Boyle

A GOAL from new signing John Paul Boyle on Saturday was enough to see off Arthurlie and give Irvine Meadow their first league win since September.

A heavy overnight frost meant that this was the only West Region game to go ahead and once again Meadow Park was in exceptional condition despite the weather.

Arthurlie, buoyed up by a win over old rivals Pollok the week before, attacked from the start with Craig Malcolm turning centre half Kris Robertson only to smash his shot off keeper Michael Wardrope's legs in four minutes then Meadow came back strongly, winning three corners in quick succession before John McLay finally cleared the danger.

Gavin Friels should have done better than shoot tamely at visiting keeper Peter Shaw, new boy Boyle showed just what he is capable of with a flashing header which was only inches wide then 'Lie came back with a Stevie Gallagher right wing run and shot which was deflected for a corner.

An entertaining game continued with an inswinging Kevin McBride corner which was headed off the line by an Arthurlie defender and Zander Ryan, playing at right back, saw his shot tipped over by Shaw before Meadow broke the deadlock in 27 minutes courtesy of a defensive mix-up and a poor call by the assistant referee.

Frank McKeown and Gallagher got themselves in a tangle in the left back position and the alert Friels nipped in to steal possession. But, even tough it looked as if the ball had crossed the line, the official ignored the Arthurlie defenders' claims and, when Shaw could only palm out the Meadow hitman's driven cross, Boyle was first to react to smash the ball home.

Chris Strain almost doubled his side's advantage with a fierce drive which was tipped over by Shaw but it was Wardrope who came to his side's rescue again just before the break when Gallagher rose to power a Lee Sharpe cross goalwards only to see the Meadow keeper pull off yet another smart save.

Wardrope proved his worth again right after the break with a great diving save after Ryan's attempt to clear a right wing Stevie Anderson cross only succeeded in turning the ball towards his own goal then, as play swing back to the other end, Paul Hyslop – who had struggled to make an impact on the game – was dreadfully unlucky when he beat Shaw with a shot from the edge of the box only to see the ball come back down off the underside of the bar.

A timely Stephen Swift tackle whipped the ball away from Anderson as he was about to fire home a Malcolm cross, Friels picked up a knee injury and was replaced by Andy McLaren who arrived just in time to see Arthurlie squander a great chance when a Sean Winter looked certain to turn home a low Sharpe cross only for Malcolm to take it off his toes with the goal at his mercy.

As Arthurlie came more into the game McBride made a great saving tackle on Malcolm as he strode in on an Anderson cross but then Boyle showed a wonderful piece of skill when he plucked a dropping ball out of the air, turned a defender in the same instant and drilled in a tremendous shot which was tipped away at full stretch by the diving Shaw.

Long-term injury victim Frankie Haggarty came off the bench for Strain and immediately latched onto a brilliant reverse pass from McLaren only to see his effort hit Shaw and spin away for a corner then the former Glens man popped up on the left and ghosted past a defender before sending a shot inches wide of the far post.

However it was Arthurlie who got the ball in the net in the dying seconds when former Buffs and Talbot striker George Wallace finally beat Wardrope but the whistle had gone for a push on McBride earlier in the move and the Meadow fans were able to breath easily.