Thistle got their Milk Cup campaign off to a great start with a 3-1 win over the Craig Bellamy Foundation at Portrush. Two penalties from Kevin Nisbet saw The Jags go into the half time break with a two goal advantage. Umaru Samura pulled a goal back for the boys from Sierra Leone, again from the spot, but Blair Malcom put the result beyond doubt with a cool finish. CBF team manager Tom Legg said that his players were very nervous before kickoff; the first ten minutes told a different story. Thistle were on the back foot, pressed into their own half by the oppositions relentless desire to attack. In the 5th minute, The Jags almost went a goal down when Samura led a lightning-fast breakaway but dragged his shot off target from 18 yards. But the Firhill sides defence remained solid and the team began to become more of an attacking threat. Matthew McInallys right wing cross was not convincingly dealt with by CBF goalkeeper John Fillie and Malcolm headed over from 12 yards. After 17 minutes, Nisbet brought down a long ball before forcing Fillie to palm his powerful drive away from goal. Only a fantastic tackle from Alhassan Bah prevented Malcom from putting Thistle into the lead shortly later. A lovely pass by Stokes found Nisbet in the box and Suleiman Samura fouled the striker to concede a penalty. He dusted himself down and stepped up to fire his side ahead in the 21st minute. At the other end, Matthew Kerr displayed superb reactions to save Musa Yansanehs deflected shot from the edge of the box. On the stroke of half time, Nisbet, who scored seven goals for Thistles Under 19 Foyle Cup winning team last week, won and netted his second penalty. Goalkeeper Fillie missed a cross before hauling back Nisbet to prevent him from scoring into an empty net. He was fortunate to remain on the pitch but was powerless to keep out the low spot kick. A defensive lapse resulted in Connor Cunningham fouling Bah in the box only three minutes into the second half. Captain Samura stayed calm to send the ball past Kerr in the Thistle goal from twelve yards. The Sierra Leonese nearly equalised via Sahid Conteh but Cunningham heroically blocked his goal-bound strike. Andy McCarthy was booked for fouling Abdul Aziz Sankoh on the half way line as he raced away on a counter attack. Fifteen minutes from time, The Jags had a wonderful chance to finish the game off but Neil McLaughlin was unable to make a counter attack pay dividends by picking out Malcolm in the middle of the park. Suleiman Samuras dangerous run was halted by an alert Stokes and the boys from Glasgow sealed a deserved win ten minutes from time. Nisbets driven effort was saved by Fillie and the ball fell kindly to Malcolm, who made no mistake from close range. Head of Youth Development, Scott Allison, was pleased with teams opening day win. He said, “In a tournament it is important to have a strong start and get a win. The start of the game was frantic but I thought we settled after the goal.” Allison will be hoping that Nisbet can continue to have the same effect in front of goal in the games to come: “Big Kev is in good form. He scored seven at the Foyle Cup recently and got another two today. The big man is on fire at the moment.” He was also pleased with the performance of the younger players in the team, particularly James Stokes, who “is only fifteen and did really well out on the left today.” Allison concluded: “It is great to come here and compete in the Milk Cup. We get to bring boys from different ages together and let them get to know each other. Hopefully we can build on todays win and push on.” Next up for the team is CountyDown, who were defeated 3-2 by CountyAntrim on the opening day, at Coleraine.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 11:21:51 +0000
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