The home side took the initiative during a scrappy opening period. FPC offered little going forward in the opening period of play but Boyd was effective down the left linking up well with Dave Hendry. The defence however were impressive at handling the long ball and intricate wing play with ease. However, a mistake after 15 minutes saw Atletico take a deserved lead.
It could have been two within minutes if it had not been for Malcolm Boyd. His last ditch challenge upended the onrushing Atletico forward just outside the area. The resulting free kick was driven against the defensive wall. An injury to Boyd would see the introduction of two debutants in Ramage and Alexander as FPC shuffled the midfield pack. New signing Alexander linked well with Dave Hendry and Gardiner as the Corner pushed for the equaliser while Ramage battled well in the centre
FPC would finish the half the stronger of the two sides with numerous chances created. Gardiner struck the post while Pettigrew had a few close range chances saved by the keeper. But with the Athletico players camped inside their 18 yard box the equaliser was to come courtesy of Mark Gardiner. He finished from 7 yards following a ricochet from Daryn Alexander’s drive. The pressure continued as FPC moved the ball about well with a number of chances. A combination of last ditch defending and excellent goalkeeping meant the sides went in at the break honours even.
The balance of play shifted at the start of the second half with the home side carving the Corner defence open at will. Athletico won a string of corners while FPC resorted to the long ball in order to break away from the pressure.
Atheltico took the lead five minutes into the second half. The Corner failed to clear the ball adequately and a long range effort beat an unsighted Mitchell. Minutes later Athletico added to their lead after further sloppy defending. The now customary Fir Park Corner collapse seemed to have begun at this point, but unlike other matches this season this seemed to spur the team on.
The Corner began to pass the ball about well and pressure the Bilbino defence. It took a magnificent move in the 60th minute to get a goal back. Chris Miller won the ball in the midfield with the ball finding its way out left to Fraser who released Alexander, who converted the chance well.
Alexander continued to torment the home side’s defence and went on to win a penalty minutes later. However, he failed to convert as the Corner looked to have successfully completed a comeback.
Surprisingly FPC continued to dominate, however as the away side pushed for the equaliser gaps again appeared in the FPC defence. The pace of the Bilbino forward line had caused problems throughout the match and it did again as the offside trap was broken allowing the striker to fire beyond an onrushing Mitchell.
There were more Corner chances in the closing minutes. Hepworth came close from a corner which appeared to be handled on the line while Chris Miller was unable to convert from a tight angle following a darting run down the right. However, the Bilbino defence held out for the three points.
Fir
Mitchell
Wyper J Hendry Hepworth Speedie
Gilberto Fraser D Hendry Boyd
Pettigrew Gardiner
Substitutes:
Alexander, Ramage and Miller
On the 1st of April a