DAFC FFIT v Coldstream

Inaugural DAFC FFIT League Game ends in Victory

Yesterday saw the inaugural game in the newly formed CSS SOFFA League where teams adhering to the FFIT criteria play against each other. The league consists of 8 teams as follows: Dunfermline, Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Raith Rovers, East Fife, Livingston and Coldstream. This covers East, West, North and South of Scotland so plenty of travelling to do. Games are played every fortnight.

Onto yesterday’s game. Our visitors travelled up from the borders, a journey of an hour and a half, but delayed slightly due to the volume of traffic on the Edinburgh City by-pass. Their arrival was 30 minutes prior to kick-off, so far from ideal.
Dunfermline had a squad of 18 to choose from, so plenty of depth. Our visitors squad numbered 14. Perhaps this was going to be a factor later in the game.
The weather was not the best. It was a mixture of showers and wind which affected some of the play, especially early in the game as the players tried to get used to the challenging playing conditions. From the kick-off the Dunfermline team took the game to our visitors. With a strong starting lineup and an attacking formation, we continued to be on the front foot for much of the first half. Our play was a mixture of overhit passes with the wind at our backs to some good passing plays along the ground which led to some excellent chances. The Coldstream keeper towered above his defenders and comfortably dealt with most of our crosses. We did create opportunities to score but many of them resulted in shots going narrowly wide. One of the best opportunities was when Craig manged to beat the last line of defence with a great through ball, only for the ref to call it back for an offside. That decision appeared harsh as Craig looked to be well onside when the ball was played. Late in the first half Liam Orwin found himself through on goal but his well struck shot was well saved by their keeper. The game remained at 0-0 at half time with our keeper Neil only having one real save to make in the first half.

Although we felt we had controlled much of the first half, we had nothing to show for it. We faced the prospect of playing against the wind in the second half. Much of our play in the first half was down the right side of the park. We needed to get more balance in the second half.
As the second half kicked-off the Pars side had introduced our third and fourth subs. The start of the second half was much like the first with the Dunfermline team on the front foot. Some good interchanges of play continued to create chances, but the Coldstream keeper remained a stubborn last line of defence to thwart them. However, it was not long before all that was about to change. A mazy run by Slatts into the penalty box saw him challenged to the ground. The Pars players and supporters shouted for a penalty, but the ref was having none of it. However, the ball broke to Craig on the right-hand side of the box, and he drilled a low shot into the far corner of the net, much to the joy of the Pars players. The penalty claim was no longer an issue. The opening goal seemed to give the whole team a lift. A through ball down the left-hand side of the pitch saw Billy keep the ball in play with what looked like an awkward way to gather the ball, however that too was quickly forgotten when he turned near the touchline and delivered an excellent cross where Slatts was on hand to steer the ball past the keeper. 2-0 to the Pars side who were now in full flow. Credit to the Coldstream team though. They kept plugging away and created an excellent chance themselves where they managed to get the ball past our keeper only for Sean to clear the ball off the line. His clearance led to us moving the ball quickly up field and an excellent cross from Andy saw Liam head past the Coldstream keeper with a diving header at the far post. 3-0 to the Pars and probably a much fairer reflection of our play throughout the game. Midway through the second half Robbie returned to the field of play this time on the right side of midfield. Within a couple of minutes, he was on the end of another cross ball from the left-hand side of the pitch from the edge of the penalty area to hammer a shot high into the roof of the net, again at the back post. The excellent delivery was from Ryan.

As the game neared full time, the visitors continued to seek that elusive goal and created several chances. However, Neil managed to keep them at bay and the Pars side ran out worthy winners 4-0. An excellent shut out for Neil. The result was all the more impressive as Coldstream are an excellent side and played some good football throughout. It was just our day to excel. Three of our goals came from the left had side, so that adjustment at half time paid dividends in the end.

One blemish on the day was seeing Sean go down in pain with a bad knee injury late in the game. It was a sore one and had to leave the field of play on crutches. He likely to be side-lined for a couple of months. Speedy recovery Sean.

Today was our first ever FFIT league match. We have been going for 11 years, won cup competitions, played and won a trophy in Europe and now our journey continues with the new league format. A new chapter in our history and many of the players did not think that they would be playing competitive football at this stage in their lives. A shoutout to the whole team for the way that they played the game. Everyone played their part in getting the ball on the ground and passing. A special mention to Neil for his first shutout and there were excellent performances too from Soapy, Craig, Slatts and Andy, but everyone excelled during the game.
Dunfermline FFIT go the top of the table on our first outing. The challenge will be to stay there as long as we can.

Dunfermline FFIT 4 Coldstream 0
Scorers, Craig, Slatts, Liam, Robbie
Assists: Billy, Andy, Ryan
Thanks to the following for coming along to support us … Brian Milligan, Ryan McAughey, John Ferrigan, Liam O`Reilly, Mark Eglington, Gerry Heyburn, David Anderson, Richy Richmond, Paul Drummond and Roxy