IT was a case of 'mission accomplished' for Greenock Juniors on Saturday as the Ravenscraig men strengthened their grip on second place in the Third Division with a 3-0 win away to struggling Irvine Vics.
Goals by Alan Frizzell, Ryan Sinnamon and Tai Beckley secured full points at Victoria Park - and closed the gap on leaders Thorn Athletic back to six points after the Renfrewshire side fell to a surprise defeat at home to Ardeer.
The old cliche of four seasons in one day was fully evident in North Ayrshire; on a soft pitch the game kicked off in cold though pleasant sunshine, but shortly before the break a combination of heavy rain and hail caused all but the toughest spectators to seek shelter - and briefly saw one of the linesman take refuge in the Greenock dugout, without, admittedly, any loss of impartiality.
The home side had a clear game plan to close Greenock down and bombard the Nock defence with a series of long balls into the channels between the back three and the wing backs, who do tend to be stationed quite high up the park.
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It was all very old-fashioned junior football, and for the first 20 minutes or so it was quite effective.
Greenock had not come up against this type of opposition since Bellshill last season, and did well to see out the opening period of play without giving up anything other than a few half chances - a testament to the back three and goalkeeper Beaton.
Having weathered the opening barrage from the hosts, the Nock gradually worked their way into the game.
On 21 minutes a nicely worked move on the right flank ended with Ryan Docherty, who had been on the wrong end of some heavy challenges, having his shot smothered by McGregor-Ure in the Vics goal.
Irvine had a fortuitous attempt on goal two minutes later when a penalty-box clearance by Jay Woods ricocheted off Saverese, wide of Beaton’s right-hand post.
Greenock Juniors closed the gap on leaders Thorn Athletic to six points after defeating Irvine Vics 3-0 on Saturday. (Image: alex craig) The Nock goalkeeper pulled the first of a number of excellent saves on 29 minutes; the Vics worked some nice build-up play down their left flank before crossing to Adams in the penalty box, but his accurate header was thwarted by Beaton’s one-handed reaction save, low to his left side.
Greenock stamped their own authority on the game with two goals in the last five minutes of the opening period.
Firstly, on 41 minutes, Frizzell from the left-hand side of the Irvine box scored with an accurate low drive beyond the reach of McGregor-Ure.
Then, three minutes later, after some nice build play on the Greenock right flank, Frizzell, from a similar position from which he'd scored, unselfishly squared the ball across the penalty box for Sinnamon to neatly add the second.
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The second half saw Greenock in full control of the match; there was a lingering suspicion that the Vics would not be able to maintain the energy levels of the first half, and that was borne out in the drop in their pressing levels and the way that Greenock’s midfield, with additional space to play in, were able to manage the game.
With only a couple of minutes of the second half gone a James Mark’s header narrowly shaved the post.
With Irvine’s attacks becoming increasingly sporadic, Greenock looked the more likely to score.
In the 75th minute a Cunningham cross gave an unmarked Tai Beckley the chance to shoot at McGregor-Ure, but the Vics keeper saved bravely from the Nock striker.
Two minutes later Beaton was at his considerable best, making a point-blank save with his foot, off the underside of the bar, and gathering safely.
Greenock Juniors sidestepped a potential banana skin at Victoria Park on Saturday. (Image: ALEX CRAIG)
The last thing Greenock wanted was a repeat of last week’s nervy 2-1 scoreline with only 10 minutes to go, but as the game entered stoppage time, and having been put through on goal by Black, Beckley was again denied by a fine save from McGregor-Ure.
The Nock forward finally got the better of the Vics keeper with virtually the last kick of the ball; Cunningham and Barclay combined cleverly to leave Beckley with an empty net to fire into for the third and decisive goal.
All in all, a very satisfactory afternoon for Greenock. They withstood a very physical challenge from fired-up opponents and in the end allowed their superior quality to win the day.
And Greenock got a further boost when they learned after the match that leaders Thorn had tumbled to a surprise 3-0 loss at home to Ardeer Thistle - a result which means the Nock can move to within three points of the summit if they can win their game in hand on the Renfrewshire side.
The only downside from Saturday's match was an injury to Jack Graham, who limped off in 72 minutes; hopefully he will be fit for Nock's next match, at home to Girvan on March 1.
Greenock are sponsored by Saveheat, Keystore Cowal View, Safer Group, The Lighthouse Bar, McGills, ARC and Blairs.
