On the favoured Ravenscraig surface, two bleary eyed squads took to the 3G turf at the ungodly hour of 9.20am on a murky and blustery Saturday and early exchanges demonstrated that one or two would have rather stayed in bed. Several niggly fouls, overreactions and a slightly whistle-happy ref culminated in a brief stoppage, during which time the man in black did an excellent job of restoring order and getting back to the business of football.
First blood went to FPC in ten minutes. MacKenzie floated a trademark corner from the right, which was met perfectly by Tonner, who bulleted an unreachable header right into the top corner. Macca was rewarded for his excellent delivery several minutes later, when his advances from midfield went unchallenged giving him the confidence to take a pop from all of 25 yards. His well-aimed shot dipped over the keeper and under the bar for number two.
Returning striker McArthur was keen to get on the score-sheet He has an excellent goals-to-games ratio and was unlucky early on. His best chance came when he rounded a defender and crashed a shot back of the post with the keeper well beaten. A fortunate rebound took it straight into the path of Davie T, who made no mistake ramming it home for his second.
Disaster struck for Airdrie straight from the restart. Foxy robbed their midfielder in the centre circle and fed Davie T, who rolled a ball between the last two defenders into the box. McArthur was making an excellent blind side run, and he met the ball just ahead of the goalie, nicking in through his legs and holding off the last defender to slot home and earn a deserved goal.
And on the half hour McArthur got his second and FPC’s fifth from a simple tap in, after unselfish work from Brazil on the left flank, beating the full back before squaring when a shot was also an option. The perfect first half wasn’t to be when FPC needlessly gave away possession from a hopeful punt up the park. With the home side dithering, a couple of neat one twos from Airdrie ended in a well executed turn and shot from 12 yards, which left Glenny with no chance.
Still, a 5 – 1 half time team talk remains most managers idea of a good day. FPC were creating many chances from several corners and some pinpoint deliveries, however some slack strike play kept the score unchanged until 65 minutes. Striker turned provider as Davie T found himself helping out on the right wing, and after a one-two with Foxy, he looped a curling cross right into the centre of the six yard box, where McArthur rolled back the years and acrobatically scissor kicked into the back of the net, completing his hat trick.
A few enforced changes slowed the pace of the FPC offensive, but when the seventh goal came it was as a result of good teamwork involving five players. Totten was fed on the right and played a ball into the feet of stand-in striker Brazil. He held the ball up well under pressure, before unselfishly feeding it back to the onrushing Totten, who slammed it home across the face of goal from the edge of the six yard box. The scoring was rounded off in the last five minutes when Davie T sprung a dubious offside trap after a lovely ball from defence. Seeing the keeper off his line, he floated a perfectly weighted ball over his head from 25 yards to complete his hat trick and give The ‘Corner a seven-goal winning margin for the fourth time in this campaign.
The 100% record is still intact and with a home tie against Millwall in the next round of the British Cup, things are going well for FPC.
Fir Park Corner 8 – 1 Airdrie (IFA Scottish League, 26/11/11)