Fantastic Finish

Soccer World Superleague - Saturday 1 April 2006 Culter 3 v Glentanar 2 (at Crombie Park, Culter) Half Time 1 - 0. Culter Scorers: McRitchie (40 mins) and Shand (82 & 90 mins) Glentanar Scorers: Aitchison (65 mins) and A Campbell (68 mins penaltv)

Culter: Pirie; Sim, Rattray, Calder, Scott, Smith, Craik, Ogboke, McRitchie, Christie, Farmer; Substitutes: Shand, Glass, Ord, Morrison, Allan.

Glentanar: Winton; Ross, Aitchison, A Campbell, Henry, Montgomery, Robb, Shirreffs, Middleton, Tritton, Bartlet; Substitutes: Laing, Green, Mars, S Campbell.

Referee: G Catto. Assistant Referees: J Wiseman and D Forbes.

After more very wet weather we were pleasantly surprised by what turned out to be an afternoon of sunshine at Crombie Park for yet another vital Superleague match. After today's results Culter remain clear leaders.

After an uneventful opening spell the game ended in dramatic fashion. An 18th minute Ross shot was blocked by Rattray with Glentanar appealing vainly for him handling. Next minute Ogboke crossed to McRitchie who failed to connect properly and the ball went wide. An Aitchison drive flashed past the far upright in the 21st minute. A minute later a Calder free kick was headed out by defender A Campbell for a corner. The corner eventually resulted in `keeper Winton turning a close range Ogboke header over for another corner off which Rattray's header went past the far post. On the half hour mark Farmer crossed to Rattray whose try was deflected for another corner which Farmer swung out of play.     After a fine run by Farmer in 32 minutes he crossed to Sim whose close range header was stopped on the goal­

line by Winton. Two minutes later, a fine Sim cross was headed clear by Henry.         A 35th minute Glentanar corner was headed strongly out by Scott.  A short 38th minute Farmer corner to Calder resulted in a further corner which was cleared. Five minutes before the interval after fine play by Sim his high cross was headed home by NEIL McRITCHIE to break the deadlock - Culter's 600th goal of the season! Two minutes before the interval he had another chance to increase our lead but Goalkeeper VVinton blocked his try. Half Time: Culter 1 v Glentanar 0.

In the 52nd minute a Glentanar corner broke to Ross whose strong drive was deflected past for another corner off which Middleton's goalbound try was ably held by Pirie close the post. Next minute McRitchie was booked for going on to "score" after Referee Catto's whistle had gone for offsides.   A 54th minute Glentanar corner was fisted out by Pirie.

Two minute later a high Calder free kick was ably gathered by Winton.    A Calder corner was headed narrowly past by Scott in 59 minutes. A couple of minutes later at the other end following a scramble in our goalmouth Scott did well to intercept Bartlet and turn the ball back to Pirie. Glentanar raided in 65 minutes and AITCHISON headed home a cracking well placed header to equalise.     Three minutes afterwards Farmer pulled down Robb in the box and A CAMPBELL struck in an unstoppable penalty leaving Culter reeling. Ord replaced Farmer in 72 minutes. Next minute a dangerous Ross free kick was well held by Pirie   There was a near escape for Culter in 75 minutes when Pirie came to our rescue by blocking the ball at Bartlet's feet. Glentanar were on top at this stage and in 76 minutes Ross crossed to Aitchison who mis-kicked and the ball went wide. Two minutes later a Ross drive was slightly deflected past for a corner which broke to Bartlet whose shot hit the post and Pirie somehow saved the rebound at Aitchison's feet. Shand was brought on as substitute for McRitchie in 80 minutes and soon made a major impact. In 82 minutes after good play by Ogboke he laid the ball on to give Calder a chance at close range which was blocked and broke to SHAND who hit home a fine equaliser.     Ross broke through in 84 minutes but shot high over.    A fine ball from Rattray found Ogboke in scoring position but Referee Catto's whistle went for offsides in the 86^th minute. Next minute Ogboke won a corner which proved fruitless.    An 89th minute Ord corner was headed out for another Ord corner. It was hit hard across by Sim and headed home by SHAND in the last minute of normal time, following which Goalkeeper Winton earned a booking, apparently for dissent.  The game ran into a couple of minutes injury time following which we were glad to hear Referee Catto's final whistle for a dramatic finish to our 1st of April encounter. We proved no April fools.

Match Day Prize Winners.      Half Time Raffle: Bottle Whisky (donated by James "Jeeker" Brown) - Albert J Moir, Culter (2nd week in succession!); 6 Cans Tennent's Lager- Colin Low, Culter (Albert and Colin are thanked for donating their prizes back to Culter FC); Bottle Wine - Mr Henry.  After Match £20 "Choose Your Team" Competition: Gary Thow, Culter FC.

Next Week's Fixture - Saturday 8 April 2006 - Soccer World Superleague Formartine United v Culter (at North Lodge Park, Pitmedden) Kick Off 2.30 pm.

Forthcoming Fixture - Saturday 15 April 2006 - Soccer World Superleague Sunnybank v Culter (at Heathryfold Park, Aberdeen) Kick Off 2.30 pm.

Cup Competition. The draw for the Semi Finals of the Acorn Heating Cup resulted as follows:­

Culter v Longside or Formartine United (at Crombie Park, Culter) Turriff United or Fraserburgh United v Banks o' Dee or Parkvale.

Scoring Statistics. In 35 games played Culter have won 27 drawn none and lost 8 games, scoring 102 and conceding 43 goals in the process. Scorers are: - M Shand 22, C Ogboke 13, N McRitchie 11, P Stewart 10,

M Rattray 9, D Ord 6. D Calder 4, R Cameron 4, K Christie 3, C Craik 3, G Farmer 3, D Glass 3, C Robertson 3, K Scott 3, C Collie 2, A Sim 1, B Smith 1 and Opponent 1.

Committee Convenes. A Committee Meeting of Culter Football Club will be held in Crombie Park Pavilion, Culter, on Tuesday 4 April 2006 commencing at 7.00 pm.

Margaret's "Money, Money, Money!".         Congratulations go to Margaret Davidson, our Honorary Vice President, lifelong supporter and valued helper on scooping The Scottish Sun new Cash Mountain Contest Jackpot of £10,000!                Margaret was pictured on their Page 1 by Donald Stewart with more details inside their newspaper.

Bulletin Produced by Albert J. Moir Tel. 01224 732006
Match Reporter Ian "Kip" McKenzie