The 2004s welcomed Dunbar Utd Colts to Gullane’s Memorial Park after a break of 4 weeks. Coach Mackie was looking to see a continuation of the excellent display the previous weekend at Musselburgh. The team welcomed back Jack C from a long lay off through injury. Dunbar always provide a stiff challenge and today was no different with Gullane starting off on the back foot but with superb defending by Arran and JJ, supported by Shona, Dunbar were kept at bay until late in the 1st period with ever improving Ali making some excellent stops and controlling his box well. The loss of a goal spurred Gullane forward and after a period of pressure Shona wheeled round in the box and smashed an unstoppable shot passed the Dunbar keeper. A couple of minutes later it was Robbie’s turn to have the home support cheering with a superb strike that gave the Dunbar goalie no chance. With Gullane 2-1 up the 2nd period started much as same as the 1st with Dunbar pressing but this time a couple of fortunate long range looping shots ended up in the Gullane net with the team trying hard to get back into the game. Unfortunately a 4th Dunbar goal came and it looked ominous for the home side. But —- one thing that the 2004’s is a great team spirit. The spark this week was Arran, he made a number of well timed tackles, a known strength of his game, but this week he added to that with a couple of excellent passes, one of which sent Cole clear through on goal. Cole though still had a lot to do picking up the ball on the halfway line. He sprinted clear of the defence and calmly slotted the ball away. At 4-3 down the 3rd period saw Gullane have a lot more of the ball in an attacking position and fully deserved the equalizer – another howitzer from Robbie. Despite losing a late goal, overall the team continue to impress. The passing may not have been as accurate as in recent weeks but the togetherness as a team was evident. 2 of our newest recruits, Ella and Harvey, continue to develop their pitch awareness and both are adding to the development of the squad. With the ethos of the club about developing all players by playing them in various positions it is recognised that this can sometimes lead to poorer results but it is encouraging that when, for example, we asked Finn to play in 2 very different areas of the park he adapted his game to suit – well done to all the players.
Next week away v Haddington – KO TBA