Jeanfield Swifts 8-1 Ormiston
EOSFL Conference C
Riverside Stadium, Perth
Jeanfield rounded their first EOSFL season off in style with a convincing 8-1 win over Ormiston at the Riverside.
With their Premier League spot already safe for next season, Swifts could have been forgiven for having one foot on the beach.
But Ross Gunnion’s men showed their ruthless side to cruise past an average looking Ormiston to finish the season on a high.
The game actually took a while to catch fire, with Swifts unusually slow off their mark and neither side really taking a grip of things in the opening minutes. In fact it was the visitors who created the first real chance of the game with 18 minutes on the watch, Subasic’s shot just over Mitchell’s crossbar a real let-off for the hosts.
The scare must have woken Swifts up, because just two minutes later, Paul Simpson cut in from the right, skipped past a couple of half-hearted tackles and fired low into the net to open the scoring.
Mitchell had to dive to his left to save from Hogg just a couple of minutes later as Ormiston went in search of the equaliser, but Jeanfield doubled their advantage on the half hour, Robbie Holden beating the offside trap and tapping past Kieron Beveridge to make it 2-nil.
Ormiston quickly pulled one back, taking advantage of some slack play in the Swifts midfield for Dan Purvis to score and it briefly looked like they were going to make a contest of things. But the home side were into their stride by now and were looking dangerous with every attack. Ormiston looked vulnerable to the ball inside the full-backs, Simpson and Regan McLaren always ready to take advantage.
With half-time on the way, a devastating spell of play turned the tide for the Perth side, three goals in five minutes from McLaren, Holden and Whitehead to make it 5-1 and effectively kill the game by the interval.
The second half started in much the same way as the first, with neither side taking control of play but Jeanfield always looking the more comfortable of the two. With a four goal cushion, the hosts didn’t have to chase the game and always looked well in control, especially when the visitors went down to 10 when Purvis was shown a red for a clumsy tackle.
The drizzle that had been in the air all afternoon eventually turned into a heavy spring shower, and both sides looked like they would have been happy to call it day. Kyle Woolley and Rhys Davies replaced Simpson & McLaren, and with Davies chasing the title of the clubs leading scorer for the season, there was suddenly a little more bite to the Swifts attack.
Just it has in the first half, the game caught light again in the final five minutes. Chris Scott rounded off a slick move to score number six, before Davies got number seven to take him level with Connor McLaren in the scoring charts. The big striker was buzzing around everywhere, desperate for another that would give him the title outright, but it was skipper Chris Anton who grabbed number eight with a minute to go, to send the Perth men on their holidays with a smile on their face.
The win finished off a strong season for Jeanfield and the three points cliched third spot Conference C, 17 wins, 4 draws and just the 3 defeats leaving them just a point ahead of Camelon. Swifts can now enjoy the summer break and look forward to playing in the new EOSFL Premier League next season. By contrast, it was a miserable afternoon to complete a miserable season for Ormiston, the Lothian side finishing bottom of the table with just three wins & three draws to their name all term.
Man of the Match: Paul Simpson probably made the difference for Swifts, setting them on their way with the opener and popping up all over the park to pull the visitors out of position.
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