Halliburton made the short journey to Webster Park in Kingswells for their first league meeting with Stoneywood Amateurs this season. Both the normal coaching team of Stuart Marlow and Ritchie were away on international scouting trips so captain G Fulton took temporary charge with Morgan, who were ably assisted by Halliburton’s very own Bobby Boucher – the injured Greg Young. Halli were coming off the back of a good three points at Monymusk, while Stoneywood were still reeling from their Cup Final defeat to Luthermuir. The stand-in gaffers made just one change with Fisken replacing Laing, meaning the team lined up with Scott Marlow in goal; a back four of Wood, G Fulton, Simpson and N Duncan; a midfield of Mutch, Morgan, R Fulton and Jacques; with Webster and Fisken up front. Warming the bench were Ellis, Bews, Laing, S Duncan and West. Unfortunately with a squad of seventeen available it meant someone had to sit in the stand and Wallace was the unlucky man. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for football and the pitch that was doubtful on Friday had dried out well although the wind was quite strong and would end up proving hazardous for both teams.

Halli kicked off playing with the wind and very nearly got off to the perfect start inside the first few minutes. Mutch floated in a corner from the left, Simpson got up to loop a header into the six yard box where Fisken rose to out-jump the keeper with what appeared to be a well-timed glancing header. However, the referee awarded a free-kick to Stoneywood claiming the striker had in fact punched the ball home which was in fact backed-up by TV replays – Fisken extremely fortunate to escape a booking, especially since he continued to protest his innocence. Halli were really having to dig in during the early stages as Stoneywood appeared to have a strict policy of no players under six feet. Halli were also struggling to get to grips with the wind as ball after ball was over-hit down the middle and ran comfortably through to the keeper. Scott Marlow was keeping the subs well warmed up by firing a succession of goal kicks into the surrounding fields. Halli finally got a shot on target but Morgan’s free kick from the edge of the box was comfortably gathered by the keeper. Stoneywood were playing some nice football but only really had a couple of long range efforts high and wide to show for their efforts. Morgan had another effort from outside the box that the keeper saved easily before R Fulton tried his luck from 35 yards but only succeeded in clearing the fence behind the goal – good to see something he had been practicing in training on Thursday night at Lawsondale being brought into a game situation!! Halli did have a scare when a Stoneywood striker beat the offside trap down the right and latched onto a long ball out of defence, but he shot wide at the near post. Mutch was next to threaten but when his initial cross from the right was cleared back out to him the man with the healing hands was caught in two minds as his cross-C*M-shot-C*M-pass-C*M-poor first touch was shanked horribly wide. Halli’s best chance of the opening period came thanks to a great bit of skill from Webster. His turn on the halfway line had his marker paying to get back in and he played a great slide-rule ball through to Fisken whose shot from the edge of the box looked to be going wide but the keeper turned it round just to be sure. The opening half came to an end with Stoneywood having two great chances to open the scoring. Firstly, Scott Marlow was quickly off his line to bravely punch clear a long through ball and then after Simpson looked to be clearly fouled as he went to clear on the edge of the box, the referee waved play on and a Stoneywood player fired in a shot with the outside of his boot which just cleared the crossbar. (HT 0-0)

A goalless first half which Stoneywood probably just shaded, though Halli set out to use the ball better playing against the wind in the second half. As the second half began, Halli did start to come more into the game as they started to play better football and get the ball into feet. One such move saw Fisken play the ball out wide to N Duncan who sent over a terrific cross-field ball to the on-rushing Mutch, who took an excellent first touch but was brilliantly tackled by the covering defender. However, from the resulting corner Halli took the lead. Mutch swung over a low delivery which Fisken met on the volley. It was blocked on the edge of the six-yard box but the defender’s attempted headed clearance didn’t get the required power and popped out to the unmarked R Fulton who controlled his header superbly well to loop it over the stranded keeper and into the net despite the man on the line’s desperate attempt to clear. The Halli goal led to the pattern of play for the rest of the game being Stoneywood throwing more and more men forward and Halli trying to hit on the counter-attack. For all Stoneywood’s growing pressure they weren’t really forcing Scott Marlow into many saves though his handling was excellent. His only real trouble came from a free-kick from inside Stoneywood’s half which got caught in the wind and took a horrible bounce which the Hallin-capped keeper tipped over the bar. Halli nearly doubled their lead and it came from a Stoneywood corner. G Fulton cleared the ball forward to Webster and continued on a lung-bursting run up the left wing. Webster played it back to G Fulton who slid it back through to put Webster through on the advancing keeper. Unfortunately the chance fell to Webster’s left foot and his tame effort was blocked by the keeper. Stoneywood were continuing to press and forcing corner after corner as well as getting some dangerous free-kicks around the box. Jacques twice did well to clear efforts off the line as Halli struggled to contain the aerial bombardment. Halli made a double change as Ellis and Laing came on for Wood and Jacques. Not long after Bews replaced Webster and within seconds Halli’s favourite hatchet-man was lying flat-out on the ground after an off-the-ball incident. He wasn’t down for long as obviously the sight of West and S Duncan coming to attend to him encouraged him he was fine after all – Bews probably being unsettled as he forgot to wear his gloves. G Fulton made a tactical switch with Ellis going up front and Fisken dropping back into midfield, but that change lasted all of a minute as Stoneywood levelled. A ball into the box left R Fulton momentarily sleeping and his man glanced a free header into the net leaving Scott Marlow with no chance. A deserved equaliser but both teams had chances to win it in the closing stages. Halli forced a two on one after another counter attack where Fisken put Laing through on goal but the sub couldn’t get the ball out of his feet and ended up sending a mishit toe poke wide of the target. At the other end, a Stoneywood free-kick was floated to the back post where it looked certain to be nodded home. Luckily for Halli, Morgan did brilliantly to force his much larger opponent to lose his stride and the header went wide. Halli had one final chance to win it at the death. Sub Laing was put through on goal and looked a certainty to score, but his shot was weak and was parried out by the keeper to the onrushing Fisken who was ridiculously given offside although his effort was cleared off the line anyway. The referee blew for full-time – although it had appeared for most of the second half he had completely lost his ability to read his watch. (FT – 1-1)

A very good, well-earned point for Halli against a decent Stoneywood side and with Ellon Thistle and Grammar FP’s losing it meant we had strengthened our position against three of the sides above us. We should really be concentrating on each individual match and catching the teams directly above us before even considering the title as points in the bag mean much more than games in hand at this stage of the season and I’d guarantee every team in this league – including ourselves – will drop points between now and the end of the season. Everyone earns pass marks for their performance but top man has to go to R Fulton for an excellent performance where he was effective in both breaking up opposition attacks and starting our counter-attacks. He was probably helped by being able to concentrate on his own game and not being given a hundred different instructions from the touchline, which led to his best game in a Halli shirt for a number of weeks. Next up is a home game on Monday night against a University Strollers side who will be buoyed by climbing off the bottom of the league at the weekend. Stand-in gaffer G Fulton is on a romantic rendezvous in France so Morgan and Wood will be taking up the reigns for the game.