Rose a Thorn in Culter's Flesh

Scottish Cup 3rd Round : - Culter 0 Linlithgow Rose 4 H-T 0 -1 Scorers: Carrigan 40 75, McArthur 50, Hogg 89

Culter crashed out of the Scottish against a well organised and competitive Rose side although the scoreline flatters the visitors as the Deesiders competed well for much of the match but rarely threatened. It took a hotly disputed penalty to separate the teams in the first half and even the large visiting support were astonished when referee Northcroft pointed to the spot. Rose then dominated the second half and went home worthy winners.

Culter started well and had the majority of the opening spell and Dave Calder threaded the ball through to Paul Morrison but Mike McDermott did well to boot the ball clear from the Culter midfielder's deep cross. With 8 minutes gone Chris Mountford had a great opportunity to put the home side in front when he raced clear but his finish was well dealt with by Steve Oliver in the Rose goal. A few minutes later the visitors put together their, first meaningful attack but Gordon Herd stumbled in the box and the chance was gone. Mountford then had a half chance for Culter but Oliver did well to race from his charge and smother the ball. At the other end McArthur had a chance but Martin Pirie pulled off an easy save as the match swung from end to end. With 5 minutes of the half remaining Danny Craib put in what looked like a terrific challenge on Herd but to the amazement of all the referee pointed to the spot. Once the dust had settled Brian Carrigan stepped up to send Pirie the wrong way and give the visitors an undeserved lead. Moments later Culter almost equalised when a vicious Ryan Presslie free kick was missed by all and went whizzing past Oliver's left hand post. On the stroke of half time Neil McRitchie sent Mountford in and he almost caught Oliver napping with a sharp shot on the turn.

Culter started the second period in determined fashion with Kevin Christie setting Greg Whyte free but he drifted offside at the vital moment. With 5 minutes of the half gone Rose went two up with a fine move with Mark Whyte whipping in a deep cross and McArthur arriving late squeezed the ball into the back of the net to knock the stuffing out of Culter and send Rose into raptures. Culter sent on Gordon Farmer for Whyte and he almost made an immediate impact but his dashing run down the left was halted by a hefty challenge from lain Gallacher. Farmer then sent in a zipping cross which Greig Denham whipped away with McRitchie breathing down his neck. The game was over as a contest in the 75th minute when Carrigan produced a sublime lob which looped over Pirie and nestled in the back of the net. In a desperate attempt to get back into the game Duncan Ord came on for Calder but late in the match Keith Hogg killed any chance of a comeback with a truly super strike from well outside the area.

Culter: Pirie, Cowell, Rattray, Calder, Craib, Presslie, Morrison, Mountford, McRitchie, Christie, G. .Whyte.

Subs: Stewart, Farmer, Craik, Ord, Smith

Linlithgow: Oliver, Gallacher, McDermott, Donnely, Denham, Hogg, M Whyte, Dick, Herd, Carrigan, McArthur.

Subs: Addison, Donaldson, Pow, Bradley, Pinkowski

Referee: M. Northcroft Assistant Referees: C Veitch and W Gerrie

Match Day Prize Winners - Saturday 2 December 2006.   Half Time Raffle - Bottle Whisky - Ross McNeil; Bottle Port - Margo Thomson; Bottle Wine - Frank Milne (who is thanked for donating it back to Culter FC); 6 Cans Tennent's Lager - Ewen Munro, Echt.      

After Match £20 "Choose Your Team Competitions - Doug Milne, Aberdeen and Alice Gall, c/o Culter Mills Social Club.

Forthcoming Fixtures- Soccer World Super League

Saturday 9 December 2006.        Culter v Hillhead (at Crombie Park, Culter) Kick Off 1.30 pm.

Saturday 16 December 2006. Glentanar v Culter (at Woodside Sports Complex, Aberdeen) Kick Off 1.30 pm.

Saturday 23 December 2006. Culter v Formartine United (at Crombie Park, Culter) Kick Off 1.15 pm.

Saturday 30 December 2006. Culter v Sunnybank (at Crombie Park, Culter) Kick Off 1.30 pm.

Committee Convenes.    A Committee Meeting of Culter Football Club will be held in Crombie Park Pavilion, Culter on Tuesday 5 December 2006 commencing at 7.00 pm.

Scoring Statistics.         In 23 games played Culter have won 14 games, drawn five and lost four, scoring 65 and conceding 25 goals in the process. Scorers are:- Shand 10, McRitchie 9, Rattray 9, Mountford 6, Stewart 6, Calder 5, Farmer 5,Christie 3, Morrison 3, Ord 3, Campbell 2, Craib 1, Craik 1, Sim 1 and Opponent 1.

Frank's Fifty Fifth.          Congratulations go to our Committee Member Frank Watt on the occasion of his 55`n birthday yesterday.         Many happy returns Frank.