Sunday 25th May Paisley Saints Ladies FC brought down the curtain on the 07-08 League campaign with a well deserved victory over their close neighbours at Linwood. Reilly returned for Saints following suspension leaving L. McCallum free to keep goal. Gourlay returned following a family bereavement and was restored to the front line along with Webb which all gave a far more solid look through the middle of the park for the Paisley side. Goals from Gourlay (2), Webb, Stewart & McGG (2) sealed off a comfortable result which all squad members worked hard to achieve. A beautiful, yet blustery, day at Paisley, St. James saw the Saints get off to a very poor start – they lost the toss !!! Despite this perceived disadvantage it was Saints that were coping far better with the strong wind. A high defensive line, marshalled well by Reilly and Balloch with O’Hara and McDonald looking solid, afforded L. McCallum the chance to mop up a high percentage of the through balls which were carrying to her 18 yard box. Webb and Gourlay were bustling away up front making intelligent runs as Stewart and McQuade fed balls through the channels with McGG and R. McCallum working tirelessly in the centre of the park. It was the Webb, Gourlay combination that was heavily involved for the first 2 goals for Paisley with Webb doing excellent spade work. Webb powered her way into the box and supplied a ball across the face of goal leaving Gourlay the simple task of knocking home from close range at the back post. The second saw Gourlay hit the net from 18 yards out, picking up on the loose ball that had fallen into her path after great pressure on the Linwood backline by Webb. Webb showed great strength to shrug off a couple of challenges and was unfortunate to see a shot graze the outside of a post just prior to the interval. Linwood Rangers did have their chances, the best of which fell to Erika Duncan, playing as a trialist for the day, who was unlucky to see the ball hit a bobble as she bore down on goal, bounce off her shin and fall harmlessly into the arms of the grateful McCallum. Half time 2 - 0 Paisley introduced Heaney and Williams to the midfield as they shuffled the pack at half time. With the wind at their backs Saints were looking to capitalize on their first half lead. They duly obliged shortly after the restart as McQuade fed Webb, who left Todd in her wake, as she blazed a trail toward goal and finished with aplomb (see pic G521 – nice one Da’). Rangers did pull one back as Saints conceded a penalty midway through the half when Duncan was caught as she moved away from goal inside the box. The trialist picked herself up before calmly slotting the ball in the bottom corner. (Sign her Saints continued to put good pressure on the ball and it was Stewart who broke free on the left to drive into the box and fire a low drive beyond Dean for goal number 4. No way back for Linwood from this point and it was McGG at the double with goals that were in stark contrast to each other. The first, a free kick from the right that was driven low and hard beyond the wall and into the bottom left hand corner – real text book stuff !!! The second a tap in from inside the 6 yard box to complete an emphatic victory and round off the season in style. Full time 6 - 1 |