EKYC Invitational Tournament, Sunday 9 April 2006

As you will by now be aware, the Scottish Easter Cup tournament which we were attending at Dalziel Parks, Motherwell at the Easter weekend has now been cancelled due to poor subscription.

We are now holding our own tournament which will be held on Sunday 9 April between 1pm and 5pm at the Strathclyde Police Playing Fields, Lochinch, Pollok Park.

The format will be a round robin event with ourselves and the three other invited teams, all playing against each other on the 2 pitches at Lochinch.

I have invited Lawhill United, Baljaffray Boys Club and Giffnock Soccer Centre to take part, and they have all agreed.

Fundraising to pay for the event has begun and I ask everyone to try to raise as much as we can. I am also trying to find sponsors for the event. If you can help please let me know, or pass my number on to anyone who you think can help.

It should be a great day.

EKYC v Hamilton BC, Sunday 12th January

This Sundays match is against Hamilton Boys Club at Balerup Pitch 6 with a 1000 kick off . We are meeting at Ballerup at 0915.

EK Burgh 1 EKYC 9

Our local derby against the Burgh took place at Ballerup on Sunday morning, in spite of a late scare due to a sharp frost.
The boys looked up for the game from the start with the impressive SAM HILL running from his own half and rounding the keeper to give us an early lead.
We kept pressing and before long SAM HILL added his second after som great work by Ryan Kelly on the left wing.
Both Ryan Kelly on the left and Liam Crichton on the right were possing Burgh all sorts of problems and after one of his trade mark runs from the right LIAM CRICHTON made it 3-0.
At this time our boys started to sit back and think the game was won, allowing our opponents back into the game. At the end of the first period it was 3-0.

Some slack play at the start of the second period allowed Burgh to get a goal back, which raised their spirits, however Sam & Ryan continued to cause them all sorts of problems on the wings.
In the second period LIAM CRICHTON added his second and THOMAS McGUIRE scored from close range.

In the final period SAM HILL completed his hat trick, RYAN KELLY scored a brace(one with his head!!!) and SCOTT GRAHAM finnished the scoring with a close range shot after a great corner from Sam Hill.

Were it not for some poor finishing and a couple of dodgey penalty decisions the score would have been greater, but it was a great result and good performance from everyone.

Man Of The Match was a hard decision but it was shared between Sam Hill and Ryan Kelly.

EK Burgh v EKYC, Sunday 29 January 2006

This Sundays local derby against EK Burgh is being played at Ballerup Pitch 6 with a 1000 kick off. We will be meeting at the pitches at 0930.

EKYC v Newmains Hammers Match Cancelled

This Sundays match against Newmains Hammers has been called off due to the pitches being flooded.

Training will be at Clairmont on Tuesday as ussual between 6pm - 8pm.

Next weeks match is the derby game against EK Burgh with a 1000 kick off at Ballerup pitch 6.

Wishaw Wycombe Wanderers 3 EKYC 1

This was a hard fought match played in Overtown in which we suffered our first defeat of the season against the strong Wishaw Wycombe Wanderers. We made a few changes to our line up from recent weeks with Cameron Gibson reverting to centre half and Ross McDonagh replacing Liam Crichton who was struggling with a muscle strain.

We started the game like a train and very quickly had Wishaw penned in their own half. RYAN KELLY opened the scoring after some great passing play saw the ball squared accross the goal and Ryan volleyed us into the lead from close range. We continued to press and when the pacey Wishaw forwards tried to break they were marshalled well by Scott Graham and Cameron Gibson at centre half. Scott Graham was unlucky with a long range effort that hit the bar in the last minute of the half.

At the start of the second period Thomas McGuire replaced Scott Mitchell who was struggling with a thigh strain and Liam Chrichton replaced Ross McDonagh.
Wishaw gained the upper hand when they pressed down the right, forcing a quick shy which resulted in the getting the ball into the box and the forward finished well to equalise.

Our boys looked sahken by that and James Kinniburgh had to make a few good saves to keep the score even. The defence which looked solid in the first half was being caught out of position and 2 quick goals from Wishaw saw us struggling at 3-1 down.

At the start of the third period Sam Hill moved to wide right and immediately started to find space for himself and his team mates, and his work rate was second to none. Cameron Gibson was pushed forward as we went 3-4-3 to try and get something from the game and both he and Christopher Park shot narrowly over. The game finished at 3-1 and the disappointment showed on some of the players faces,as they tasted defeat for the first time at 11 a sides, an impressive run which hopefully will get back on track next week, agaisnt the equally tough Newmains Hammers.

Man of the Match for the 2nd week in a row was Scott Graham.

Wishaw W Wanderers v EKYC

This Sundays match is against Wishaw Wycombe Wanderers. It is a 1030 kick off at Overtown Wishaw. We are meeting at 0915 at Hairmyres Station.
The match promises to be a cracker as both sides were going strongly prior to the lay off for bad weather and the Christmas break.

LYFDA Fixtures 2006

15/01/06 v Wishaw W Wanderers(a) Overtown, 1030 ko

22/01/06 v Newmains Hammers(h) Hamilton Palace Pitch 3, 1000 ko

29/01/06 v EK Burgh(a) Ballerup Pitch 6, 1000 ko

05/02/06 v Hamilton BC(h) Ballerup Pitch 6, 1000 ko

12/02/06 v Aston Villa(a) Priory Pitch 3, 1000 ko

19/02/06 v Bailieston Juniors(h) Kirkland, Strathaven, 1000 ko

26/02/06 v Claremont AFC(a) Ballerup Pitch 3, 1000 ko

05/03/06 v Netherton Claret(a) Netherton, TBA

12/03/06 v Strathclyde United(h) Brancumhall Pitch 8, 1000 ko

19/03/06 v Aston Villa Colts(a) Priory Pitch 1, 1000 ko

26/03/06 TBA

02/04/06 TBA

09/04/06 TBA

14/15/16/17-04/06 SCOTTISH EASTER CUP TOURNAMENT HELD AT DALZIEL PARK, MOTHERWELL

23/04/06 v Baillieston Juniors(h) Brancumhall Pitch 2, 1000 ko

30/04/06 v Newmains Hammers(a) TBA

07/05/06 v Aston Villa(a) Hamilton Palace Pitch 1, 1000 ko

EKYC 2 Westwood Rovers 0

Our first game of 2006 was played on the 3G Astro Grass at Bent Pitches, Hamilton.
Our opponents were Westwood Rovers who were playing their first 11 a side match.

The game was played in freezing conditions, and the long lay off looked to have affected the way the boys played.

Within a minute of the game starting we were one nil up with a volley from SCOTT MITCHELL high over the keeper and into the net.

It should have been the start we wanted and allowed us to play our normal passing game on the big pitch. It was not to be however and we huffed and puffed a little, passing up some good goal scoring opportunities. At the end of the first period it was 1-0.

EKYC made some changes with Lee Elliot, Cameron Gibson and Ross McDonagh replacing Darren Smith, Sam Hill and Scott Mitchell.

The second half was pretty unaventful but again some poor finishing kept the score down. Meanwhile James Kinniburgh had to look alert and be quick off his line a couple of times to help out the defence.

At the start of the third period more chnages were made. The boys looked a bit hungrier and kept Westwood penned in their own half. RYAN KELLY was getting more involved and he finished off a good move down the left to make it 2-0.

Scott Graham looked to have the defence controlled well and his pace matched that of the Westwood winger, who looked frustrated and his attempts to outrun Scott.

The game ended at 2-0 and SCOTT GRAHAM'S performance meant he was awarded Man of the Match.

Friendly v Westwood Rovers - Sunday 8 January 2006

A friendly match has been arranged for this Sunday, 8 January against Westwood Rovers.
The game is a 2pm kick off at the Bent 3G Astro Grass Pitch in Hamilton.
We will be meeting at 1pm at Hairmyres or 1.30pm at the pitch.

Training Re-Starts Wednesday 4th January

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year. Tam and I would like to thank everyone for their gifts, mostly which were drunk over New Year, they were very much appreciated !

Training is re starting this Wednesday to let the boys burn off some of those sweets they have been eating over the festive period.
We will be training at JACKTON POLICE COLLEGE between 6pm and 8pm.
We are aware that a lot of the boys have been unwell during the run up to Christmas and the holidays, and if anyone is feeling the effects of it then take your time in coming back.

We are trying to arrange a friendly game for Sunday, but the weather forecast does not look to good.

Happy New Year From Everyone At EKYC 1994's

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM EVERYONE AT EKYC UNDER 12'S

Goal Scoring To Date After 12 Games

LIAM CRICHTON - 12 GOALS
RYAN KELLY- 12 GOALS
SCOTT MITCHELL - 11 GOALS
SAM HILL - 8 GOALS
JACK KERR - 6 GOALS
DREW WATSON - 5 GOALS
DARREN SMITH - 3 GOALS
THOMAS MCGUIRE - 3 GOALS
ROSS MCDONAGH - 3 GOALS
CAMERON GIBSON - 2 GOALS
GARY MCCULOCH - 1 GOAL
SCOTT GRAHAM - 1 GOAL
DEAN ARROL - 1 GOAL

Played 12 - Won 12 - Lost 0 - Drawn 0 - Scored 68 - Conceded 29

Partick Thistle 2 EKYC 4

The match was a 12 o c'clock kick off on the astro grass at the Firhill Complex, Maryhill. The only player missing was John Dingwall who has broken his arm and will be out till into the New Year. Everyone wishes him a speedy recovery.

The game was played in freezing conditions. The pitch was great, but a little frosty down the left hand side.

EKYC started playing some great football, and the passing was great to see. RYAN KELLY scored the opening goal with a great finish, after some nifty footwork down the left hand side. We had Thistle hemmed in their own half, and some poor finishing kept the score down, and in their first attack, which was a long hopeful punt up the park, YC defenders were too slow to react and the centre forward ran through and beat James Kinniburgh with a shot low into the net.

At the end of the first period it was 1-1, and some changes were made replacing Liam Chrichton who had hurt his back with Ross McDonagh, Cameron Gibson on for Darren Smith, Thomas McGuire for Jack Kerr and Lee Elliot for Gary McCulloch.

Within a minute ROSS MCDONAGH had charged down a short back pass to the Thistle keeper and rolled the ball into the net to make it 2-1.

Thistle again pulled a goal back this time from a short kick out by Kinniburgh, the striker took a touch and then fired it high over James' head and into the net.

A couple more changes were made and we continued to press with some good link up play with Ryan Kelly and ROSS McDONAGH resulting in the latter getting his second of the day with a cool finnish.

We then had 2 goals ruled offside, hit the post and the keeper had a great save before ROSS McDONAGH completed his hat trick with a tap in.

This was a great display on a big park, the boys played some excellant football and kept possession well.

We will try to arrange some games during the festive period.

EKYC 4 Strathclyde United 3

At last, after 5 weeks of trying, a game on a Sunday morning. Some late call offs from Lee Elliot, Jamie Cunningham and Liam Crichton left EKYC with a pool of only 14 players to pick from. The pitch was heavy and the conditions were very windy.

We started off the game and it was noticeable that the boys had not played for a while, the usual slick passing and movement was not there. We did have Starthclyde Utd penned back in their own half for long periods but could not take advantage of some great work by the tireless Sam Hill.

Eventually, SAM HILL took the matters into his own hands and scored a great individual goal by firing the ball high into the visitors net from outside the box.
Gary McCulloch was the removed from the field after agravating his back injury, which meant some re shuffling of the team.
Going into the second half 3 changes were made and John Dingwall, Thomas McGuire and Cameron Gibson entered the game.

CAMERON GIBSON added to the scoring to make it 2-0,early in the 2nd half.

The boys seemed to tire a little and allowed Strathclyde back into the game, and after slack defending a soft penalty was awarded for a trip by Scott Graham. The United striker made no mistake and hammered the penalty low past James Kinniburgh to his right.

This seemed to give our opposition hope and a couple of minutes later were awarded another penalty after handball from Darren Smith. this time the taker changed sides and equalised by scoring low to James's left.

At the start of the 3rd period, another mistake in the defence this time from a corner led to United taking a 3-2 lead, and at this time there only looked like being one winner with EKYC looking tired and beaten.

On a rare break, and the first piece of football played all day EKYC got the equaliser and good work from Dean Arrol and Scott Mitchell played SAM HILL in and from a tight angle he rolled the ball into the net.

This seemed to give the boys new hope and after some good work down the right Sam Hill crossed the ball deep to the far post for RYAN KELLY to make it 4-3.
The remainder of the match was played in the United half and once again the team showed good charchter to come back from being a goal down, although the defence mistakes will need to be cut out.

Man of the Match went to the tireless SAM HILL not just for his 2 goals but for his all round play.

The team that started was;Kinniburgh,Arrol,McCulloch,Smith,Graham,McDonagh,Kelly,Park,Kerr,Hill and Mitchell.

EKYC Crowd Go Wild As Pitch Is Declared Playable !

EKYC fans emotions boiled over, as the picture above shows as the game against Strathclyde United passes a late pitch inspection.

Friendly Match v Partick Thistle arranged 17/12/05

This Sunday is our last LYFDA fixture before Christmas, so we have arranged a friendly for the following SATURDAY 17 DECEMBER.
The game will be against Partick Thistle and will take place at the Firhill Complex, which is an astro grass pitch, in Maryhill near to Partick Thistle' ground.
We will be meeting in Hairmyres Car Park at 1100 to travel through for a 1200 kick off. Hopefully everyone will be able to make it.

Our last indoor training session of the year is in Clairmont High School on Tuesday 13 December.

We are tring to arrange some games and training venues for during the holidays. It may mean meeting some afternoons at Dunedin Playing Fields if the weather is okay, but we hope to keep the boys ticking over and playing football, so that when the new fixtures for 2006 come in, we are not rusty.

EKYC at Murray Park - 4th December 2005

This Sunday the boys had thier Christmas treat a wee bit early.The boys were taken to Murray Park the training ground of Rangers. They had a tour of the facility and a 1 1/2 hour training session with a coach on the outside astro grass. Yet again the boys excelled themselves, with a few catching the watching eye of the coach. As always they behaved themselves well and were a credit to the club and their parents.
As well as football coaching, they were giving advice on dynamic warm ups and eating habits.
The session was extremely worth while, as everyone, no matter what team they supported(including Queen of the South!!!), enjoyed it.
Hopefully we can do it again in the near future.

Quarter Atletic v EKYC - Match Cancelled

Due to a waterlogged pitch at Hamilton Palace, Sunday 4th December's match versus Quarter Athletic was called off at the last minute.

This Sunday's match is against Strathclyde United at Ballerup Pitch no 1, with a 1000 kick off. We will be meeting at 0915 to enable nets and and corner flags put up in plenty of time.