End Upended

Rainbow International Super League

Culter 4 East End 2 H-T 1-2

Scorers: Culter Shand 14, Mountford 48, Sim 53, Cadger 86. East End Ryan Smith 8, Booth 31

What a difference a week makes. After the tribulations of 3 defeats on the bounce Culter got back to winning ways in the League with a gutsy ten man display against a stuffy East End. Referee Gary "Croupier" Duncan handed out more cards than a casino employee but in the end Culter's class told. A superb tactical change at half time by the Deesiders' management team completely changed the face of the game.

Culter started well with a John Brown free kick being cleared off the line and moments later the same player struck a powerful shot off the End wall. Incredibly with only 7 minutes on the clock Martin Pirie collected a back pass and tried to audition for Strictly Come Dancing but only succeeded in letting Dave Booth rob him o1 the ball and then he compounded the error by howking the diminutive striker as he homed in on goal. The referee instantly pointed to the spot and sent the Culter goalie in for an early shower. Skipper Murray Rattray eventually donned the keeper's jersey but was powerless to prevent Ryan Smith from slotting the penalty home. A few minutes later End almost went in front but with Rattray scrambling Richard Wyness hit the post from deep inside the area as Culter struggled to rearrange themselves. Culter got back into the game in the 14th minute when Steve Rintoul free kick was headed back across goal by Adam Wilson and Martin Shand reacted quickest to prod the ball past the despairing arms of Steve Taylor. End were being pegged back at this stage but Rattray had to be at his best when he took a Jim Kirkwood shot well. In the best move of the match thus far End took the lead following some good lead up work and when the ball was whipped into the box Dave Booth dived to send an unstoppable header past the sub `keeper. At the other end Rintoul had a half chance when he fired in a snapshot wide. With half time rapidly approaching Rattray showed amazing aerial ability when he rose to punch an End corner away to safety.

At the start of the second half Mark Hamilton made his debut at the expense of Rintoul as Culter changed their formation to reflect their ten men status. Straight from the kick off Andy Sim hared up the right wing and sent in Shand but the `keeper was alert to the danger and saved well. With only three minutes of the period gone Culter were right back in it when Chris Mountford harried Scott McArthur before sending a low left footer into the back of the net. Hamilton then tried to release Mountford but he was buckled on the edge of the area but Wilson's free kick rebounded off the wall to safety. At the other end of the park there was a scrum in the Culter goalmouth but Rattray managed to grab the ball at the fourteenth attempt. Mr Duncan then started to produce a heez of cards but Culter continued to press for their elusive third goal and they sent on Graham Cadger for Chris Mountford who had run his heart out. The third goal did eventually come from an unlikely but welcome source when Andy Sim outstripped the End defence before thrashing the ball goalwards and although the `keeper pulled off a fine save Simmy followed up to hammer the ball into the net. Near the final whistle Steve Robertson replaced the knackered Shand but it was Graham Cadger who put the icing on the cake when he side footed home a terrific Hamilton square ball after the new man had muscled his way into the box. A remarkable result in difficult circumstances with praise to all but special mention to the Skipper for his heroics.

Culter: Pirie, Sim, Rattray, Wilson, Pressley, Craik, Brown, Mountford, Shand, Rintoul, Farmer. Substitutes: Hamilton, Stewart, Cadger, Craib, Robertson.

East End: Taylor, A.Yeats, Kirkwood, J. Smith, McArthur, Murray, Elliott, P. Yeats, Wyness, Booth, R. Smith. Substitutes: Walker, Wilson, M. Smith, McConnachie

Referee: G Duncan. Assistant Referees: B Dean and J Gover.

Forthcoming Fixtures - Rainbow International Superleague

Saturday 15 December 2007: Dyce v Culter (at Ian Mair Park, Dyce) Kick Off 1.30 p.m.

Saturday 22 December 2007: Culter v Formartine United (at Crombie Park, Culter) Kick Off 1.15 p.m. Saturday 29 December 2007: Free Date.

Match Day Prize Winners - Saturday 8 December 2007.         Half Time Raffle: Bottle Whisky - Steven Leiper, East End FC (Steve by co-incidence won the Half Time Raffle Bottle of Whisky last time East End played Culter on Tuesday 7 August 2007!); Bottle Wine'(donated by Larry Officer) - unclaimed; 6 Cans Tennent's Lager - Bruce Davidson, Culter (Bruce is thanked for donating his prize back for our next Match Raffle). After Match £20 "Choose Your Team" Competition:- James "Jeeker" Brown,  Culter.

Committee Composition. We are delighted to welcome Larry Officer on to our Committee.   Larry, a well known and highly respected referee, has already been helping us out and we are pleased that his membership is now official. Larry's refereeing days started 40 years ago in 1967 when he joined the SFAR Aberdeen & District and had 20 years on the Senior List.   His most memorable appointments were refereeing a Junior International, Linesman at two Scottish Qualifying Cup Finals, Linesman at a Rangers v Celtic game, Linesman at the 1975 Scottish Cup Final and Linesman at the Scottish Football League Centenary International.

Playing Pool. We also extend a welcome to Mark Hamilton who has joined us on a temporary transfer from Buckie Thistle up to 31 Jan `08 and George McBain transferred from Glentanar but he was suspended for yesterday's match.

Scarves Sales.     Gus Johnstone's new Culter FC Scarves are on sale priced at £10 each - an ideal Christmas gift!