By John Armour
Johnstone Burgh produced an incredible comeback from 4-1 down, with 20 minutes remaining, to claim an unlikely point against Cumbernauld Colts on Saturday’s Scottish Lowland League West fixture at Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld.
Burgh manager Stevie Farrell made eight changes from the starting XI that beat Saint Anthony’s 2-0 at McKenna Park last Saturday (5th September). Out went Luke Scullion, Scott Williamson, Leon Murphy, Scott Forrester(No longer at the club), Lewis King, Noah Grady, Max Kerr and Gabriel Nosa. In came Brett Long, Kian Gilday, Mark Durnan, Mark Barrowman, Ian McShane, Malky McDonald, Broque Watson and Aaron Mason. New signing Sam Jamieson, who joined the club from Troon, started the match on the bench.
Cumbernauld Colts had the first chance of the match in the 2nd minute when the ball broke to Jamie Semple just inside the box. However, his right foot shot from 16 yards was a wild one, which went well wide of the right hand post and out for a throw in.
Johnstone Burgh had their first chance to open the scoring in the 7th minute when Stuart Faulds’ low cross into the box from the right was dummied by Aaron Mason, giving the chance to Broque Watson, but his low right foot shot from 14 yards was well blocked.
The home side opened the scoring in the 11th minute as Jude Freel collected the ball just inside his own half before he turned brilliantly to give himself the space to go on a driving run towards goal. He then put through a fine pass to find Harrison Howe, who ran into the box, taking the ball past Kian Gilday before producing a cool right foot finish into the bottom left hand corner of the net from 8 yards.
The Burgh came close to levelling the match in the 24th minute when Aaron Mason went on a brilliant run on the left wing before putting a dangerous left foot cross into the box that found Del Esplin, but his first time right foot shot from 6 yards was well saved by Cumbernauld Colts goalkeeper David Wilson.
The Keanie Park side were not to be denied for much longer though, as they equalised in the 27th minute. Ian McShane’s right foot free kick from around 25 yards, in the centre of the pitch, found Mark Durnan at the back post and he made no mistake as he nodded the ball into the left hand corner of the net from 6 yards.
A minute later, in the 28th minute, “The Colts” regained the lead with a sensational goal. Mark Durnan’s poor clearance fell straight to Jamie Semple just outside the box, and he then fired an unstoppable right foot shot on the half-volley into the top left hand corner of the net in off the post.
Cumbernauld Colts scored their third goal of the afternoon in the 43rd minute, when Aiden McLaughlin’s miss-hit left foot shot from 20 yards fell to Thomas Horn, who showed great close control before firing a right foot shot into the left side of the net from 7 yards.
The final chance of the first half came from the home side in the 45th minute. Aiden McLaughlin’s corner from the left found “The Colts” club captain Callum Home, but his header from 6 yards went just wide of the left hand post.
Half time: 3-1
After a low key start to the second half, it was Cumbernauld Colts who extended their lead to go 4-1 up in the 58th minute. A long ball from Callum Home, deep inside his own half, found Thomas Horn, who went on to nick the ball past the on-rushing Brett Long, before rolling a left foot shot from around 10 yards into the empty net.
Despite being three goals down, The Burgh continued to fight, and had the next chance to score in the 63rd minute. Stuart Faulds’ defence splitting pass from inside his own half put Malky McDonald through on goal, but his high right foot shot from 10 yards hit the inside of the right hand post, then the outside of the left hand post, and somehow the ball didn’t end up in the back of the net.
With the game seemingly over, Johnstone Burgh had other ideas as they reduced the deficit in the 70th minute. Max Kerr’s cross from the left was punched clear by David Wilson, but the ball fell straight to Aaron Mason, who then lashed a low first time shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net from 17 yards.
The Burgh came close to scoring again in the 72nd minute as substitute Sam Jamieson, who was making his debut for the club today, put a fine pass through to find Gabriel Nosa, but his left foot shot from 8 yards was cleared off the line by Jack Devlin.
The Keanie Park side had plenty of momentum and scored their third goal of the afternoon in the 80th minute. Malky McDonald’s fine pass found Ian McShane in the left hand side of the box. McShane then fired the ball low and hard across the face of goal, which was then diverted high into the net from 6 yards by Oliver Hynd for an unfortunate own goal.
The away support continued to get behind their team, and it was Johnstone Burgh who scored again to level the match and make it 4-4 in the 84th minute. Max Kerr’s corner kick from the right found Mark Durnan, who headed the ball into the left hand corner of the net from 5 yards, for his second goal of the match.
The vocal Burgh support were pushing the players on to get the winning goal, and the chance came for that to happen in the second minute of added time. Gabriel Nosa’s headed flick on, on the halfway line, released Aaron Mason for a clear run through on goal. He had two options, to either square the ball to Sam Jamieson, or to go for goal. He went for goal, but his powerful right foot shot from 16 yards was saved by David Wilson, to ensure the points were shared in an incredible match at Broadwood Stadium.
Following today’s result, Johnstone Burgh remain in 8th place on the table, on 12 points after seven matches played.
Full time: Cumbernauld Colt 4 Johnstone Burgh 4
Cumbernauld Colts FC goals: Howe 11, Semple 28, Horn 43+58.
Johnstone Burgh FC goals: Durnan 27+84, Mason 70, Hynd(OG) 80.
Man Of The Match: Malky McDonald
Cumbernauld Colts FC: Wilson, Devlin (Smith 85), Home(C), Hynd, Fernie, McLauchlin, Walker, Freel (Williams 85), Semple (Brown 80), Howe (McCormick 85), Horn (McKay 69).
Unused subs: Kearney(GK), Mann.
Johnstone Burgh FC: Long, Faulds, Gilday (Nosa 70), Durnan, Barrowman, Esplin(C) (King 61), Watson (M.Kerr 61), McDonald, K.Kerr (Jamieson 61), McShane, Mason.
Unused subs: Scullion(GK), Williamson, Murphy.
Match Officials –
Referee: Brent Falconer
Assistant Referee 1: Ewan Pow
Assistant Referee 2: Kieran Degnan
A big thank you to all the Johnstone Burgh supporters who travelled to Cumbernauld this afternoon to back the team.
Next up for Johnstone Burgh is a trip to Portland Park to play Troon FC in the Scottish Lowland League West on Wednesday 16th September. Kick off is at 7:45pm.
See you all in Troon on Wednesday evening.
