Wow, just wow! What a start to 2017! I am aware that that is as good as it may get in 2017 but even if that proves to be the case then I'm a happy man. What a performance and what a result. We go from not winning at their place for donkey's years to doing it twice in a few months? We are truly the official Monklands world football champions and we are worthy recipients of the crown.
We had Airdrie on the back foot from the off and kept them penned back a bit for the first part of the game. Although they tried to play some nice stuff it was no surprise when we took the lead and what a goal it was. Airdrie were on the attack but the ball broke out to the edge of the box to Fish. Fish shifted it wide to McBride on the left hand side. McBride took a couple of strides forward and played a cracker of a cross-field pass in behind the Airdrie defence to a waiting Boydyhimovic. Boydychenko controlled the pass and as the keeper advanced, he coolly finished behind him. What a finish and we were 1-0 up.
To be fair, they came back into it a wee bit after that and when they equalised it was a cracker. A kind of nothing move finished with their player hitting a peach of a shot from all of 25 yards. Keeper Ross had absolutely no chance and 1-1 it was.
I was sitting in the back row of the stand in front of the hospitality boxes and when their goal went in the great unwashed in the dear seats fairly rattled the Perspex behind me in appreciation. Got the fright of my life to be fair but got my own back later; as you do...........
We then came right back into the game with Boydyvardy at the centre of everything that looked like we would score from. To be fair he was ably supported by his team mates and there were no failures today. If Boydymahrez would just get his head up and make a pass from time to time then he would be an even better player. He has a tendency to want to beat everyone when sometimes a pass would be a better option but I'm nitpicking today.
We nearly went 2-1 behind though when a corner from their left caused a bit of a panic in our defence. The ball bounced around before being rattled towards our goal. Ross made a fabulous double save and then Fish cleared the danger. But it was anyone's game at that stage.
And then the defining moment of the match for me. We'd looked dangerous on the counter attack and when the ball was played wide to McBride on the left hand side nothing much was on. A quick change of direction saw him cut inside and fire in a great cross across the face of the goal. Boydyguero had it all to do as he made his run. He got between at least 3 Airdrie defenders and finished smartly for 2-1. Cue pandemonium in the Rovers end. I turned round to the riff-raff in the dear seats and went as if to rattle the Perspex as they had done but then just shrugged it off as if why bother - I mean what am I, 5 years old? Anyhoo, one of the roasters who had obviously been to the Oxfam sale before the match to pick up his ill-fitting suit went absolutely mental; ha, my work here was done for the day!
So 2-1 to the good guys and with the half time whistle blowing it was the perfect time to score.
We were on easy street after that for the whole of the second half; well kind of. Alright, they had plenty of pressure but to be honest with one or two minor exceptions, they never, ever looked like scoring. We cleared one effort of the line from point blank range and then in the last few minutes keeper Ross had a few good saves. One from a free kick and one from a long range effort. His handling was great all afternoon and he can waste time like no other player in the history of world football. Thank you sir, your efforts were appreciated today!
For our part, we had them on the back foot a few times in the second half too. Any time Boateng was on the ball you felt as if there might be an error and if there was then it would be a spectacular one. We pressed him a few times and he never looked comfortable. In truth I wouldn't have swapped any of the Airdrie back four for any of our back four.
The ref seemed to play an inordinate amount of stoppage time at the end and we weathered a late storm, ultimately coming away with all 3 points and another famous victory.
We were brilliant today virtually from 1-11 and the subs. Defensively we were exposed a bit down both sides in the first half. Partly though that was due to our attacking set up which meant both Kyle and Reidy weren't protected too much by our midfield attacking 3. Other than that they were rock solid.
The Dunlops were great in defence. Indeed Ross had a great chance for a goal in the first half when a corner fell unexpectedly to him and he couldn't finish. Fish had a quiet game by his standards but patrolled in front of the back 4 and made it difficult for Airdrie to get through. Ross Davidson had one of his best games for a while. He was aggressive, made some decent passes and looked focussed throughout.
Willis was a passenger if I'm honest and by the time he was hooked in the second half I'd forgotten he was playing. Connor Shields was lively and worked hard and McBride looked good but if I'm honest I prefer him at full back these days. Keeper Ross had some great saves, his handling was excellent and he time-wasted like a pro throughout. He was a star today. Even Ferry did well when he came on as did Ross Gilmour who really impresses me as a player.
Picking a man of the match is nigh on impossible then. On balance I'd give it to Boydycosta for his goals. In truth anyone could have won man of the match today and they virtually all deserved it. If that is his last game for us then he has finished in some style.
The 1600 who turned up today certainly didn't leave disappointed, well maybe some did, ha! A good few hundred Rovers fans, hope they all turn up again at Cliftonhill on Saturday.
When we played Airdrie at Cliftonhill earlier this season their gamesmanship, shirt pulling etc really did my head in. Today it was stealing metres and metres at every throw in and standing in front of the ball every time we wanted to take a quick free kick. Ultimately though they got what they deserved.
2-1 to the Rovers was the correct result today and we deserved the victory. You could see what it meant to the players at the end. Mick in particular was over celebrating with the fans the minute the ref blew the whistle and the rest weren't far behind him.
So a good omen for our next visit to their ground in a few weeks time - after all, we're unbeaten there in the last two seasons!
Any truth in the rumour that if we beat them again we get to keep them?!! Nah, I'm more picky than that!
Happy New Year to all associated with the Rovers!