Report

TALBOT HIT A MAGNIFICENT SEVEN.

Report: Jim McAuley, Photography: Craig McGhee, Media: Lee Conn.

With both clubs having no game due to the Junior Cup, a friendly match was set up to keep the wheels well oiled as Talbot were down to face Broxburn in the Scottish Cup second round next week. The choice of opposition couldn’t have fared better as the third division side had given Broxburn a run for their money the week previous in the Challenge Cup.

However this match was done and dusted in the opening 25 minutes as Talbot tore the Johnstone based club apart in a class act of deadly finishing, especially from hit man Kyle McAvoy who notched a treble in the opening quarter of the contest.

Beechwood was bathed in the autumn sun as the teams took to the field to the applause of the few hundred that had turned up to watch the up and coming David and Goliath spectacle. After winning the toss Talbot elected to play into the Bank End.

Thorn were posted a warning of the ensuing  onslaught in the opening minutes when Slooves got his head to a corner kick but the ball cannoned off the back of a defender which ended safely in the hands of the keeper.

Talbot took the lead in the 8th minute when Abed’s pass was hooked into the box by Kerr which initially was cleared back towards the defender and his header out to Abed was fizzed into the box where McAvoy nipped in front of a static defence and steered the ball past McWilliams.

Andy Miller grabbed his first Talbot goal  in 14 minutes as he poked a Thomson shot into the net. Talbot had won a corner which was swung into the back post and headed into the danger area by Sime. Keegan managed to head clear but the ball fell nicely to Thomson and his half volley looked like heading for net but the Miller took the deftest of touches to send the ball past McWilliams

Talbot were given a fright shortly after Stewart hammered a 50 yard pass across the field into the unmarked Jones who volleyed first time from around 14 yards, and although he connected with the ball his shot was well saved by Cameron. If the visitors thought this bit of action was a rally call then they were very much mistaken because on the 17th minute McAvoy latched onto a lovely Kerr pass, left Rae in his wake and after charging into the box he dispatched the ball way out of the keepers reach and into the net.

Thorn were rattled by now and were caught out once again as a Kerr ball up the wing was collected by Smith who left the Thorn defence in his wake, took the ball to the bye line and made an excellent pass to the unmarked McAvoy who tapped the ball past McWilliams to make it 4-0 in the opening 20 minutes.

The onslaught continued with Abed forcing McWilliams into a smart save and Sime did well to set up McAvoy but this time the big striker scooped the ball over the bar. Abed also had an effort just over the bar after he intercepted a slack ball from Rae. This proved to be the last piece of action in the second half.

The visitors had decided to replace McWilliams in nets with Tennant from their U20 side and the young keeper was soon in action when he cleared a Kerr cross and then made a great save from Ross Clark who had latched onto the loose ball. Thorn seemed to have put their first half mauling behind them and Glen Cameron had to pull off a brilliant one handed save from a Prete free kick.

Minutes before the hour mark it was 5-0 and no doubt if there had been a linesman present there was a chance the goal wouldn’t have stood as the ball looked to have came off Kerr’s hand. However the game played on which saw Smith thread a delightful ball into the path of Abed who showed a number of defenders a clean pair of heels before placing the ball well out of reach from the onrushing keeper.

Cameron and Clark gave the home support a bit of a fright when a meaningless ball by McLelland saw the two players gift Jones a chance but he shot wildly over the bar. The same player was to score Thorn’s only goal in the 64th minute when Denny went on a lung bursting run up through the Talbot ranks before picking out Jones who slid the ball into the net past the helpless Cameron. Minutes later the big keeper saved the day when Rodger robbed Langan in his own half before setting up Prete whose goal bound shot was cleared by the keeper’s legs.

Talbot’s sixth goal was a present from the Thorn defence who tried to play out of defence, however they were unaware of Mick Wardrope who nipped the ball of the defender, hit the bye line and set up Nimmo who seemed to have the ball stuck in between his feet but to the delight of the home crowd got things sorted out and poked the ball past Tennant.

With five minutes remaining Nimmo finished the scoring from the spot, when Stewart brought down the striker with a clumsy tackle and the youngster gave Tennant no chance with a finely taken penalty.

Referee Haswell’s whistle must have been a welcome noise to the Thorn lads as they were on the wrong end of a hammering , but it was a decent match despite the scoreline. A pleasing sight today was the return of Keiran Healy after a lengthy injury.  Tougher things to come next week.

TALBOT: Cameron, Clark(Healey), Kerr(Hanlon), Miller, Slooves(Healy), Sime(Langan), Walker(Wardrope), Thomson(Boyle), McAvoy(Nimmo), Abed(Gillies), Smith(Boyd). Subs not used Armour, Schoneville.

THORN ATHLETIC:  McWilliams 2. Stewart 3. Quinn 4. Lauchlan 5. Rae 6. Denny 7. Keegan 8. Rodger 9. McKenna 10. Prete 11. Jones (c) miller 14 mcavoy 17 mcavoy 60 abed thorn 65 78 nimmo  85 nimmo1.  ThornMcWilliams 2. Stewart 3. Quinn 4. Lauchlan 5. Rae 6. Denny 7. Keegan 8. Rodger 9. McKenna 10. Prete 11. Jones (c)  SUBS: 12. Dalling 13. Tennant 14. Armstrong 15. Adams 16. McLelland 17. McKnight

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