Hat-trick but still a defeat

Football

Langholm Legion 3
Tweeddale Rovers 4

THE whole match was a struggle for Legion but,
despite two men being
red-carded, they scored three goals through Brian
Mattinson.
Legion struggled to find their groove on a wet afternoon and the visitors looked the more dangerous with good hold-up play from their central striker and numerous runs from their midfield players.
Legion were stretched and, to their credit, defended well. Tweeddale’s closest effort was a long-distance drive which clipped the cross bar.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic, though. Striker Mattinson was found by Scott Collins and his first-time instinctive strike smashed the post with the keeper stranded.
With 10 minutes to the break, Legion lost their composure. Finley Dell intercepted a through ball but, as he headed the ball to safety, the referee unbelievably blew for handball.
The lads lost their discipline and, as they argued the decision, Tweeddale were allowed to take a quick free kick and broke with three on to two.
They messed up a great
opportunity, with Legion scrambling the ball clear.
Minutes later the temperature rose again when Tweeddale were awarded a free kick after a good recovery tackle.
After more complaints from Legion, the resulting free kick was blasted over the bar.
However, deep into injury time Tweeddale took the lead with a fine drive from outside the box.
In the second half Legion pushed to get back into the match, pushing forward but, not for the first time, they were caught on the break and
Tweeddale gleefully doubled their lead.
Another break caused all sorts of problems for Legion’s backline and Dell was penalised for a pull-back in the box.
From the resulting penalty keeper Derek Johnson guessed right and pulled off a great save and Iain Little did well to clear the rebound.
Any hopes of an immediate comeback were dented when
Legion gifted a third goal.
Connor Ewart’s attempted pass back was intercepted and the winger rounded keeper Johnson before slotting home.
Match over? Well, this is Legion so anything is possible and
minutes after the kick-off, they pulled one back when Mattinson was sent through. He raced into the penalty box and side-footed past the visitors’ keeper.
Legion’s tails were up and, sensing some blood, they finally started playing with some
purpose.
Another turning point was when Finley Dell went into a 50/50 challenge. The Tweeddale defender left his boot high which left Dell injured on the deck.
Worse followed for the youngster and, much to the dismay of everyone on the touchline, the referee flashed a yellow card. With Dell already booked, he had to walk.
Sensing injustice, Legion clawed back another goal from a free kick when Mattinson fired home from the edge of the box.
Legion pushed hard and Tweeddale, despite having the extra man, toiled a bit.
They looked like they had sealed the three points when scoring again to make it 4-2.
Straight from the restart
Mattinson completed his hat-trick when he got on to a long ball and poked it past the advancing keeper.
The last few minutes were hectic. When a Tweeddale winger raced through, he was deliberately tripped by Iain
Little, who also received his second yellow card and Legion were down to nine men.
Minutes later the final whistle went. Legion can have some complaints about a few strange referee calls, which obviously doesn’t help, but they weren’t at their best as a team and the whole 90 minutes was a struggle.
Match sponsor:
Kevan Hotson (Builder).
Team: D Johnson, C Pool, F Dell, I Little, C Ewart, B Rayson, A Little, C Cuthbert, L Irving, S Collins, B Mattinson. Subs: D Borthwick, A Wilson (used), R Hotson, T Henderson (unused).