Sauchie Juniors....................6

Jeanfield Swifts...................0

East Region Superleague

SAUCHIE boosted their Superleague survival hopes with a stunning victory over Jeanfield Swifts at Beechwood Park.

The Wee County side exorcised the demons of the defeat they suffered at the hands of the same opponents earlier in the season and climbed further clear of the drop zone in the process.

Conor Kelly got the scoring underway before half time, after which the home side ran riot.

William Wells netted his second goal in as many league games for his new side, with Craig Comrie, Brian Morgan and David Morrison also on the scoresheet.

Kelly added his second late on to round off a comprehensive victory for the home side in a match played in what were at times monsoon-like conditions.

Sauchie featured two trialists in their squad, with Graham Bowman started in goal in place of the injured Darren Dolan and Ewan Herriot taking his place on the bench.

Swifts enjoyed most of the pressure in the opening stages but Sauchie threatened on the break, and Brian Morgan saw a shot deflected over the crossbar after a quick breakaway.

Bowman didn’t have to wait long for his first taste of action as a Sauchie player, making a good save to deny Daniel Kelly, while from the resulting corner Ant McTaggart was forced into a terrific goal-line clearance.

The goalkeeper made another decent stop to keep out Christopher Anton’s close-range effort, while Anthony Holt was off target for the visitors with a shot from distance.

Despite Jeanfield’s pressure, it was Sauchie who took the lead just after the half-hour mark. Steven Dolan’s driving run out of defence took him deep inside the Swifts half, and he found Kelly who had peeled off his man. The top scorer took a touch and finished expertly beyond Mark Mitchell for his tenth goal of the season.

That sparked the home side into life and they began to dominate, with Mitchell making good saves to deny Morgan and Dolan.

The second half proved a very different spectacle to the first as Sauchie ran riot. The home side had their second just a few minutes after the break when Wells poked the loose ball home after Mitchell could only push Comrie’s cross away.

Comrie was dictating play from midfield and his good performance would be rewarded as he netted with a fine strike. Morgan sent a low cross in from the right and Kelly drew his marker in, stepping over the ball and cleared the way for his team-mate to clip his shot into the top corner.

The visitors were not out of it and Bowman was forced into another good save, getting down low to his left to keep out a low shot from Holt, before Scott Mollison blazed an effort over the bar.

However, Sauchie simply stepped up a gear and added a fourth soon after. Terry Hewitt’s through-ball was perfectly weighted, and Morgan beat the offside trap before lashing his shot across Mitchell and just inside the far post.

The fifth came as a result of sheer persistence. Several players had chances to score, including Mark Sharp whose effort was cleared off the line, before the ball fell to Morrison who found the back of the net at the second time of asking after Mitchell had parried his initial shot.

And the scoring was rounded off in the closing stages by Kelly, who raced onto a slide-rule pass from Darren Cummings and expertly dinked the ball over the advancing goalkeeper to complete a comprehensive victory for the hosts.

It was a richly-deserved victory for the Beechwood Park side, whose performance in the second half was simply too much for Jeanfield to handle, and one which opens up more breathing space for Sauchie as they look to climb further away from the Super League relegation zone.

SAUCHIE: Bowman, Houston, S. Dolan, Bell, Hewitt (Sharp), Comrie (Herriot), McTaggart, Morrison, Kelly, Morgan (Cummings), Wells. UNUSED SUBS: D. Dolan.