Glasgow Uni 1s made to pay for slow start

Glasgow Uni 1s were left to rue a disastrous start as they suffered a 3-0 home defeat to St Andrews 1s.

Quickfire goals from Alex Dodgshon and Yu Okamura meant the hosts spent the majority of the game trying to recover. Allesandro Purelini put the result beyond doubt, midway through the second half.

The defeat – after winning the opening two matches– means that Glasgow share top spot in the league with St Andrews and Aberdeen. Glasgow started the contest brightly, forcing the opposition to remain deep in their half. A goal seemed inevitable and it arrived in the 5th minute. With St Andrews’ 1s attack of the game, Okamura sent in a free kick from the left for Dodgshon to volley home at the back post.

If the hosts felt that the goal was against the run of play, what happened two minutes later rubbed salt into the wounds. As Glasgow chased an immediate response, the tricky Okamura took advantage of slack defending to run at the goal. His options seemed limited but he looked up and unleashed a 25-yard thunderbolt into the top corner. The hosts were rocked. Having steadied themselves, they looked to pull a goal back. Joe Cameron saw his volley well held and Donald Thompson was a significant presence up front, running into space and holding up play.

In the 27th minute, right back Jordan Diven delivered a looping cross for Euan Woodley at the back post but solid defending prevented a goal.

On the stroke of half time, Diogennis Sergides’ superbly-weighted pass played in Andrew Hunt on the right, allowing the winger to fire in a low cross which was fumbled and eventually cleared. St Andrews almost replicated their storming start in the second period. The impressive Purelini, who was a constant menace with his dribbling and ability to bring his teammates into an attack, held off a challenge to feed a ball to Oeyen Verhagen on the right. A quick turn bought him time to cross and Greg Egu’s glancing header at the front post went just over.

In the 50th minute, the hosts passed up a fine opportunity to score. Calum Davidson’s pass carved the defence apart and sent Hunt through on goal. Goalkeeper Alec Cadzow flew off his line and palmed away the chipped attempt.

Glasgow’s Thompson tried to drag his team back into the game. On the hour, he raced onto a headed flick-on from Woodley, powered his way into the box and was denied a goal by a great defensive block.

St Andrews came close to grabbing a third when the all-action Dodgshon received a pass from Verhagen, worked himself into a shooting position inside the box but blasted inches over the top left corner.

The third goal did arrive with 20 minutes to go. Dodgshon’s stinging drive from the edge of the box was palmed away by Ben Fulton and Purelini showed great striking instinct to meet the loose ball with a cool chipped finish.

Glasgow switched to three at the back in a bid to pull a goal back but the best chance of the late period fell to St Andrews. A clever shimmy bought Dodgshon space on the halfway line and he raced goalwards, only denied a special goal by a strong save from Fulton.