It was a clash of the titans in the Glasgow and District under 19's second division this weekend as two strong title challengers met each other at Greenfield. Travelling side Rutherglen Glencairn were looking to bounce back from a poor away defeat against Dunoon whereas Vale of Clyde were looking to stamp authority on this league and remain in the title race. Both sides knew how big a match this is and three points was vital.

 

The game started off very cagey with neither side looking to give away anything stupid, the first fifteen minutes saw a lack of chances but more football being played in the midfield and both teams testing their opposition with long balls.

 

As the half went on some loose passes from both sides and rather sloppy defending meant that the decent crowd who had gathered to watch this game finally had some goal mouth action to see and the first real chance came the way of the Glens when Christopher Mallon used his body well to hold of the defender but his shot was rather tame and James McCarthur in the Vale goal held with ease.

 

Kieran McDonald's pace was starting to cause the Glens problems even although they were playing with a sweeper the Vale forward still managed to get in behind them a couple of times and this was how the deadlock would be broke when McDonald burst down the left side cut in and his shot was parried by the keeper out to the feet of James Milne who had an easy tap in to an empty goal.

 

Rutherglen knew that even though the home side has struck first blood there was still a long way to go before they could even think about defeat and the Glens started to pile on a bit of pressure trying to exploit the Vale's left hand side and pull a goal back.

 

Finally the Glen's pressure paid off when they were awarded a penalty. Conor McCole was played in behind the Vale defense and Glen Wood rushing back to try and stop any danger seemed to have clipped the Glens forward's heals and a spot kick was awarded, McCole himself stepped up and fired home from the spot to level the scoring again.

 

Just before half time the Glens management would be taking credit for their second as substitute Richard Reston was allowed to much time in the box and fired into the top right hand corner leaving the Vale keeper no chance and sending his time in with a well worked half time lead. 

The second half begun and both teams certainly had their coaches half time team talks still ringing in their ears, Both teams were trying to play out from the back more and for spectators it was a bit better to watch rather than the long ball game which was used more in the first forty five.

 

Again the pace of Kieran McDonald continued to be a problem for Glens, McDonald was dropping a bit deeper in the second half to receive the ball but driving with speed at the defenders was still in his mind and this was how Vale leveled the game. McDonald was played through and showed great composure to finish well slotting the ball past the keeper to put his side back in the game.

 

Another wise substitution made an impact on the game this time it was Vale coach James Wilson taking the credit though when his name sake James Glen produced a brilliant finish to put the home team back in the driving seat.

 

Kieran McDonald was again involved in the action for Vale this time turning provider taking the ball out wide from James Glen and bursting past the defenders with his pace he then showed good vision to pick his head up and find James Milne in the box who smashed past the goalkeeper and made it 4-2 vale with just under twenty minutes left to play.

 

Rutherglen knew if they wanted anything out of the game they would have to try and produce better finishing than they already have so far, it wasn't that the chances weren't there but at times in the final third they lacked a bit of quality.

 

Glens were winning a lot of corners and free kicks and this wasn't a bad thing for the away side as it gave them a chance to get in to the Vale's box and it all finally paid off when a ball into the box from a set piece pulled a goal back for them as Christopher Mallon who had worked tirelessly all game came up with the goods to back it 4-3 and a nervy ending to this top of the table clash.

 

We were in to the last ten minutes and Vale were looking to just see this out but at times still looked a bit out of shape at the back. Some last ditch tackles from Sean Spence and Conor Mcdowall prevented Glens from going through on goal but.

 

Vale's attacking forte was unquestionable on the day but their real weakness was defending from set pieceswere they looked lack luster and this was set to prove costly as from a corner Glens finally pulled back that all important equalizer with less than five minutes left, Sam McCallum who had been dominant in the air from midfield all day was left virtually unmarked at the back post and headed home to again level the scoring.

 

With only minutes left everyone thought that the action was done but there was one last crack for Glens to steal all three points from Vale when Richard Reston was left with acres of space on the right hand side but his shot flew over the bar and from that the game was ended.

 

Both sides will know that the game was there for the taking on the day, some poor defending from Vale cost them in a lot of peoples eyes and for Rutherglen if they were more clinical in the final third they maybe could have also gone home with better than a draw. These two sides will certainly be up there all season fighting for the title its a very open league and anyone could win it really.