Glenalmond College’s Football First XI has secured a place in the final of the SISFA Plate following a hard-fought 3-2 victory over High School of Glasgow in the semi-finals.
In an exciting and closely contested match, and with just under ten minutes remaining, team captain Ben Elliot held his nerve to score the decisive penalty, ensuring Glenalmond’s place in the final.
The team will now turn their focus to the final against Gordonstoun, which will take place on Tuesday, 18th March. Here is the match report from team captain, Ben E:
Today was the school’s football team’s first semi-final in almost 20 years, a truly rare occasion. The team went into the match after a few weeks without playing, however were lifted by a big crowd at Cairnies. The starting team was unchanged from the one which beat Strath, apart from Max came back in after his illness.
HSG started the game fairly strongly, with it being clear that they had a few neat players on the ball. However, their defence and keeper looked vulnerable and we almost scored not long into the match when Oli’s freekick on the right hand side was met by Fedor who unfortunately hit the frame of the goal. We gave away numerous free kicks around the outside of our box, with Jack pulling off an unbelievable save to stop a freekick finding the top corner. The crowd began to get more involved in the game with tackles flying in from both teams. Around 10 minutes until halftime, HSG took the lead with a really strong header from a corner after we failed to pick him up. 0-1. However, we would quickly respond with seconds until halftime with a Fedor corner being turned into their own net by a HSG player. HT 1-1.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half would continue to be lively, and we took the lead when Harrison found the back of the net with a strong shot from a tight angle. 2-1. The next half an hour of the match would be dominated by HSG, with our back 3 of Zen, Ben and Johnny defending brilliantly to maintain our lead. Our main chances came from long balls from our own half which would find both Willa and Max in the box, however both times they would fail to find the target. With tiring legs, we were over-loaded on our left hand side following a corner, which led to a first-time strike from their winger which brought the tie level. 2-2. With around 10 minutes to go, the majority would think HSG would be the side more likely to grab a winner following their second half domination. However, with 4 minutes to play, Fedor was fouled just inside the penalty box. After several disagreements between both teams, I would eventually step up to take the pen. Cairnies fell silent, and although I didn't catch it cleanly, I found the back of the net to make it 3-2. One of the best sporting moments I’ve seen at the school. We would defend strongly to see the result out. FT 3-2.
With the majority of the school watching, there was a great atmosphere which really helped us to see the result. MOTM was a tricky call, with Johnny and I coming close however we gave it to Jack for some excellent saves. Following today’s result, Coll’s football team has its first final in the school’s history against Gordounstoun in Alloa on Tuesday. Hopefully this momentous achievement will be reflected in a strong support for the team next week.
Photography by Harry B
