Burgh are a class apart

Published 22 Apr 2010 09:52 0 Comments

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Picture by Joe Mulgrew

By Sahil Jaidka - Johnstone Burgh 3 Royal Albert 1

JOHNSTONE Burgh eased to victory as they swept aside 10-man Royal Albert when the two teams met at Keanie Park in a match dominated by the home side.

Burgh boss George Walker was delighted with the players' performances and reserved special praise for striker John Sherry.

But the gaffer has warned that more good displays will be needed to secure promotion at the end of the season.

He told Gazette Sport: "Overall it was a great game and I'm delighted.

"It was a good team performance, when we play the ball on the ground, we look a different class side to anybody else.

"John Sherry was fantastic today, his commitment, holding up of the ball was great and he scored a terrific goal, he was brilliant and I just hope he keeps it up until the end of the season.

"A lot of the players played well today, Aiden Lennon scored a great goal, he has done well and Sean Fitzpatrick looked very sharp today.

"I could go through the whole team and give them all pluses.

"However, there is a long way to go if we want to get promoted and we need to keep playing well."

The home side started on the front foot and took the lead after six minutes when Lennon fired home a fine free-kick from 25-yards out, sending the ball in off the bar, leaving Albert keeper Alan Smith with no chance.

Burgh almost extended their lead moments later when a cross by Lennon found Ross Perrie, but the midfielder could only send his header wide of the goal as the home side piled on the pressure.

It only took 23 minutes for Burgh to double their advantage as Fitzpatrick played a one-two with midfielder Neil Dinnen, and he coolly slotted home the return pass into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Burgh continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the first period as Albert failed to register a shot at Fraser Wilson's goal.

But the visitors started the brighter of the two teams after the break and scored immediately when Burgh failed to clear the ball from their own box and David Dixon's volley from the edge of the area found the back of the net after 52 minutes.

The goal prompted a substitution by Burgh as Martin McIntyre replaced Ross Hamilton in the midfield as boss Walker looked for fresh legs to spark some energy into his side.

The change paid off moments later as a one-two between Dinnen and substitute McIntyre led to the midfielder picking out Sherry in the box and the striker coolly slotted the ball past the keeper with 30 minutes left to play.

Minutes later Burgh were on the attack again through Perrie, but the move was stopped when Royal Albert's Graham Alexander fouled the midfielder and picked up a caution for the challenge.

The booking proved crucial because the Albert player later fouled substitute McIntyre and was shown his second yellow, leaving the visitors to see out the final 15 minutes of the match with 10 men.

Burgh made two changes with Chris Flannery replacing goal scorer Sherry and Raymond Donaghy replacing Hendren as the home side aimed to exploit the one man advantage.

With five minutes to play, all three substitutes combined with Donaghy finding Flannery who picked out midfielder McIntyre and his cross found Fitzpatrick - but the striker's shot was saved by the keeper as Burgh held on to claim all three points.

Johnstone Burgh: Wilson, Lennon, Ross, Hendren (Donaghy 81), McGarrigle, Perrie, Hamilton (McIntyre 58), Chalmers, Fitzpatrick, Sherry (Flannery 77), Dinnen. Unused subs: Brolly, Craig.

This article appeared in The Gazette 21 Apr 10

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