Kirriemuir grind out deserved last gasp victory at Tayport

Tayport put some pressure on the Kirriemuir goal. Pic by Ryan Masheder

Kirriemuir returned with all three points thanks to a strong performance against in-form Tayport.

Inside the first couple of minutes, Kirrie’s Craig Batchelor made a run down the line and crossed the ball into the box, but there was no one there to finish.

He also had another chance on goal 10 minutes later, but it was easily caught by Tayport keeper Darren Brown.

Tayport, however, did have their own chances on goal. A free kick by Captain Jamie Hume fell to Paul Sludden on the edge of the box who ran towards the goal but it was blown as offside before Sludden could take a shot. A throw in by midfielder Louis Joyce to Ryan Paterson gave Paterson a great chance to put the home side ahead but his shot was cleared out of the box by Kirrie’s Bryan Duell. Another chance for Paterson came from a pass from Kris Rollo, but unfortunately it fell straight to Kirriemuir keeper Darryl Burns.

30 minutes in and both sides were still pushing to get the first goal of the match. A corner from the away sides Stephen McNally fell straight into the box and there was a bit of a scramble but Brown managed to get his hands on it. Another chance for Tayport also came through a corner only a few minutes later. Paterson took the corner but it was well cleared from the box by Stewart Russell.

There were a few last minute chances from both teams just before the half time whistle. A Jamie Gill throw in landed in the box and was cleared by Duell, but the ball fell to Craig Sturrock who took a shot but it went just wide of the post. Paterson also had a free kick into the box but it was again cleared by Kirrie’s defence. The last action of the first half came from a free kick for Kirriemuir. McNally took the shot but it was easily headed away by Hume. We went in to half time level at 0-0.

Out for the second half and Tayport definitely had a lot more energy and started as the better team. A Paterson cross into the box was a great chance for the home side

to take the lead but no one was there to net the ball and it was cleared by Kirrie’s Robbie Gallacher. A Craig Sturrock free kick also landed straight in the box and there was a clash of heads as players from both sides went for the ball but it eventually went out for a goal kick.

Tayport got the opening goal of the game in the 50th minute. A Gill cross into the box caused a scramble and then the deflection off a Kirrie player meant the ball fell to Daniel Dorovic who tapped the ball into the back of the net. Only a few minutes later Dorovic tried to double Tayport’s lead but his shot went just wide of the post.

However, in the 58th minute Kirriemuir equalised. A shot hit off the post and bounced back to Andrew Walls who easily slipped the ball past Brown, making the score 1-1. The away side continued to challenge Batchelor made another great run down the line towards goal but his shot went too wide.

After Kirrie’s equaliser, Tayport’s heads went down and the away side began to dominate the match. Tayport also took a massive blow when keeper Brown made a bad tackle just outside the box and received a straight red card. Substitute keeper Jacob Kerrigan came on for his debut to replace Brown which meant Striker Kieran Sturrock had to come off the pitch. The Kirrie free kick that followed was taken by Duell but it went wide of the post. Gill had a late chance to claim a win for the home side but his shot went over the crossbar.

It was in the 93rd minute that Kirriemuir got their second and final goal. Liam Duell crossed the ball into the box where it was found by substitute Blaike Kyles. Kerrigan tried to save but Kyles just slipped the ball past him giving Kirriemuir the lead. This was the last action of the match and the away side left with a 1-2 win and the three points.