After last week’s defeat to Edinburgh, Mark Adams’s side needed to prove themselves against a strong Aberdeen side.
After a disappointing match last week against Edinburgh Men’s First team, resulting in a 5-1 loss, Glasgow University Football Club (GUFC) set out to play their second match in the Aldi Men’s Scottish Cup, Tier 1. GUFC hosted Aberdeen University Football Club Men’s 1s (AUFC) at the Garscube Sports Complex. With overcast conditions similar to the previous week, the recent results must have been on GUFC’s minds as Head Coach Mark Adams gave a rousing pre-match speech about unity and team play.
The contest was a rapidly paced match from start to finish: the sides set out with determination and speed. Within the first minutes, GUFC had the ball high on AUFC’s side of the pitch. This was swiftly retaliated by the latter who fought hard to bring the ball back to the opposing side.
Just over ten minutes into the game, GUFC attempted two goals within a minute. The first bounced hard on the ground and hit the crossbar, deflecting away from the net. The ball was quickly recovered, and the second shot bounced off the post. Another shot was attempted shortly after, but once again failed to hit the net as AUFC goalkeeper Arran Anderson stopped it. AUFC regained the ball and GUFC goalkeeper Ross Hamilton was put to work, with two saves in rapid succession.
GUFC slowly established itself as the dominating team, with a particularly strong right-wing corridor. Indeed, Toni Ferre Adrover and John MacKinnon demonstrated excellent coordination and managed to skilfully slip the ball past the opposition multiple times. This was also aided by Thomas McAuliffe who provided smooth circulation on the field, often regaining the ball from the middle and acting as an effective wall to the opposition.
Ferre Adrover attempted another two scores, both unsuccessful. A free kick was awarded to GUFC but no goal was scored. AUFC shortly recovered the ball and an attempt to score was barred by Hamilton again allowing GUFC to regain control over the pitch. Continuing in his stride, Ferre Adrover tried to score again but his attempt was blocked by Anderson.
With only fifteen minutes to go in the first half and a 0-0 score, the pressure to score increased and the aggression of the match followed. AUFC’s Daniel Kenny flirted with the possibility of being awarded a yellow card with an aggressive confrontation on the side of the pitch. His teammate Brandon Donnelly was awarded a yellow card for unsportsmanlike behaviour as he pushed John MacKinnon to the ground and acted aggressively towards the player.
With tensions running high and players giving the game their all, the half-time whistle was blown. At 0-0 still, there was a lot to play for. The second half of the game began quickly with work cut out for the goalkeepers of both teams. GUFC’s goalkeeper Ross Hamilton saved a first goal within the first five minutes of play. Minutes after, Toni Ferre Adrover attempted to score but AUFC’s Anderson managed to keep it out of his net. This set the tone for the rest of the match as GUFC’s field domination began to slip, and the ball moved rapidly back and forth across the pitch as AUFC played with renewed energy. Although the power balance tilted in the favour of AUFC, both teams brought the same aggressiveness to the second half and MacKinnon was awarded a cautionary yellow card.
AUFC’s efforts were rewarded with a free kick, although to no avail, and the ball spun back rapidly onto their side of the pitch. Anderson stopped another attempted goal and was kept on his toes by GUFC’s relentless high press. Similarly, Hamilton and GUFC’s defence fought hard to keep the ball out of the penalty area. A notable player, AUFC’s Jonathan Onwa led multiple attacks including a rapid offence on his own wherein a first scoring attempt was blocked by Hamilton and a successive second shot was successfully saved by Sam Hunter as Hamilton was down.
For the majority of the second half, the ball continued to travel wildly from one side of the pitch to the other. However, AUFC began to dominate the field in the last minutes of the game. This slight victory was soured by a red card awarded to Aberdeen’s Josh Lewis for violent conduct as he swung a purposeful low kick to GUFC’s Gregor Fordyce’s ankle. Another two scoring attempts were blocked by Hamilton who worked hard to maintain the team’s score neutrality.
When the whistle was blown at full-time, neither team had scored any goals. This 0-0 result pulls down AUFC to a tie for last place with GUFC in the Aldi Men’s Scottish Tier 1 table, with both teams having one point.
GUFC will be playing their next game against Abertay Men’s 1 who are currently tied in second place with Edinburgh Men’s 1 and Strathclyde Men’s 1.
