Irvine Meadow win with help from Barr brace

Nov 27 2009 by John Woods, Irvine Herald

Petershill 1 Irvine Meadow 4

IRVINE Meadow warmed up for their big Scottish Cup tie with a sparkling 4-1 win on the artificial surface at Petershill.

The floodlights were on from the start but it was Meadow who lit up a gloomy afternoon as they turned on their best display of the season to hand manager Chris Strain his first-ever win at the ground.

The visitors attacked from the start and Richie Barr and Davie Hamilton both saw efforts hit a defender as the ball ping-ponged around the Peasy box.

But the opener arrived in 20 minutes and it was the first of two tremendous goals from the hard-working Barr when he met a headed clearance on the side of the box and unleashed a ferocious volley which flew into the top corner.

During that blistering opening spell the Glasgow outfit were restricted to just one chance when Jamie McCarroll set up James Coulter whose miscued 20-yard effort drifted wide.

But it was really all about Meadow at this stage and they doubled their tally when terrific work by Mark Crilly and Chris Strain Junior released Barr who again gave Anton Nugent no chance with a thunderbolt of a shot which whizzed past the keeper from just outside the penalty box

Brian McGinty saw an effort slip wide as Meadow again took the game to their opponents after the break but it was Petershill who reduced the deficit in 52 minutes when Gareth Turner pushed Anton Heffron as the pair went for a high ball at the back post and McCarroll netted from the spot.

However that was just the signal for Meadow to up the pace and McGinty cashed in on a mix-up between Heffron and Nugent to drive the ball against the keeper and then run on to collect the rebound before squeezing it home from the tightest of angles and make it 3-1.

Crilly, Hamilton, Turner and Strain all came close as Meadow continued to turn the screw but it was little John Paul Boyle who set up the killer fourth goal when he took a Strain pass and skipped past a couple of defenders before crossing to the far post where Turner met the ball on the run and crashed it high into the net for a spectacular finale.

A great performance from Meadow whose fans will be praying for a repeat on Saturday