03/03/2017  |  League

Cumbernauld Colts   3  v  3  East Stirlingshire

SUPER SUB Jamie Barclay ensured the Colts took a share of the points from a highly entertaining encounter against title chasing East Stirling.

Friday night football was on the agenda at Broadwood and the large travelling support coupled with a healthy home turn out provided a great atmosphere inside the stadium.

And the punters weren�t disappointed as Colts and Shire produced a footballing feast which was a great advert for the Lowland League.

Stephen O�Neill and Sean Brown put Colts two up before Shire hit back with strikes from Andy Rodgers either side of the break.

The visitors looked to be leaving with all three points when Lewis Wilson found his own net but Barclay�s cool finish late in the game made sure the Cumbernauld men earned a deserved point.

Colts began the game brightly looking to get back on track after three consecutive league defeats, and they went close to opening the scoring twice inside the first 20 minutes with efforts from Gary Murray and Andy Hunter.

But the Falkirk side were always going to be a threat at the other end given they�ve scored over 100 goals in all competitions this term, and in 21 minutes Graeme MacGregor then Jamie Glasgow both came within inches of breaking the deadlock.

The deadlock was finally broken in 25 minutes� courtesy of Colts talisman O�Neill who played a neat one-two with Brown on the edge of the Shire box before unleashing an unstoppable left foot volley into the roof of Jamie Barclay�s net.

This gave the hosts a massive lift and ten minutes later they doubled their advantage when Jamie Broadfoot pounced on a loose ball in the middle of the park before playing a defence splitting pass into the path Brown who made no mistake with a cool finish under Barclay�s body.

However, the second Colts goal appeared to spark a reaction from the Shire players and in 38 minutes the visitors reduced the deficit when Rodgers got onto the end of a knock down from Derek Ure�s angled free-kick and the striker slammed the ball low past Chris Fahey.

Shire began the second period with a fresh impetuous looking to claw their way back into the game and went close to an equaliser with efforts from Glasgow and then David Grant.
The Falkirk side continued to dominate although the hosts always looked dangerous on the counter attack, but the equaliser eventually arrived in 69 minutes when the visitors were awarded a penalty.

Ure sent a hopeful ball into the Colts penalty box which should have been dealt with by Daniel MacFarlane or Fahey, but neither took control of the situation and Rodgers nipped in to knock the ball around Fahey and the big keeper pulled the striker down.
Rodgers stepped up to take the spot kick and made no mistake by sending the ball beyond Fahey for his thirtieth goal in all competitions this season.

Things then went from bad to worse for Colts 10 minutes later when they were again guilty of their own downfall as Shire edged in front.
Sludden delivered a dangerous cross into the Colts box from the left and Wilson was unfortunate in knocking the ball past Fahey and into his own net as he tried to clear the danger.

Despite falling behind in cruel circumstances the Cumbernauld side showed great character in the closing stages as they threw everything at the visitors in an effort to rescue a point and they were rewarded in 88 minutes.
Murray showed great composure as he ran towards the Shire defence and the midfielder slid a cute ball into Brown who in turn showed great awareness to turn his man and feed the ball into the path of sub Barclay who came in off the right side to drill the ball across the face of goal into the far corner.

It was a great finish to a great game and one where a share of the points was a fair outcome, and Colts will now be looking to kick on from their strong finish when they travel to Edinburgh Uni in the South of Scotland Cup next Saturday.

East Stirling; Barclay, A Grant, Ramsay, Green, Oliver, MacGregor, Rodgers, Ure, D Grant, Faulds, Glasgow. Subs; Brisbane, Trialist, Sludden, Murray, White.

Stuart Coleman