Derek Hall’s report on Dalkeith Thistle v Ormiston game on Tuesday 20th July

Dalkeith Thistle 1-2 Ormiston
A beautiful summer evening at Kings Park, Dalkeith saw the local Thistle welcoming their East Lothian visitors from Ormiston on a perfect night for football. The first chance of note saw Dalkeith keeper Dowie take a heavy touch from a passback but as he hacked the ball clear, he was clipped by Brown and a free kick was awarded. After six minutes Korpalski did well to rob McFadden as the Thistle striker moved to the edge of the Ormiston box, but the big defender then gave the ball straight to Burrows and when he crossed into the visitors box, there were somewhat muted claims for the home side for a spot kick for handball against Nichol but referee Whyte was unmoved. Two minutes later, Muir threaded a lovely pass through to Bielski who moved into the Ormiston box but then pulled his drive well wide across the face of goal. Thistle went even closer in the tenth minute when a Muir corner was headed down by Burrows and from around 14 yards, Weston’s low right foot drive was blocked by the strong right boot of keeper Beveridge before being cleared to Muir whose follow up wasn’t the best and Beveridge was down to gather. Ormiston had taken time to settle into the game but Hogg pinged a lovely diagonal 45 yard free kick to Ashraf who cut in menacingly from the left flank but then scuffed his 20 yard shot tamely into the hands of home keeper Dowie. At the other end, Korpalski completely missed a through ball allowing Weston to run into the Ormiston box where Beveridge did brilliantly to parry the strikers 16 yard drive low to his right and Korpalski then got himself back to thump the loose ball clear. On 19 minutes, Ashraf dropped a nice ball back to Brown, who fired over from around 20 yards before at the other end, Bielski tried a snap shot on the half volley but the contact was poor and didn’t cause keeper Beveridge any problems. Clelland then swung a high cross into the Ormiston penalty area and Cochrane was barged over by McFadden as he headed clear, resulting in another stoppage. However the visitors were now enjoying some decent possession and on 26 minutes they made it tell as a pass from the left flank reached Carter who then clipped the ball to the back post where Scott had lost his marker and from around nine yards, he buried his header in at the base of the post away from the diving Dowie. Ormiston took confidence from this and another Hogg pass found Scott who crossed into the Thistle box and keeper Dowie had to look lively as he grabbed the ball in front of both Ashraf and Brown. On the half hour, referee Whyte had a quiet word in the passing with McFadden of Thistle who caught Korpalski with a slightly mistimed challenge. However a minute later the visitors doubled their advantage with a goal very similar to their first as Brown put a quick cross to the edge of the Thistle box allowing Pritchett to move the ball wider to Scott around fourteen yards out and he took one touch before lashing a low right foot drive past Dowie who got his hand to the ball but wasn’t able to keep it out. Five minutes later the visitors could have been out of sight as Brown picked up a loose ball and from 25 yards, his right foot drive saw the ball cannon back off the junction of post and bar with keeper Dowie grateful to gather the rebound, having been rooted to the spot for the original effort. After 38 minutes a corner from Cochrane found Hogg but the effort from the Ormiston no 6 didn’t trouble keeper Dowie as it threatened to go into orbit and might have proved more troublesome for Jeff Bezos rocket, but to be fair, Hogg had undoubtedly been the most influential player on the park in the first half with his creative passes from midfield being the catalyst for many of the visitors best moments. McTernan then almost found McFadden in the Ormiston box but a confident clutch from keeper Beveridge snuffed out the danger. McFadden himself then found Bielski but the 20 yard drive had the pace taken off it with a block and Beveridge once again smothered the ball. So a two goal lead at the break for the visitors who most certainly merited being in front at that stage, and the home side had been set some problems to solve for the upcoming second period.
Dalkeith brought on Walker and Leslie for Weston and Bielski at half time. On 49 minutes, an excellent tackle on McFadden by Korpalski stopped the Thistle no 9 making progress down the right flank before Ballard then took no chances for the visitors, sending a dangerous cross behind with a great clearing header. Muir swung over the corner and Giese rose above everyone at the back post but couldn’t keep his header down. At the other end, Hogg then played a long ball for Brown to chase but Lennie was calm under pressure and played a nice composed defensive header back to keeper Dowie. On 53 minutes, Ashraf of Ormiston and Giese of Thistle decided a full and frank exchange of views was required right in front of the Ormiston dugout, but referee Colin Whyte calmly called them in to remind them the only view that actually mattered was his. Giese then pumped the free kick into the Ormiston box and Walker sent in a nine yard header which was straight at keeper Beveridge. Carter released Scott down the right wing for Ormiston but a superbly timed tackle from Clelland halted the run before Dalkeith then replaced Muir with Crombie. On 61 minutes, another Clelland corner into the Ormiston box brought more handball claims from the Dalkeith players but referee Whyte again wasn’t interested. However, Carter took the next Thistle corner and when it was cleared to the edge of the box by Ballard, McFadden was fouled and Clelland curled the 24 yard free kick a couple of feet over the visitors crossbar. On 64 minutes, Burrows did well to work his way along the goal line for Thistle but the angle was to prove too tight as he drove his final effort into the side net. With 66 minutes gone, Ormiston brought on Scally for Ashraf before Hogg released Scott and his cross from the right wing saw keeper Dowie bravely diving at the feet of Carter to make the grab almost on the penalty spot. A McTernan corner on 69 minutes found Walker who swung the ball to the back post where Burrows took the ball first time but sent it over from around nine yards having lost his marker and a great chance for Thistle had come and gone. However two minutes later the home side were right back in the game as Pritchett pulled down McFadden just inside the penalty area as he was moving strongly forward and after the Ormiston No 8 had been yellow carded, Callaghan stepped forward to right foot the ball powerfully inside Beveridge’s right hand post from the spot and halve the deficit. Woods then replaced Giese for the home side shortly before a Nichol cross into the Thistle penalty area saw a collision between Brown and Lennie with the striker penalised and Lennie having to be replaced by Forbes for Thistle as we entered the final quarter of an hour. Leslie then immediately brought Forbes into the game with a nice pass but a brilliant last ditch challenge from Korpalski took the ball off his toes just inside the visitors penalty area. After Callaghan was penalised for a push in midfield, McFadden took his protest too far and having already been spoken to, referee Whyte pulled the card out this time for the Dalkeith striker. On 79 minutes a lovely pass from Scally put Carter through for Ormiston but his 12 yard drive was brilliantly blocked by the left boot of keeper Dowie. Nine minutes from time Ormiston brought on McGill for Carter just before a snap shot from Forbes went well wide. With six minutes remaining, a speculative 35 yard drive for Thistle from McTernan was high and wide before Ormiston then made a further double change as C Scott and Crutcher replaced M Scott and Brown. Three minutes from time the visitors had a real let off as Leslie and Burrows combined and when the ball came back to Forbes, his shot beat keeper Beveridge but got stuck between the legs of Korpalski who had fallen on the goal line and the keeper was then able to dive backwards and grab the loose ball. Just into stoppage time, Hogg had another go from distance for the visitors but was again off target before a further caution arrived for dissent for Dalkeith’s Walker, due to frustration more than anything else. In the end, an excellent first half performance from the visitors was to prove the deciding factor in an enjoyable and open game with the home side just coming up short after a much improved second period during which they came close to rescuing a share of the spoils, but tonight the points are on their way to East Lothian.