Dumfries 2’s made the long journey to Helensburgh for their final game of the season before the winter break expecting a close tussle with a team they had narrowly beaten at home earlier in the season.

The home side started the game fairly quickly as the visitors took their time in getting to grips with the pitch and the opposition as Helensburgh pressed forward numerous times putting the visiting defence under a lot of pressure. This paid off with an early goal when Fred Kershaw was unlucky to see his clearance intercepted by one of the attackers who quickly slotted the ball home. This spurred Helensburgh on and their pressure resulted in them winning numerous penalty corners. From these they had hoped to increase their lead but were thwarted by the visiting Keeper who made several good saves and clearances to keep his team in the game. As the half progressed Dumfries then managed to gain some good possession and after some fine play it looked like Gary Tupper had scored a merited equaliser only for it to be chalked off after a foot infringement had been spotted by the faraway umpire. Dumfries shrugged off this setback and started to create some further chances before the end of the half but without any reward.

Turning round at halftime with further words of encouragement from the senior players in their ranks, the Dumfries youngsters continued to play well and the second half saw a shift in possession terms as Dumfries started to win more ball and spread the play around. Adam Kerr on the right wing along with Ruairidh Harris and Fred Kershaw well backed up by the strength of Gary Tupper in the midfield kept the Helensburgh defence on their toes and it was by the narrowest of margins the home keeper deflected a well struck shot past his post to preserve the Helensburgh lead. Despite the bulk of possession, Helensburgh were always maintaining their threat against the Dumfries defence as their ‘more’ experienced players were rotated on and off the bench and with time running out and the light fading rapidly, Helensburgh secured the points with their second goal of the game from a late penalty corner.

In the end a disappointing result for the Dumfries side after a long day but it was noticeable that the youngsters in the team continue to develop and with the support and experience of the senior players within the team, the second half of the season should be looked forward to.

Grateful thanks from Dumfries to Helensburgh for providing both umpires for the game and the young player of the match award went to Ruairidh Harris