Fossoway were put to the sword by a show of clinical finishing from visitors in Greig Park Rangers in the 2nd Round of the Taylor Sullivan Cup at The Myre.
We welcomed Lewis Caulfield back into the defence and the tall defender showed no signs of being rusty for his 1st game of the season. Birthday boy Greg Stapleton was at right back, Liam Munro on the left with Caulfield in the middle with Damian Gonsales with Derek Page playing as a sweeper. Foss welcomed Simon Sanagahan back into midfield and there was encouraging news with Andy Gourlay and Ciaran Reilly both fit to be subs after nasty injuries.
The game could have turned out very differently if Foss had taken a chance in literally the opening seconds when Jamie Forrester went close with a shot that was saved and ran towards goal. Scott Sneddon was first onto it but his quick touch was miraculously blocked on the line by a back-tracking defender.
It was a possibly defining moment as the visitors started to show their prowess with some good attacking play and a number of chances before the deadlock was broken in the 11th minute when Dylan Muir poked home ahead of Mark Robertson's dive after good play by Liam Hart.
Greig Park were looking very useful going forward and had a few good chances, with Page making an excellent last ditch tackle to stop the visiting striker going through one-on-one with Robertson.
Fossoway got on level terms in the 30th minute after good work on the right wing by Liam Murray firing in a low cross that was missed by the defender but fell to Jamie Forrester who made no mistake slotting into the far corner.
The joy was short-lived though after a Robertson save and then another header off the bar when Muir added his second slotting home after Robertson had saved Hart's first effort. A devastating blow hit Foss on 41 minutes when an attacking throw was passed back to the defence who were intercepted. Hart ran on towards goal, rounded Robertson, and picked his spot past a couple of defenders. It was to be a costly error.
Scott Sneddon managed to pull a goal back on 43 minutes when he slotted past the onrushing keeper after a clever through ball from Murray.
Greig Park extended the lead to 4-2 in the 54th minute when Hart fired in from the edge of the area with a well taken finish after the ball had come loose to him on the edge of the area. There was controversy in the 59th minute with regards to a drop ball given after the official appeared to miss an incident in the Fossoway box. The ball was dropped and with the defence seemingly static for a few crucial moments allowed Hart to complete his hat-trick from close range.
Both sides made a number of changes with Fossoway looking to go all out with nothing to lose, but unforunately making little headway before Greig Park were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute which was despatched home by substitute Thomson.
Fossoway were also awarded a penalty on 82 minutes after Andrew Reade was bundled over in the box. Martin Payne failed to keep his cool and the Greig Park keeper dived to his right to push away the spot kick.
The match finished 10 vs 10 when Greig Park centre half Rolland was dismissed for a crunching tackle on Reilly in the 85th minute whilst Forrester saw red a couple of minutes later for a foul as well.
A tough lesson learned today from very strong attacking Greig Park who were deserving of their victory. We wish them the best of luck for the rest of the competition.
