League: Uist & Barra League
North Uist United vs Barra
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Iochdar Saints vs North Uist United
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North Uist United vs Southend
North Uist United 3 Southend 1
Southend put us under a fair bit of pressure in the early stages of the derby with their wingers getting a fair bit of joy against us. After creating a few chances they scored after some sloppy defending on our part. This led us to make an early change with Mark MacInnes coming on to replace young Alexander to add some experience to our back line. Neither team really created anything of note in the rest of the half but we could certainly feel the tide beginning to turn in our favour.
We decided to take Andrew on at half time to add some more killer instinct up top to try and capitalise on some of the good football we were playing. We certainly looked more dangerous from the restart and it wasn’t long before we got some reward. Angus MacIntosh pounced on a loose ball in the box to tap the ball in following a dangerous ball in from Calum MacDonald. From this point we were determined to get the three points and kept piling on the pressure. Eventually in the 84th minute we got the breakthrough with a moment of magic from Calum scoring a top corner screamer from 35 yards. Southend went close with a free kick shortly after this but in the 91st minute Andrew made sure of all three points when he beat his defender and got his shot away. The keeper saved but could only parry the ball into the path of the on rushing Andrew who had a tidy finish. 3-1 is how the game finished.
To summarise; it was a rather scrappy and tight game that either team could’ve won but we managed to edge it in the key moments to ensure we got our first points of the season on the board.
MOTM: Mark, he came on against one of the most dangerous opposing players and completely nullified his threat. He gave us all a lesson on how to win the ball hard but fair.
Hopefully we can build some momentum now and keep the positive results coming for the rest of the season. Next game is Saints away on Thursday evening.
Many thanks for your valued support
Fraser
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Eriskay vs North Uist United
Eriskay 5 North Uist United 1
We travelled up with a young team to play Eriskay FC on Tuesday night in a rearranged league fixture. We had a decent first half in a new system for the smaller Eriskay park. Defending well and getting a lot of space out wide. It was quite a stop-start half with both teams having chances but not many clear cut. Eriskay did get the breakthrough from a free kick which took a lucky bounce off the turf right in front of the diving Tom in goals. We finished the half confidently although we were 1-0 down.
In the second we completely fell apart not closing down the ball quickly enough whilst pressing and also not using the ball wisely when we had it. We often played the ball straight out of play under no real pressure as well as choosing the wrong option regularly whilst trying to play the ball forward. Before we knew it we were 5-0 down and the decent first half was completely overshadowed by the lacklustre display in the second. Eriskay did score some nice goals but that is no excuse for the way we collapsed following the second goal! Calum MacDonald did get a consolation goal close to the end with a brilliantly taken free kick on his wrong foot, however it was too late to form any sort of comeback.
MOTM: Ben Shepherd. He had an excellent first half as a sweeper mopping up everything that got near the back line.
Our next game is on Friday night at home v Southend 7pm kick off. Hopefully see a crowd there to cheer us on; and we’ll be sure to put on a better performance.
Many thanks for your support as always
Fraser
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Benbecula vs North Uist United
Benbecula 4-3 North Uist United
Missing a number of players from the team on Friday due to injuries, holidays and work commitments left us with the smallest squad of the season so far. We won the toss first half and decided to go against the wind and rain so we could attack in the second. This backfired after some really poor defending all over the park in a 15 minute spell which led us to being 4-0 down before we could even react. We managed to regroup and settle for the last fifteen minutes of the half to limit the damage going into the break.
At half time we believed that we could still get a result with the severe conditions on our side. We started fast and put pressure on Benbecula straight away. On the 50th minute Calum Macdonald scored a curling effort to give us some belief. We upped the intensity and again Calum pounced on a loose ball and sent another cutler past their keeper. We continued to push and probe the opposing defence which paid off when Bengie won a free kick on the edge of the area. Calum looking for his third had a great effort saved by the keeper which fell kindly to myself in the box where I placed the ball over the keeper into the net. At 4-3 with 15 minutes to go we kept looking for the equaliser but unfortunately we couldn’t come up with the breakthrough despite a number of close moments.
To summarise: It really was a game of two halves with Benbecula dominating the first and us with the conditions on our side dominating the second bar a few chances here and there for the team against the wind. We can take positives from the fact we never gave up even at 4-0 down however we must look at ourselves for the abysmal defending on display in the first half. On reflection I feel as though a point would’ve been a fair result.
MOTM: Calum. Although he had a quiet first half he was tremendous in the second. Scoring two and being heavily involved in the third he really was our most dangerous threat in the final third. Special mention to Ben and Fazel who ran their socks off and never gave up on anything all game.
Next game is Eriskay away on Tuesday night at 18:45. Hopefully see a few of you there.
As always many thanks for your valued support,
Fraser
vs North Uist United vs Iochdar Saints
North Uist United 2 Iochdair Saints 5
Tuesday night saw us take on Saints at Paible in the league. We got off to a slow start again in the game and really struggled to get up the park. Saints got a couple of goals early on and then hit another one to make it 3-0 by the time we got to half way through the first half. This gave us a massive wake up call and we finally started to play some football, passing the ball around the Saints team and working our way forward. The spaces started to appear and we squandered a couple of chances before Calum MacDonald scored two really well taken goals one after the other cutting in from the left. Another couple of chances came and went in the half before the half ended 2-3 to Saints.
All the momentum was with us going into the break and we were confident we could turn the tie around. We suffered a blow shortly after when we conceded a real sloppy goal from a set piece which left us a mountain to climb. We continued to push to get back into the game and still produced a number of opportunities but couldn’t find the net. Saints got another one on the counter and the game finished 2-5. On reflection of the game, we had enough chances to win the game but couldn’t put them away; whereas Saints took all of their clear cut chances!
MOTM: It’s really between two players in this game. If it was solely on the first half then it would go to Calum but I think over the whole course of the game it has to go to Adam Keltie who created problems for Saints all game and also defended well when called upon at full back.
Our next game is away to Eriskay in the summer cup on Saturday at 4pm. Hope to see a few of you there for your valued support.
Many thanks
Fraser
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North Uist United vs Eriskay
Late comeback wasn’t enough to secure victory; North Uist United 3 Eriskay 4
We started the game on Friday night really poorly, with the recent run of games clearly starting to show for some of the lads. Eriskay were on the front foot from the off and created some half decent opportunities early on. Tom produced a couple of decent stops in the first exchanges along with some decent defending to keep them out. Unfortunately their talisman Dom MacAulay couldn’t be kept quiet for long scoring two in the first half despite our best efforts to nullify his threat. We did have a couple of efforts on goal, the best was a low shot from David Downham which hit the inside of the post and flashed across the face of goal. However we couldn’t claw a goal back.
At half time we discussed ways to improve and we changed to a 4-4-2 formation to try and have more of a threat up top. We had a large chunk of the possession in the second half and created many more chances than in the first but still Dom managed to score another two for Eriskay against the run of play. We refused to give in though and in the last 15 mins we really came to life. Adam won a penalty for us on the 82nd minute which Andrew MacSween converted well. On the 84th minute Andrew got his second after a good run into the box from Ruri Macleod. The pick of our goals was certainly the third on the 86th minute after Ross hit a ball over the top and Andrew took it in his stride hitting it over their keeper on the volley. For a while it looked like we were going to complete the comeback with an onslaught on the Eriskay goal in the final stages but Eriskay held firm and saw out the win.
MOTM: Mark MacInnes just wins it in this game with his good defending throughout but mainly for his drive and energy to get forward in the second half from right back often finding himself firing a cross in after running the full length of the pitch. Not to mention his shot that came off the underside of the bar right on the final whistle. Ben also had an excellent game and Andrew put away three goals so was also close to the award along with our keeper Tom who made some crucial saves to keep us in the tie.
Our next game is on Tuesday night in Paible 7pm v Iochdar Saints. Hope to see a good crowd there again.
Many thanks for your support
Fraser
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