Glover at the double to down Rushen
CLOSE CONTEST: Rushen winger Ste Riding tries to find a way through a stubborn St Johns defence during the Canada Life Premier League clash at Mullen y Cloie on Saturday while referee Tony McMeiken looks on in the background. McMeiken collided with a player early on and subsequently broke his arm but amazingly still managed to carry on and finish the game
St John’s United maintained their push for a Railway Cup semi-final berth on Saturday with a last-gasp victory over rivals Rushen United in the Canada Life Premier League ‘match of the day’ at Mullen y Cloie.
During a hotly-contested and lively encounter the Saints were forced to come from behind with two dramatic second-half goals during a game that remained unpredictable to the end.
The Tynwald Hill boys, in fact, looked sharp from the outset with back-to-form Stephen Glover twice testing southern custodian Tom Strivens.
But as the game progressed the visitors, aided by a solid looking back four, gradually worked their way into the contest and with Steve Riding impressive began to look dangerous themselves.
Then late in the half Mark Haywood’s side took a deserved lead as new boy Gareth Lloyd reacted smartly to fire past the stranded in-form keeper Damyan Petkov.
The visitors resumed the second period just as they had ended the first with fine efforts from Michael Williams and Alex Guy being denied by the Saints Bulgarian shot-stopper.
As the second half progressed the momentum swung once again and, inspired by player manager Nick Hurt who slipped from defence into midfield, the home side began to create chances of their own.
As the Rushen defence hesitated Glover stepped in to grab the equaliser.
The match became very much an end-to-end affair but clear cut chances remain few and far between.
Rushen substitute Neil Curphey broke cleverly into the box but, under pressure, was forced to shoot wide.
At the other end Saints Jamie Moffatt produced a fine effort from the edge of the box which required a superb save from Strivens.
Then as the game moved into added time up popped Glover, who out-paced the southern defence before slamming home the winner. The strikers celebrations, which included removing his shirt, demonstrated the home side’s relief at maintaining their impressive 100 per cent home record, the only one left in the Premier League.
Referee Tony McMeiken collided with a St John’s player, John Wrigley, early on in the contest and subsequently broke his arm. Despite the injury, the referee impressively carried on and officiated the rest of the game.
TEAM CHECK
St John’s: Damyan Petkov, Eric Kelly, Sam Ingham, Nick Leung, Johnny Holland, John Wrigley (Jamie Moffatt) Louis Morris, Nick Hurt, Andy Glover (Craig Dolman), Stephen Glover, Nicky Sloan (Tony Duggan)
Rushen: Tom Strivens, Alex Maitland, Michael Baker, Adam Cregeen, Chris Shimmin, Ciaran Brown, Gareth Lloyd (Jack Saxon), Steve Riding, Michael Williams, Aaron Hawley, Alex Guy (Neil Curphey)
Referee: Tony McMeiken - handled a difficult game well and, as it turned out, continued officiated for the best part of 80 minutes with a broken arm
Assistants: Danny Cowin and Peter Halpin.
Man of the Match: Stephen Glover - his goals were the deciding factor in the game
Match rating: HHHII
Attendance: 78
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Weather for Isle of Man
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
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Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
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