Post match report

Lewis Utd 0 - Ellon 0

Ellon United made their first visit to the impressive Aberdeen Sports Village last weekend but the conditions on the outdoor football pitch were anything but impressive as the gale ruined their game with Lewis United which petered out to a miserable 0 - 0 draw. Ellon faced the elements in the first half and it was mainly thanks to some poor finishing from Lewis that they held on at the interval. Unlike their previous weeks trip to Lossiemouth the visitors failed to up the ante after the break when they had the wind at their backs and a lazy overall second half performance from Ellon meant that the Lewis defence and midfield were not put under pressure and eventually everyone looked to the referee to sound the final whistle and put them out of their misery.

Ellon were caught napping at a corner in the 6th minute which was worked short with Richard Bowman finally able to gather the ball and send it to safety. Two minutes later and casual defending from Andy McCraw saw the home side lose possession but Lewis Duguid was on hand to hook the ball clear. Ellon were awarded a free kick which was taken by Andy McCraw. Scott Henry met the cross with his header spinning up in the air under the conditions. The ball dropped to Matty Edmond out wide with his first time effort flying high and wide.

More casual defensive play from Ellon resulted in an unnecessary free kick which was cleared for a corner which came to nothing. Lewis passed up a great chance to go ahead eighteen minutes in. The Ellon defence were caught waiting for a high spinning ball which bounced kindly to Forde directly in front of goal but his weak effort was easily dealt with by Richard Bowman. At the other end the Lewis defence were unable to clear from a throw in. The ball eventually bounced in front of Matty Edmond with his back to goal and his shot on the turn found the side netting.

Ellon were caught square at the back from the resulting goal kick but fortunately for the visitors Gairns dragged his shot wide. Ellon were being pulled up too many times, for comfort, for free kicks in awkward positions given the conditions. Such a free kick was played short to Robertson whose shot was well dealt with by Richard Bowman. The home side survived a penalty claim in the 40th minute when Chris Huggins appeared to be felled as he went to meet a cross from Matty Edmond.

The second half dragged on with the ball seemingly as much out of the park as in play. More lazy play from Ellon resulted in yet another free kick just on the hour mark with the visitors finally managing to scramble the ball to safety The ball was knocked back to Chris Allsop following a throw in in the 80th minute and the Ellon skippers speculative effort almost caught out keeper Park who managed to tip the ball over his bar for a corner. The ball eventually broke out to Calum Annand whose shot drew another save from Park. Ellon passed up the final chance of the afternoon. The visitors forced a free kick three minutes into stoppage time and Keith Robertson met Andy McCraws’ cross only to send his header over.
  
ELLON UNITED: Bowman, Annand, Duguid, McCraw, Allsop, Petrie, Huggins, Paterson,  Bruce, Henry, Edmond. Subs: Irvine, Robertson, Gunn, Henderson, Fletcher, Clark.

LEWIS UNITED: Park, Moir, Henry, Stewart, Paul, Cruickshank, Robertson, Gairns, Forde, Mair, Davidson. Subs: Nicol, Beattie, Kelman, Regana, Bain, Morrice.