In change from the usual structure Dumfries welcomed Hillhead 4s to KGV for a Thursday night thriller under the lights! Despite being in different leagues the teams had met before in the Scottish Reserve Cup several months ago with the team from Glasgow coming out as convincing winners in a chastening experience for the host. With this in mind, the team took to the hallowed turf eager not to have a nightmare. However, from the start Dumfries really struggled to put their stamp on the game and were very much passive in the open exchanges as Hillhead made the difference in leagues telling. The West-Enders knocked the ball round confidently and were soon rewarded with a short corner. In the previous fixture set pieces has resulted in several goals for Hillhead and this trend continued after a well worked routine resulted in the ball in the back of the net. 0-1. Stunned but undeterred Dumfries continued to work away for an equaliser and but the Hillhead backline on blast after some neat interplay saw Johnston’s shot narrowly push wide of the post. Hilllhead took this as a wakeup call and moved the ball with purpose and soon were awarded another short corner. Same set piece, same result, different routine. 0-2. This really knocked Dumfries for 6 and soon cracks were starting to appear all over the pitch. The travelling team further extended their lead. 0-3. The game was slipping away from the hosts and a could soon be over by halftime, however, the hosts were handed a lifeline when on the cusp of halftime Dumfries managed to convert one of their own short corners through Aitken after he sent the ball through a crowd to find the bottom corner. HT 1-3. Despite the scoreline the mood at halftime wasn’t too defeatist as the team knew a bit of positivity in their play and attitude the game was there for the taking.

After initially struggling to get going again Dumfries grew in confidence in the second half and really applied the pressure to Hillhead. Now it was the turn of the traveling squad to weather the storm of white tide after white tide. However, despite all their efforts the Hillhead goal remained untouched. That is, until a long searching ball found Black who quickly laid in Johnston and the bearded wizard returned to his magically ways sending the ball past the helpless Hillhead keeper. 2-3. Dumfries’ tails were up now and even more pressure was applied to Hillhead yet the final touches could not be applied to some crisp team moves. In the dying embers of the game Hillhead put the game beyond Dumfries after a mazy run by a Hills forward eliminate several defenders before the ball was placed beyond Steele. 2-4. FT 4-2. With this defeat the 1s only now have the league to concentrate on and a run of 3 years of making a cup/plate final come to an end. We wish Hillhead 4s all the best in the next round. Many thanks to those that came to spectate and special thanks to Gladys and Sandy for umpiring. The 1s go again on Sunday in a re-arranged fixture against Rottenrow 2s at Fortress KGV.