Hillhead's young and not so young pretenders earn fighting draw

Hillhead welcomed back former coach and player Alan Shirley for what would be his third playing spell at the club.  This would prove to be a fantastic acquistion for Hillhead's development squad along with wise heads such as Vic Brown, Robin Gillies and John Candlin to name but a few.  Marshalled seamlessly by captain and playmaker Robert Frame Hillhead took to the field with a handful of 12 year olds and the rest of the team under 15.  Their opposition had a couple of younger players, but on the whole were a robust and experienced outfit.

Despite periods of good play from both teams, Hillhead's lightweight forwards struggled physically to impose themselves on their adult counterparts depsite some lovely flowing moves.  Uddingston capitalised upon Hillhead's frugality in front of goal taking a goal lead early in the second half.   The Hillhead youngsters showed terrific maturity and stole back into the game with John Candlin turning back the years, as he deflected a fiercely struck cross low past the hapless Uddingston keeper.  Game on.  As is so often the case, the next goal would arrive five minutes after Hillhead's equaliser, with a rampant Hillhead taking a surprise lead from the stick of Alan Shirley, albeit not the cleanest strike from the powerful hitter.  Credit to Uddingston as they fought back in the closing ten minutes and grabbed a deserved equaliser to settle the match at 2-2.

Another fantastic performance by a very young Hillhead development side, who continue to develop and display all the attributes Hillhead hope for in their players.