Kennoway Star Hearts 3 Carnoustie 3
Carnoustie took a deserved point from a rumbustious clash against bottom club Kennoway at Treaton Park.
Manager Alan McSkimming made changes to the side that won 3-0 at West Calder United, Jamie Robbie, Ewan Buggins, Jamie McCabe and John Roberts returned with Luke McGeehan, Robert Urquhart, Bailey Steel and Alan Cormack dropping to the bench.
The Gowfers struggled on the Treaton Park surface and failed to adapt to the wide pitch, Kennoway capitalised and took the lead on seven minutes through Matthew Gay. Carnoustie continued to struggle and their task was made harder just after the half hour when Adam Harwood was shown a red card for a challenge on Liam Craig on the half way line, with the advantage of video footage Harwood appears to win the ball cleanly but the referee had little hesitation. In the melee, first Dylan Muir and Matthew Gay confronted the Carnoustie man and appeared to direct their heads towards him but were lucky to escape with yellow cards that on another day could quite easily been red. The homeside continued to dominate and scored a deserved second just before the break when Nathan Doig nodded the ball home.
McSkimming made a change at half time bringing on Luke McGeehan in the place of the unfortunate Pat Martin and the visitors pulled a goal back within 60 seconds of the restart when a McGeehan free kick was rifled home by Derek Paterson. Carnoustie could smell blood but were caught on the counter by their hosts as Chris Gay was given too much room and beat Jamie Robbie at his near post to make it 3-1. One thing this Gowfers side is not short of is team spirit and a rousing fightback came with 15 minutes to go as the homeside tired. Steven Cook made it 3-2 on 75 minutes when his powerful shot ricocheted off the keeper in to the far corner. On 83 minutes it was that man Paterson once again, whose second half performance was full of drive and determination, who smashed the ball home to level things up. The Gowfers then had the chance to win it when Jake Mair raced on to a Paterson through ball, took the ball past Scott Page the Hearts substitute keeper but could then only shoot in to the keepers arms with the net beckoning.
Ignoring the events surrounding the sending off, Carnoustie showed that this side has a real grit and team spirit about it as opposed to previous seasons where the game may have ended in a heavy defeat. Prime example of that was Man Of The Match Derek Paterson whose leadership at the back, especially after the sending off, was clear to see and appeared to drive on his team mates to the draw and almost victory.
Carnoustie : Robbie, Buggins, Cook, Harwood, Paterson, Roberts, McCabe (Walker), Conway, Dignan, Martin (McGeehan), Mair (Urquhart)
Subs Not Used : Cormack, Steel
