Denis is two good for Leck

Published 9 Sep 2010 09:30 0 Comments

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By Mick Hydes - Arthurlie 2 Auckinleck 1

ARTHURLIE continued their great start to the league campaign with a hard-earned three points thanks to another solid defensive display and two quality strikes from new front-man Denis McLaughlin.

Manager Mark Cameron was thrilled with the display.

He said: “I don’t think both teams were at their best today and at 1-1 the game could have gone either way.

“We showed a great deal of character that I have just given the boys a lot of praise for as we kicked on and could have gone for a third goal to kill off the game. But today required a resilient defence that held their own against a quality side.

“We have a lot of character now and are winning games that last season we may have lost.”

With reference to hit-man McLaughlin, Cameron added: “Denis worked hard today and took a lot of bumps and knocks but got the just rewards with his two quality finishes and there are still aspects of his game that he is still working on but he and John-Paul Boyle put tremendous shifts in and they were magnificent together today.”

Talbot started with more urgency and created two early chances with the left-wing pace of Bryan Young causing the Lie back-line a few problems with Steve Mallan getting onto the end of one clear opportunity that Neil Parry pushed away.

And the same striker completely fluffed an almost identical opening a few minutes later.

The visitors were made to rue the misses as Lie took a 23rd minute lead when Talbot failed to clear their lines and in a flowing move.

Steven McKeown fed J.P. Boyle down the right flank and his first time low cross expertly found the goal-bound McLaughlin to fire home his opening league goal.

In a similar move ten minutes later McLaughlin finished a three man move in style but was adjudged to be off-side.

Leading up to the interval, Talbot kept pressing and had strong penalty appeals waved away a minute before the break when Young clashed with keeper Parry with Dave Merriman on-hand to sweep up the loose ball.

Merriman was on-hand to provide a vital clearance early in the second period with John Johnston also producing a vital last-ditch tackle as Talbot posed a threat from corners.

Ten minutes into the second period however, the pressure paid off when from a move down the left flank, Young crossed and Graham Smith placed a header back across goal that Merriman’s acrobatics could not quite prevent the ball from finding the back of the net for the equaliser.

Tempers flared shortly afterwards in a mass brawl on the half-way line that resulted in two bookings, Johnston for Lie and McVey for the visitors.

Just after the hour mark, once calm had been restored, Lie again took the lead with the goal of the game when after a spell of pressure with Lie holding the ball on the edge of the penalty area.

Johnston played a clever ball to the right hand-side that McLaughlin raced past McKeown to claim the opportunity and despite off-side claims he calmly buried the ball into the bottom corner.

It was a fitting winner that McLaughlin deserved and he said:“It was an excellent result for us today and I was really happy with the two goals.

“I’m just looking to get a good full season under my belt and score a few goals and the partnership with John-Paul is going great and we just need to keep working well together.”

In relation to Talbot’s appeals for off-side for his second goal the striker added “I thought that Steven McKeown may have been off-side but I did not think twice about it as I just took my chance to stick it away”

The front pairing for Lie had worked tirelessly throughout and gaffer Cameron replaced Boyle with ex St. Mirren star Junior Mendes for the last fifteen minutes who appeared as a trialist with Cameron explaining:“He had run all day and had nothing left in the tank”.

Mendes impressed and looked fit and was instrumental in a late flurry by supplying a great ball down the right wing for McKeown to find John McLay in the centre of the penalty area and his powerful header smashed against the foot of the post for what would have added gloss to a fine Lie display.

Overall, a very promising display from the Dunterlie men who sit proudly joint on points at the top of the table

Arthurlie: Parry; Miller, Merriman, F. McKeown, Walker; S. McKeown, Keenan, Johnston, McLay; McLaughlin, Boyle (Mendes); unused subs; Adam, Lundie, Crawford, Bonar, Ardelany, Bisset

Auchinleck: Leishman; Latta, Collins, McGoldrick, McVey; Smith, Spence (Carson), White, Young; Mallan, Boyle; unused subs; Anderson, Sloan

Next Game: Saturday 11th September Cumnock (A) 2pm

This article appeared in Barrhead News 08 Sep 10

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