Marston Albion 1 - 4 Crand Straide

Key Events:

• 18' Crand Straide Mactar Camara scores, assisted by Pedro Guzman
• 35' Crand Straide Alastair Walker scores, assisted by Mactar Camara
• 47' Crand Straide Alastair Walker scores, assisted by Norbert Fischer
• 62' Yellow card to Crand Straide Alastair Walker
• 67' Marston Albion Nilson Pires scores, assisted by Seungwoo Jeong
• 73' Crand Straide Stuart Mitchell scores, assisted by Alastair Walker

Marston Albion: No standout performers rated 7.0 or higher.

Crand Straide:

• Alastair Walker (7.8) - Scored twice, assisted Stuart Mitchell’s goal and was booked; a busy afternoon with a considerable share of the decisive actions.
• Mactar Camara (7.3) - Opened the scoring and assisted Alastair Walker’s first, putting his mark on the match at both ends of the scoring chain.

The scoreline was built in stages: Crand Straide led 2-0 by the 35th minute, then Alastair Walker added his second shortly after the break. Nilson Pires, assisted by Seungwoo Jeong, gave Marston Albion a goal in the 67th minute, but Stuart Mitchell restored the three-goal margin six minutes later, with Walker providing the assist. The hosts did get a goal on the board; they could not make it a turning point.

For Marston Albion, the 50% possession and six shots on target offer something more substantial than a match spent watching the other side have the ball. Still, Crand Straide produced ten more attempts and three more shots on target, a disparity that helps explain why the visitors finished with a 4-1 win. The hosts’ finishing came in below their xG, while the visitors’ came in above it; combined with Crand Straide’s greater attacking volume, that left little room for the equal possession figure to disguise the difference. Four goals, shared possession, and a winner decided by what happened whenever the ball went forward: a perfectly serviceable reminder that the ball’s preferred address is the goal.