A red card and a missed penalty each as Gala FR unluckily go down

BSC Glasgow 1, Gala Fairydean Rovers 0
Darren Smith (right, in stripes, for Gala FR) was unfortunate to miss a penalty which might have given his side a share of the points (archive image).Darren Smith (right, in stripes, for Gala FR) was unfortunate to miss a penalty which might have given his side a share of the points (archive image).
Darren Smith (right, in stripes, for Gala FR) was unfortunate to miss a penalty which might have given his side a share of the points (archive image).

BSC Glasgow triumphed over Gala Fairydean Rovers in a tempestuous match where both teams finished without their full contingent of players, after a couple of late flash-points in an otherwise quiet game.

The encounter was bereft of any real goalmouth action, although both sides missed a penalty, reports Liam Marshall.

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The first chance of the game arrived BSC’s way after 11 minutes, as Cammy Ballantyne took advantage of a missed interception from Scott Main to attempt an audacious lob from the edge of the box, which didn’t trouble Patrick Martin in the Gala goal.

A half chance beckoned for the visitors with 22 minutes gone but Craig O’Reilly’s long-range drive flew wildly over the bar.

Sean McKirdy jinked his way excellently through the BSC defence with three minutes to go until the break but an excellent last-ditch tackle from Jamie McCormack cleared the ball out for a corner, as the diminutive midfielder prepared to strike.

The second half started a lot quicker than the snooze-fest which preceded it, and Thomas Orr forced Patrick Martin into a good save from the edge of the box just four minutes after the restart.

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The referee awarded BSC a free kick just inside the Gala half and a very well weighted ball found Thomas Orr, who left Martin no chance with a scuffed shot that rolled under the Hibs loanee and into the back of the net with 63 minutes on the clock.

Gala almost hit back immediately, as Scott Main’s cross-cum-shot cannoned off the head of Jamie McCormack, but BSC ‘keeper Ryan Marshall sprawled excellently across his goal to claw it away for a corner.

The game took a turn after 78 minutes as Davie Winters played in Sean Struthers with an excellent reverse pass and Reece Donaldson brought him down on the six yard line.

Donaldson then managed the impressive feat of receiving two yellow cards for the challenge and then a subsequent red, which must go down as a record for the time between two cards.

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Thomas Orr stepped up to attempt to seal the points for his side but he could only batter the right-hand post with his spot kick.

With just two minutes to go, Scott Main moved down the wing incredibly well and found Sean McKirdy, who cannoned the ball off a BSC hand from close range.

The referee agreed with McKirdy’s assertion that it was a penalty – much to the disappointment of Robbie McNab, who followed Donaldson down the tunnel for his protests.

Darren Smith took the penalty but, under some intense pressure from the BSC ‘keeper, rolled it wide for his first missed penalty in three years at Gala.

Gala FR: Martin, Stevenson, Ainslie, Donaldson, Main, McKirdy, Smith (c), Watson, Paton, O’Reilly, Cunningham (Addison 58).