Armadale Thistle 3 Ormiston 2

ORMISTON had the novel experience of competitive Friday football as they participated in the first of the six UK Groundhop fixtures spread over the weekend past to accommodate several hundred football supporters minded to visit as many different venues as possible.

Richie Weir’s men were very much underdogs in their EOSFL Second Division encounter with Armadale Thistle, with second-bottom visiting second-top.

In front of a healthy official attendance of 436 spectators, Ormiston provided a shock when they took the lead just 11 minutes in through Pol Adrian; however, their advantage was cancelled out almost immediately by Thistle’s Jackson.

Although the hosts had a good deal more possession than Ormiston, they found the Primrose rearguard well-drilled and difficult to break down – having spurned a few chances over the course of the first half, they found themselves unexpectedly behind at the break, Adrian the goalscorer again when Ormiston regained the lead five minutes from the end of the first half.

There was more of the same for much of the second half, Armadale unable to crack Ormiston’s resistance until the later stages – eventually, though, their pressure did pay off, playermanager Strickland levelling the scores in the 83rd minute before Wood struck what proved the winning goal barely a minute later.

While naturally disappointed to see his team beaten having led for much of the evening, Primrose boss Weir could not be dissatisfied by his team’s effort against good-quality opponents away from home.

This weekend’s card has Ormiston at home to Stirling University reserves, who last weekend inflicted a 6-1 thumping on Easthouses Lily and are sure to present a stiff challenge.