St Mirren Black 1 vs 5 Greenock HSFP Black

*St Mirren 1 – 5 Greenock HSFP Blacks*

An away fixture in the top-half split this morning on a really narrow pitch, where St Mirren have a strong home record.

St Mirren started the game well, pressing high and putting us under early pressure. However, it was the High School who took the lead against the run of play. A Kieran free kick caused problems for the goalkeeper, who could only palm the ball into his own net. 0-1

We began to grow into the game and the second goal came from a well-worked move down the left. Kieran and Sam combined nicely before Ashton’s quick feet released Lucas, who finished calmly into the bottom corner. 0-2

St Mirren pulled one back on 25 minutes with a well-taken goal, giving Shammy little chance as it flew high into the net. 1-2

St Mirren then enjoyed another spell of pressure, but the High School defence stood firm to protect the lead going into half-time — with the back four of Bob, Lyle, Jay and Taylor defending strongly as a unit.

Half-time: 1-2

We knew the next goal would be crucial and urged the boys to go and get it. It arrived quickly at the start of the second half. Another dangerous Kieran free kick was tipped onto the bar by the keeper, but Dylan reacted quickest to score a trademark poacher’s finish from the rebound. 1-3

Shortly after, Shammy made an excellent 1v1 save from a St Mirren counter-attack - a really important moment in the game that kept our two-goal cushion.

From that point on, it was all High School.

The fourth goal was a beauty - Zack’s initial shot was saved, but he reacted well to recover the rebound and lay it back to Lucas, who found the top corner from the left edge of the box. 1-4

Kieran completed the scoring with another free kick. The keeper showed him too much of the goal on his favoured side, and Kieran did the rest, placing it just inside the post with precision. 1-5

Another strong second-half performance following on from last week. The boys defended brilliantly as a unit, battled well on such a tight pitch and scored some well-worked goals going forward.

Goals:

Kieran ????

Lucas ????

Dylan ??

Coaches’ MotM:

Kieran ?? Always a threat from free kicks and terrorised their defence with his twists and turns.