Dalbeatie Star 1

Gala Fairydean Rovers 2

John Clayton at Islecroft Stadium

ON a fine day in Galloway the Dalbeattie pitch appeared to be in good condition, but that belied the fact that it was saturated as the ball barely bounced and it cut up through the game.

The heavy pitch and the divots could in part excuse the fractured nature of the play from both teams.

A passing game was difficult but it appeared that neither side could string more than a couple of passes together.

Midway through the first half a header from a Gala corner was cleared towards the edge of the Dalbeattie box where Taylor Hope struck a powerful shot that was cleared off the line - but Hope had continued his run into the box and blasted home the rebound from close range.

Dalbeattie were not much of a danger at this stage, being wayward with passes, crosses and shots and the score remained in the favour of the visitors at the interval.

On the hour Gala doubled their lead from another corner.

On this occasion a header was cleared off the line but Scott Main was following up and shot home from close range.

It was all looking comfortable for the visitors, and when Dean McColm burst through the middle with only the keeper to beat the game could have been put out of reach of the hosts.

However, McColm’s shot was blocked by the keeper’s legs as he advanced to narrow the angle.

Instead of being three goals to the good, Dalbeattie got back into the game when Wilson couldn’t hold a shot near the foot of his right hand post and a Dalbeattie striker was alert enough to stab the ball home.

Wilson caught a boot on the top of his head when attempting to save and required lengthy treatment before bravely continuing.

He was still groggy when Dalbeattie burst through again but reacted swiftly to clutch a shot near the edge of his area although it took him some time to get up again.

Dalbeattie continued to pile on the pressure but their passing and finishing left a lot to be desired.

In fact Gala almost extended their lead in the dying minutes when substitute, Hagen Steele, deliberately shot from the left edge of the box for the far corner of the net, but the Dalbeattie keeper scrambled across his line and finger tipped the ball away for a corner.

Play ebbed to and fro as the referee added on over eight minutes, but Gala resolutely held on for what in the end turned out to be a harder fought victory than seemed to be the case two thirds of the way through the match.

Gala Fairydean Rovers: Wilson, Stephen, Lamb (Clapperton, 63), Hope, Main, Herdman, Miller, Bonnar, J. Hay (Steele, 75), Gibson, McColm