Musselburgh Athletic vs Caledonian Braves

An undefeated run of 25 games came to an end this afternoon, after the Caledonian Braves fell to a 2-1 loss in a dramatic cup tie against Musselburgh.

At a bustling Olivebank, the supporters arrived in their numbers for an exciting game, with the two sides both sitting at the top of their respective divisions. 

With the wind blowing and sun shining, the opening exchanges of the game provided very few opportunities of note. Both teams matched up well, with the Braves arguably settling more as the half roarded on, and their patience would be rewarded after 35 minutes.

From range, Cammy Breadner swung a free-kick into the box, which was spilled by 'keeper Daniel Laing. Ryan Murray was quick on the scene however, to smash into the open net and give us a lead.

With a one goal cushion, the complextion of the game changed again, one minute after the restart, when our opposition recieved a straight red card. Despite being in a fairly inocuous area in the middle of the park,  Andrew Dempster lunged into a challenge with John Guthrie, and was dismissed having missed the ball completely.

In fairness to the opposition however, this dismissal appeared to galvanise their efforts. Liam Burns looked to his bench and introduced Jonny Court, to keep two men upfront despite their man disadvantage, and this change paid off immediately.

A long ball was sent up, and the powerful Court flicked the ball onwards. Aiden Walsh picked up the ball on the left, before cutting it back to the edge of the box after a great run, via a touch from Court. The on-rushing Jackson Barker was able to find the bottom corner, with an emphatic finish to level the scores.

And a second would follow just eight minutes later for our hosts, as momentum switched and the crowd livening up.

With 65 minutes on the clock, Musselburgh swung a corner into the Braves box. Despite being a fair distance from goal, Jackson Barker once again made a run and was able send a low header through a sea of bodies and Bernie White, to make it 2-1 courtesy of a kiss off the post.

Musselburgh had flipped the tie on it's head, and played off a great cup atmosphere built my their support. The Braves pushed for a leveller, but weren't able to forge any clear cut opportunities in the final third of the game. Ross McNeil saw an attempt comfortably saved in our best chance of the last half hour, after swivelling to test the Laing.

Ricky Waddell looked to central defender Jack McDowall for an auxillery striking option, with the 6 foot 6 striker coming on to add a target late on. That change almost paid to fruition, with McDowall heading across the face of the goal in the last minute, with a ball that came agonizingly close to the boot of Cammy Breadner, who couldn't turn in.

Unfortuantely, the Braves would succumb to that second half come back from Musselburgh, who deserve full credit for their energetic and front foot performance after going down to ten men - although the Braves players will feel as if it was a game there to be won.

Still top of the table, we return to Lowland League action next week when we face Bo'ness.