Glasgow’s Deadly Dibble sees off Edinburgh

Manager Jonathan Quinn watches on as his side secures a comfortable win

Glasgow Uni Seconds 5:1 Edinburgh Uni Fourths

An early Lewis Dibble hat trick helped Glasgow 2s to a resounding 5-1 win over Edinburgh 4s at Garscube.

The hosts began the game at a ferocious pace, Dibble having scored three goals by the 15th minute. Logan Sirel’s long range shot quickly pulled a goal back for Edinburgh but, early in the second half, Adil Sheikh restored the three-goal lead. Josh Keen completed the scoring before the visitors had a man sent off.

With Edinburgh content to pass the ball around their half in the opening exchanges, the opportunity was there for Glasgow to capitalise. Midfielder Chris Warrillow did just that. Having stolen possession on halfway, he found Olly Mitchell on the left and the winger’s low cross fizzed across the face of goal.

It was a sign of things to come. In the sixth minute, Glasgow were in front when Dibble fired into the far corner. Two minutes later, with Edinburgh unable to break away from their goal, Dibble met Sheikh’s low cross with a first time finish which flew in off the crossbar. Sheikh then went close to scoring when he plucked the ball from the air with a cushioned touch but saw his half-volley held by goalkeeper Arik Raviv.

In the 15th minute, the unstoppable Dibble completed his hat trick when he was afforded the space of Garscube to coolly slot home inside the box. There was a real danger of the game becoming a cricket score by half time but Edinburgh hit back immediately to restore a sense of calm. Sirel’s shot from distance was deflected, wrong-footing goalkeeper Jack Haugh, who tried in vain to prevent it from looping into the net. The Glasgow centre back pairing of Diego Taberna and Alistair Keith ensured that any hope of Edinburgh building on their goal was extinguished.

Midway through the first half, Haugh’s punt upfield was squared across goal by Mitchell but Sheikh, standing free six yards form goal, shot against the post. The winger almost atoned for his miss just before the break. Dibble sent a delightful pass over the away defence to put Sheikh through but his chipped effort bounced wide under pressure from Raviv.

The result was settled on the hour. Sheikh met Mitchell’s cross at the back post and, after his initial effort was saved, he netted the rebound. Edinburgh did not give up and Haugh was called into action, diving across goal to push Gavin MacIver’s low drive around the post.

With less than 20 minutes to go, Glasgow scored their fifth. Mark Lynch, standing 30 yards from goal, casually dinked the ball against the crossbar with the keeper beaten. The rebound fell kindly for Keen to tap in.

Tempers on the away side began to rise and captain Ben Beaumont received a second yellow card for a scything tackle on Chihoi Lee, who was bursting down the left.

The result was a major positive for GUFC, on a day when the 3s fell to a 5-0 home defeat against Strathclyde 2s in the early kick-off.

Manager Jonathan Quinn reflected on the game. “I think it was in the first 15 minutes that Lewis had his third hat trick of the season,” he said. “Credit to Edinburgh; they stopped us from doing a lot of the things that we had trained on and the things we would do probably nine times out of 10. The result is probably not a fair result for them but it is fair for the finishing and the effort the boys have put in.”

About his side’s fast start, Quinn said: “As you can tell from watching the game, it is a very high intensity. We train that way and every minute of a match is important; in every minute of a match you can concede, in every minute of a match you can score. It is important that, from the word go, everyone is ready and warmed up properly. If the other team isn’t, then brilliant.”

Glasgow, in blue and white, prepare to defend a corner