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On Saturday 30^th Nov. 1996 Hallis army faced Trophies International in the North of Scotland cup. We were soundly thrashed 11-0. Although not our All time worst result it heralded an all time low in the history of the club when players began to exchange blows with each other during the match! Brothers Stephen and Craig Robertson decided to retire following that debacle however Craig could not fight the lure of competitive football and returned to us the following season. Stephen however has taken a little longer to rekindle his interest but the talisman picked up the gauntlet this afternoon when he made his first competitive return to football since that fateful day almost 7 years ago! Changes were of course made to last weeks side with the experienced Marlow, Andrews, Morgan and G.Woods all being reinstated in the starting line up which was Andrews, N.Milne, Marlow, C.Robertson, Michie, Keith, Fulton, S.Robertson, Morgan, G.Woods and Anderson. Our two subs were both late arrivals, initially unaware of the early kick off, Sim and making his second appearance for us, Craig Westland. Referee Boyes no doubt hoped for a match of higher calibre than last weeks comic cuts and if truth be told there was a major improvement from both sides. Halli had a great opportunity to open the scoring when in 25 mins. Fulton playing in an unfamiliar midfield role found himself through on goal. He had Michie somehow surging into the box on his left but decided against the square ball instead firing it past the post. C.Robertson mis-hit an effort then Marlow leant back to fire over the top from a corner. McTeagle then put us under pressure and forced Andrews into a marvellous save, stretching to finger tip a cross come shot over the bar. From the corner N.Milne headed against his own bar before C.Robertson expertly nodded the ball out of the danger zone. Moments later Andrews raced off his line to block at the feet of an attacker after Michie had allowed the ball to drift over his head. (H.T.0-0) S.Robertson was doing very well considering his long lay off and almost capped his return with a goal however his lack of match practice showed as he sliced his effort well wide. We never really really got on top during this half as both sides continued to battle for supremacy. Both keepers were in action on a number of occasions and then as the 90 minute mark arrived Fulton had the ideal opportunity to steal the glory and win the match for us. He again broke free on the right and yet again decided against a square pass this time Anderson screaming for the pass. He shot low straight at the keeper. C.Robertson had a wild swing at a low cross ball into the visitors goalmouth then Anderson fell back as he also had a chance to win it inside regulation time. His shot flew over the top. S.Robertson by now was on the side line after being replaced by Westland but the 90 minutes arrive with the score stalemate at (0-0). Extra time started as the rain began to pour down making conditions difficult. We lived dangerously when we gave away a succession of corner and from one Morgan dived in front of his man only to see the ball fly towards our goal, Marlow was well placed to block then thump clear. We then put together a good flowing move but the last pass in was weak allowing the McTeagle sweeper to launch a long ball forward. We were on the back foot and C.Robertson was well off this man N.Milne tried but failed to tackle the attacker as Andrews raced out of his goal making up the attackers mind for him as he was left with the simple option of chipping his side in front. (E.T.H.T0-1) Sim was introduced for Marlow and got forward only for G.Woods to pass behind him. Anderson was then poleaxed in the box as a defender jumped on his back. A stonewall penalty denied by the ref left us gutted. McTeagle then grabbed a 2cnd Michie turned too easily before a low drive was sent past the despairing Andrews. (E.T.F.T.0-2) Much improved performance with Andrews Hallitopman