HiHi Edge Out Thistle In Tight Millfield Encounter

Published on 24 September 2017 by Martin McConnell

Haddington Athletic 3 Dalkeith Thistle 2

Report by Martin Petersen

A surprisingly quiet M8, no doubt helped by thousands of Old Firm fans getting wasted in front of the telly on a Saturday morning, facilitated a record breaking journey time, much to the delight of my child who I’d opted to drag away from her precious WiFi connection for a few hours.

Familiar faces all round with Haris in goal, back four of Geo, Cairney, Wilson and Hamilton, midfield of Honey, Berry and Devlin and Jones and Wrighty down the flanks in support of Scott Moffat. Rumour has it that Bob Wilson will be with us for another month, which considering the fact that we have no other central defenders is very good news indeed. Dalkeith fielded a slightly fitter looking side than the one we hammered 6-0 earlier in the season, whether that was down to having signed new players or getting the existing ones to shed a few pounds I am not sure.

The game started with the home team having the best of the chances, a quick counter after just three minutes saw Jones and Moffat combining well to force a corner, which sadly didn’t lead to anything. A similar outcome was the fate of the next HiHi chance where Wrighty was fouled hard from behind, and a free kick was swung into the box where it ping ponged around for a bit before finally being cleared. On ten minutes, another chance was squandered as Andy Jones found himself with plenty of space on the counter following a Dalkeith corner, but his right footed shot was rather unimpressive and definitely fell firmly in the “failed to trouble the keeper” category.

Dalkeith then had a period of sustained pressure lasting a good 10 minutes, but all they had to show for their efforts was a 20 yarder straight into the arms of Haris. Once the HiHi managed to get back in the game halfway through the first, a few chances started coming the home team’s way, a Wilson header from a Devlin corner was cleared off the line and Moffat set up Wrighty for a tragically harmless effort a couple of minutes later.

Things really started picking up on the stroke of half time as former HiHi player Paul Tansey chased a long ball and appeared to have his studs up as he challenged Haris, not much in it, but plenty of arguing and name calling ensued. Shortly after a Dalkeith striker made the most of not being touched by Wilson, winning a free kick near the corner flag down the left flank, which was delivered into the box and cleared only to be hit with force from 25 yards calling Haris into action with his first proper save of the game.

Two minutes later the HiHi broke down the left as they have done on so many occasions this season, only this time Andy Jones took things into his own hands, and from about 25 yards out he sprinted in from the left, across the box, leaving a couple of Dalkeith defenders in his wake and calmly fired a right footed shot into the bottom corner for a deserved 1-0 lead.

A couple of good HiHi attacks followed, but a few squandered corners and 20 yarder which went well wide from Honey, was all the home team had to show for this period of pressure. Dalkeith increased the tempo just before half time, and the moment of the half came as a result of some comical defending and failed clearances from the HiHi defence which left a Dalkeith player clean through ten yards out, Haris to the rescues with an outstanding reflex save diving to his right. Pretty unbelievable stuff for this level to be honest, and a nice way to finish the half.

The second started as the first finished with Haris grabbing the headlines (no, not literally) with another great save, after Geo’s attempt to bulldoze his way out of defence which failed for once, allowing Dalkeith to have a pop from the edge of the area. The solid defender took revenge shortly after with a stunning 40-yard drive, which was just tipped over by the Dalkeith keeper, the resulting corner was cleared for another corner which Moffat somehow managed to get a Zlatan style back heel flick on, unfortunately, the keeper was on hand to safely gather the ball.

Moffat was back in action seconds later rattling the post with a powerful header from an excellent Chris Cairney cross, and the prolific striker hadn’t finished yet. With 53 minutes on the clock Geo grabbed the ball for a throw on the left side half way up his own half and barked at Moffat near the half way line to “flick it to Jonesy”, the long throw found Moffat who inevitably won the header and flicked it to Jones, who raced clear of the defence and squeezed a trademark left foot flat finish under the keeper for a 2-0 HiHi lead. A hectic start to the second half you could argue, but things were about to get even more interesting.

After 12 minutes, the Dalkeith keeper collected a ball in the box, and the cynical observer would perhaps point out that a HiHi player had a sneaky late kick at his gut, either way a large amount of pushing broke out and a couple of Dalkeith players earned themselves a booking for their efforts. Only two minutes later Geo went down injured and had to leave the pitch, as already mentioned the HiHi aren’t exactly blessed with a plethora of central defenders, so Honey dropped into the back 4 with Gillan coming on to take his place in midfield.

Dalkeith restarted the game by immediately firing a long ball into the box to test the Geo-less defence, and unsurprisingly they won a header at the back post which was floated back across the goal for the unmarked Whitson to reduce the deficit with an easy finish into an empty net after 15 minutes of the second half. The home team came back strong though, Berry had a free kick saved a few minutes later, followed by a powerful shot by Gillan which grazed the crossbar midway through the half, but better was to come for the young loanee.

Some excellent pressure by the HiHi midfield allowed Andy Jones to fly down the left as usual, but rather than sticking to his tried and tested scuffed left footed finished in at the far post, he hit the ball cleanly which allowed the keeper to block it, fortunately Gillan had made the run from midfield and was on hand to tuck home the rebound restoring the two goal lead.

Cracks were starting to appear in the Haddington defence though, and Dalkeith were growing in confidence as the HiHi players appeared to tire after having done most of the running for the first 75 minutes. With ten minutes left, a moment of controversy followed by a moment of hilarious madness provided a much more exciting finish to the game than anyone could have hoped for. A long ball over the top for Dalkeith striker Cairns put him in a foot race with Cairney, and there may or may not have been a lot of contact, but Cairns went down and Cairney was shown a red card.

Now, Cairney has been on relatively good behaviour for the last few games, but this clearly tipped the scales back in favour so he picked up the ball and chucked it at him which for some reason outraged Paul Tansey who had to be restrained by his team mates. When things eventually calmed down and Cairney (who some readers will recall being called Sir in a recent match) had made his way to the dressing room, Tansey fired the resulting free kick through a crowd of players an into the back of the net to make it 3-2.

The last ten minutes consisted of some frantic balls backwards and forwards, with Bob Berry putting in a herculean effort both tracking back and holding up the ball in the opposition corners. With 94 minutes on the clock Dalkeith were on the receiving end of an off-side call which didn’t go down well with the away bench, and in the dying seconds Wilson clattered into Tansey on the edge of the box, but the Dalkeith man could only find the side netting with the resulting free kick, which turned out the be the last action of the game.

Attendance: Mostly older people as you’d expect in Haddington.

We have a truck load of points compared to the last season, a consistent style of play and there is noticeably less swearing between the players.

An big shout-out to Andy Jones who has undergone a remarkable transformation this season, with his rugby style running past defenders, great link up play with Hamilton down the flank and feeding off the great hold up play and flicked headers from Moffat, he has been a joy to watch this season.

Hopefully Geo’s injury isn’t too bad, but if it keeps him out for the next game, then at least Bob Berry won’t have to get screamed at quite so much if he has to cover for the suspended Cairney at right back.