YFS
Dalziel Boys Club were 2-1 victors over Jerviston Boys Club in this closely-fought U17s fixture. Ben Meighan had given Jerviston an early lead, but goals from Enrico Jannetta and Christopher Reid secured the victory for the home side.
Jerviston headed to Daisy Park with hope of avenging a 4-1 defeat to Dalziel earlier in the season. They started the brighter side by winning a succession of corners and free kicks near the Dalziel goal which were well defended. Jerviston saw the majority of the ball in the opening exchanges and had two strong claims for handball on right back Marc Hobson turned down. Hobson was shown a harsh yellow card by the referee for a mistimed challenge soon after. Adam Barton snatched at a rare chance for Dalziel, putting a strong shot over the bar after being laid off by Christopher Reid.
Ben Meighan gave Jerviston the lead in the 16th minute after a fine run and cutback from Joshua Bell, sliding a composed finish underneath Fraser Wright with the first real chance of the game. Meighan continued his fine first half performance by holding the ball up and bringing his team-mates into play, and combined neatly with Declan McAuley only for the final shot to be dragged wide of the target. Aidan Allan and Adam Greer were so far dealing with everything coming at them, including blocking a goal-bound shot from Barton to prevent Daziel levelling the game.
However, the equaliser came just five minutes before half-time, with Scott Livingstone and Matthew McCulloch linking up to find Enrico Jannetta at the edge of the box. His deflected strike found the bottom left corner of the goal. Jerviston should have regained the lead just before the break after Mark O’Rourke missed a close range header, but the sides reached half time with the score at one apiece.