Scoreline fails to tell full story

This defeat at Pollok on Saturday was not as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests.

For long periods of this league fixture Cumbernauld United in every way, matched their opponents, the difference being that Pollok were lethal in their finishing while the United men failed to convert their good outfield play into goals.

On a perfect afternoon for this Super League match, the contest began at a cracking pace. For the first ten minutes Pollok went at the United defence and, from a Kieran McAleenan free kick, home winger Thomas Clark came near with a flying header. Then Guiseppe Capuano shot over the bar when well placed.

Gradually Cumbernauld began to make their presence felt and when Gavin Mackie was seen to fall in the box there were claims for a penalty. The referee, however, deemed that Gavin had dived and the United man was yellow carded.

Minutes later a fierce Gary Carroll shot brought out the best in Pollok keeper Ross Harkness. Then United had the ball in the home net but Chris Zok was ruled offside.

Play continued end to end for a period but slowly the home side exerted more pressure and they got their reward in the 37th minute when, from a corner kick, a mix-up in the United rearguard between the goalkeeper and a defender saw Gary Wild lash the ball home.

Cumbernauld hit back when a terrific Scott Murphy effort brought out another great save from Ross Harkness. It was the home side, however, who scored their second goal, again following a corner kick.

Former Clyde player John Sweeney was the man who did the damage when he smashed the ball past the United keeper - time 44 minutes.

For the full report see this week’s Cumbernauld News and Kilsyth Chronicle - on sale now!