Broxburn Athletic boss Chris Townsley admits his side needs to sharpen up at both ends of the park following their 1-0 home loss to Dundonald Bluebell, writes David Hastie.
Elliot Ford’s strike on the hour mark was all that separated the sides in a match played in dire conditions with blustery winds and periodic downpours not conducive to fast-flowing football.
The hosts started brightly when a beautifully lofted ball into the box from Andrew Mair was met well at the back post by Joe Tait, but his effort was deflected behind for a corner.
Ross Allum did well to harass the Dundonald defence just minutes later, stealing the ball before sliding a through pass to Gary Brass. The striker’s effort was well taken but was met by a great save by the Bluebell’s stopper Kyle Marley.
Sustained Broxburn pressure couldn’t find a result, and the lack of productivity was almost punished on the half hour mark. Sloppy defending and lack of clearance in the box led to an opportunity for Ford, however his effort slipped across the face of the goal before glancing off the outside of the post.
The second half brightened up, making for better conditions. This seemed to suit the visitors better as they pushed on looking for the opener, with a Stephen Husband effort having Shaun Donoghue saving smartly down to his left.
Jack Smith, who had been causing a nuisance down the left hand side for Dundonald had a great chance after latching on to a Lewis McKenzie flick on but his shot was inches too high to trouble the keeper.
Minutes later, the visitors got the break they were looking for. Smith picked up the ball again on the left before finding Ford with space in the box. His effort was calculated and placed well past the keeper to give the visitors the lead.
Efforts followed from Smith and McKenzie which threatened to end the game as a contest, although Broxburn came close to an equalizer when Craig Newall whipped a ferocious shot in from the right.
It was a tight angle to get the shot away and it flashed across goal before finding touch, much to relief of the Dundonald defence.
Townsley said: "It was a game of two halves. I thought we were really on top in the first half, the conditions suited us. We probably should have been ahead but we didn’t take our chances and got punished for it in the second half.
"We made a poor error and gave the goal away, it’s not hard to score a goal against us and it’s disappointing really.”
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