Our resident media official Jack Harris was at Saturday's game. Here is his report.
Edinburgh South picked up a valuable point on the road in Prestonpans on Saturday afternoon, as they played out a thoroughly entertaining 1-1 draw with Preston Athletic.
The visitors sought comfort early in the game, with several good chances to take the lead. Kenny O’Brien and Cammy Young created a lovely passing sequence inside the first minute, Young’s cross finding Fletcher Hendry outside the box: Hendry whipped a cracking shot towards the Preston goal from distance, but goalkeeper Kyle Leiper was equal to it. An injury to Leiper would significantly delay proceedings, but South managed to keep momentum swinging in their favour. Reece Ferguson tried an acrobatic finish – his overhead kick narrowly arcing over the crossbar – while an O’Brien free-kick was later thumped out of the danger area by Preston’s defence.
Narratives in football are ever-changing, evidenced by Preston flipping the script and beginning to bombard South with waves of attacking play. While manager Ainslie Hunter’s men played some solid football and kept themselves out of danger, Preston tackled and pressed with aggression, which seemed to unsettle South’s build-up play. Hunter said that, although the half began well, South’s progress was undone by their struggle to keep possession. “We were not keeping the ball well, and because we were too deep never had any attacking threat”. The tempo of Preston’s game perhaps caught South off-guard, but Lewis Whitelaw was up for the challenge, the South goalkeeper denying two brilliant chances during this nervous period with stunning reflex saves.
Unable to build passing lanes from the midfield, South looked to attack with long balls on the counter, relying on the lightning pace of Ferguson threading the needle through the backline. Young and Hendry both offered particularly inviting balls over the defence, with Ferguson narrowly missing out on both chances. The clearest opportunity of the first half would fall to Blake Wales who, following a parried ball by Leiper, forced a save from a venomous effort guided towards the bottom corner. Ultimately, the pressure would tell, as South conceded a frustrating rebounded ball tapped in at the far post following another Whitelaw intervention. Phenomenal defending from Young would keep the deficit to just the one goal, the right-back clearing his lines following a wicked Preston volley, while Whitelaw would be called into action to stop two goal-bound efforts in stoppage time.
While Hunter acknowledged that his side “were lucky to only go in 1-0 down at half-time”, his words in the dressing room – and an inspired triple substitution – flipped the script in South’s favour. The away side came storming back onto the pitch, the introduction of Ian Ballantyne in particular adding a fire and drive to the team as they roared in search of the equaliser. Ballantyne and fellow substitute Max Clark build some brilliant opportunities around the edge of the box, while Hendry enjoyed greater freedom and nearly struck gold with a top corner rocket.
Hendry – eventually awarded Man of the Match for a stunning all-round performance – eventually reaped his reward, drawing a foul just inside the box to give South a chance from the spot. Captain O’Brien made no mistake, stroking his penalty into the bottom corner and sending Leiper diving the wrong way. Not content with equalising, South threw everything into their quest for a winner, nearly finding it through Ciaran Vaughan whose low shot rippled the side netting moments after the penalty. Hunter praised his charges in the second half, who he thought “played with a tempo and desire we lacked in the first half [and] created numerous really good chances”.
A much more cohesive midfield and defence, instigated by half-time tactical alterations, was paramount to this: South were able to create passing channels, weaving the ball around Preston’s defenders and creating the majority of the chances. Hendry was very unlucky not to get his name on the score sheet, battling for every ball and forcing several incredible saves from Leiper. Defensive substitutes Charlie Stewart and Lee Taggart both added spark to South, the former displaying wonderful moments of crossing creativity and the latter nearly bagging all three points with a header at the death.
Despite an effervescent second half from South, full of creative intent and attacking drive, the teams shared the spoils from a thrilling game. Hunter was pleased with the result away from home but felt that South deserved more from the game. “The draw was possibly a fair result over the ninety minutes, but I thought we had the better and more clear-cut chances and we dominated the second half more than they did the first”.
South return home on November 9th, welcoming Crossgates Primrose at 2pm.
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