Ravenscraig smash four past Skye

Nov 16 2011 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

AFC RAVENSCRAIG ground out a hard-fought victory away to league strugglers Skye Wanderers on Saturday, making tough work of their opponents on a water-logged pitch.

Ravenscraig went into the match looking for revenge after Skye had managed to come away from King George V with a share of the spoils earlier in the season, drawing 3-3.

Their determination showed on the pitch, starting the match confidently, pressing Skye into defending deep in their own half and forcing a few early corners.

And so the tone was set for the match, with Ravenscraig dominating possession.

The visitors came close on a number of occasions in the opening 20 minutes. Gary Douglas fired over after bursting into a decent shooting position and Ravenscraig’s joint top scorer Mark Devlin really should have done better with a chance inside the box which he screwed wide.

But Ravenscraig’s pressure eventually told when they took the lead just before the half-hour-mark.

A low shot was well saved by the Skye goalkeeper, but his efforts only saw the ball pushed onto the onrushing Craig Brennan who sidefooted home.

Now fully into their stride, the visitors doubled their advantage minutes later, a Skye defender unfortunately scooping the ball into his own net.

The second half saw Ravenscraig continue their relentless pressure without really playing the passing football which has become their trademark in recent seasons. But, despite the lack of quality, they soon scored a third when new signing Craig Fleming burst clear on goal and managed to steady himself and chip the ball over the Skye keeper.

Their fourth came shortly after, Davie Angus spreading the ball down the line to the tireless Colin Scott who played onrushing Martin Walsh to fire home into the bottom corner from 12 yards to finish the scoring at 4-0.

The man of the match for Ravenscraig was midfielder Gary Anderson.

This Saturday, Ravenscraig travel to Victoria Croftfoot looking to end the league leaders’ 100 per cent record.