Greater Glasgow League: Newton Vale Remain Unbeaten, Goals Galore & EKYM stay hot on Third Lanar

Scottish Cup (Round 3 Replay) •Singer Community (GCAFA) 9-0 Calderglen A tough away day for Calderglen as they played Singer Community of the GCAFA, in the replay after last weekend’s 2-2 draw. Calderglen will now be now fully focussed on league action. They will focus on division 1 action again, and they will be looking forward to league action and starting a run of games. Division 1 •Newton Vale 6-2 Glasgow University A Another win for the now only unbeaten side in division 1, Newton Vale. Newton Vale made it 6 wins in 7 matches, with the other being a draw after a 6-2 win over Glasgow University A. Glasgow University A were up against a very tough side, and they played well this weekend despite the result. Newton Vale have been excellent and will be delighted with being top of the table. Newton Vale have made a big statement through their performances, and the results. They have been brilliant and will know that they are the team to beat. The Newton Vale goals were scored by Marc McFarlane, Mark McFadden, both scoring a goal each, but there was two men who scored twice, and that was Martin Jones and Darren Hampson. The goal scorers will be delighted, but the man of the match was given to the brilliant Kevin McFarlane. Newton Vale have said, “For a second week we have scored 6 goals and credit to Glasgow University who were real tough opponents. Our side remain top of the table and we hope we can keep this momentum going.” This weekend, I had the pleasure of talking to the matches referee, Del Dempster, and he has daid, “Opening 20 mins where Uni we’re Defo on top but the last 25 saw Newton Vale get into he game more and more. Second half Vale controlled the majority of the game scoring some cracking team goals. Fair play to Uni who kept going right up until the final whistle. A really good midfield battle with some really good football played by both teams.” •Cambria 1-3 Erskine An excellent victory for the visitors Erskine this weekend as they picked up a brilliant win. Erskine have been in fine form, and this weekend they validated that. They will be delighted with a convincing win against a very good team, that were unbeaten before this game. Cambria however will know that they have been in a tough game with a good team, that now sit 2 points behind them with two games in hand. Cambria are an exceptional team nonetheless and they will come back fighting and hungry. This match might have been the result that lights the fire in their stomach. Erskine will be delighted and Cambria will be hungry for revenge. I managed to speak Roddy McDonald, manager of Cambria, who filled up in with a report in this game. Roddy said, “Unbeaten league record goes after first 4 minutes of woeful defending, after this Cambria settled into the game and controlled most likely of the first half eventually scoring after a terrific quick move from back to front with Smith finishing well, Cambria had plenty of opportunities to at least go in at half time level with a lot of excellent defending from Erskine and bad misses costing Cambria. Erskine play a long ball game very effectively with 2 hard working front men and they missed an excellent chance to take a 3-1 lead in the last minute of the first half against the run of play.” He explained the second half, “Second half brought much of the same Cambria pressing for an equaliser and Erskine’s luck holding out.. and as often happens the sucker punch with Cambria pressing Renwick choosing the wrong option and curing inside instead of playing the ball wide, Erskine win the ball back play it long, keeper Mackenzie comes out and the Erskine player Stepps around him and fires into the empty net. After this Cambria kept pressing creating chances but unfortunately it was a game where the excellent football played could not be converted to a 2nd goal with a resilient Erskine holding out for the win.” •Dynamo East Kilbride 1-2 Strathclyde University The visitors Strathclyde University, went 2-0 in this game, but they will have known they were against a team, that have won their last few games coming from behind to pick up the win. Strathclyde University will have been well aware that they are known as the comeback kings, but the University have done enough to keep them out of the game. Dynamo East Kilbride, couldn’t quite bring it back this weekend, but the brilliant William Stalker scored an excellent goal, and played well as he has done this season. Dynamo East Kilbride have been in fantastic form all season long, and will hope to get back to their best form next weekend on the road to another university based side. I spoke to Dynamo East Kilbride, and they have said, “once again went 2-0 down although we dominated the last 20 mins or so Strathclyde uni deserved their victory really need to stop going 2 down before we start playing.” Division 2 •Ashvale Victoria 2-6 Rannoch A win this weekend for the visitors Rannoch, as they travelled to Ashvale Victoria. They will be delighted with the points, and pleased they have won 3 now, and find themselves climbing up to 6th. They have been in good goal scoring form and this weekend they scored 6 and proved that once again. Ashvale Victoria will hope to bounce back to form in the coming weeks. •Glasgow University B 0-2 Crookston Castle A tough game between two good sides, and Glasgow University B will know they have come up against a very good side. Crookston Castle have been in excellent form and they sit third in the table having won 5 out of their 6 games, an excellent start to the season. They will be delighted with the clean sheet, and will be hoping to carry on their excellent start. •John Street 0-2 East Kilbride YM Another win for the high flying East Kilbride YM, they have been in brilliant form. They will be pleased with the clean sheet and the three points, sitting on 18 points. John Street have been in good form, and they will want to get back to their best in the weeks to come. They are 8th in the table, they will hope this result will kickstart a run of games for them. I managed to speak to Graeme Robertson, manager of East Kilbride YM, and he said, “Tough game away to john street in which we ran out 2-0 winners. On a bumpy grass park we fought hard for these 3 points with goals from Jason kerr and jack brown. Not many teams will go there and get 3 points let alone keep a clean sheet and we certainly rode our luck at times. Great 3 points which will keep pressure on the third Lanark at the top.” •North Kelvin Sports 3-5 Westerlands GG A brilliant game including 8 goals between North Kelvin Sports and Westerlands GG. North Kelvin Sports have had a tough start to the season, they will be pleased with scoring 3 goals, but of course, they will have not enjoyed the result. Westerlands GG have been brilliant season, the scored 5 and will be looking forward to next week and hope to continue their run of good performances. Division 3 •St Thomas 0-10 Bellaire Bellaire remain unbeaten in division 3 this weekend and will be delighted with their performance again this weekend. They will be pleased with scoring 10 goals, earning three points and also delighted with a clean sheet. St Thomas will know they were in a very tough game and will hope to turn their form around in the coming weeks. Bellaire will be delighted with another win. •South Lochaber Thistle 2-3 Westcliff An excellent result for Westcliff this weekend as they beat the in form South Lochaber Thistle away from home 3-2. The away side had a tough task in hand this weekend and they not only won it, but they picked up an excellent win. South Lochaber Thistle will hope to put this result behind them and want to return to their best in the coming weeks. A great game between the two clubs and a win for Westcliff and three points. I managed to speak to South Lochaber Thistle this weekend and they have said, “SLT’s fine run was halted by a gutsy display from Westcliffe. Box to box midfield general Forbes opened the scoring, and advantage doubled by substitute Craig Cameron who entered the fray earlier than planned due to injury. A penalty miss by Forbes stymied momentum and Westcliffe scored 3 in a terrible 20minute spell. SLT take the long trip down to Bellaire next week and will look to keep the flowing football but tighten up at the back.” •Helensburgh 6-1 Busby The home club Helensburgh will be delighted to get back to league action, and pick up a convincing win. Helensburgh will be pleased to have scored six goals. This weekend, Adam Sharkey scored a hattrick for the home club, and a double for Lee Dickson and a goal from David ‘Frosty’ Sinclair. Their match was moved to Sunday this weekend, and it appeared to have a good luck charm. Busby will be hoping to put this one behind them and focus on picking up victories. I managed to speak Helensburgh this weekend, and they said, “Good performance from us and more importantly to get a win after the disappointment in the last two cup games.also important to win as some serious contenders in our league are now beginning to emerge and if we want to be challenging then we’ve got to stay in touch.”  

Ian