REPORT: Ardeer 3 Greenock 5

But the game will more be remembered for a mass brawl early in the second half which saw two players from each side red-carded.

There was little sign of the drama to come as the match opened with Greenock well on top, but failing to capitalise on their superiority by finding the net, despite a good effort from Craig Brown, whose blistering shot was well saved by home keeper Paul McCann just three minutes in.

The home side eventually got a foothold in the match, forcing Greenock stopper Mark Monk into some spectacular saves.

But Ardeer got their noses in front on 23 minutes, with a simple free-kick move which split the Greenock defence, allowing Scott Reid to side-foot past Monk.

As the first half neared its conclusion, Greenock regained their earlier momentum, with a netbound Mark Downie shot from long range tipped over the bar by McCann.

But the leveller arrived soon afterwards, when Brendan Gillan got on the end of a Kevin McKay free-kick to head home from six yards.

However, with just a minute of the half remaining Ardeer regained the lead, when Stephen Reid outpaced Tam Jamieson and bore in on goal to slide the ball past Monk.

The combative style of Greenock centre-forward Allan Docherty had been attracting the attention of the so-called ‘Ardeer Ultras’, a rowdy band of home fans who were giving the striker plenty of verbal abuse.

But he answered in the best possible way, with a brilliant goal three minutes into the second half, when from outside the box he curled a delightful shot high into the postage stamp corner of the Ardeer net.

But the sides weren’t level for long, as a few minutes later more slackness in the Greenock defence saw Scott Reid pounce on a loose ball to fire Ardeer 3-2 ahead.

Then came the game’s big talking point.

As two players tangled on the ground following a challenge, others from both sides piled in.

Hands were raised and punches were thrown, with the brawl seeing some players attempting to act as peace-makers, but others getting themselves needlessly involved in the trouble.

Such was the scale of the incident, it was an almost impossible task for referee Craig Walker and his assistants to pinpoint every offender.

But when the dust settled after a stoppage of almost five minutes, the whistler showed straight red cards to Docherty and Barri Stanton, and to Ardeer’s Antony Paton.

And a second yellow card was shown to the home side’s George Bonner, who had already been booked for an earlier foul on Docherty, meaning both sides were down to nine men.

However another Ardeer player, Scott Reid, was very lucky not to join the others for an early bath after a disgraceful head-butt on Stanton which somehow wasn’t spotted by the officials.

It got even worse for Greenock when play resumed after the long stoppage, when assistant referee William Wallace flagged to alert ref Walker to an off-the-ball incident.

After a brief consultation, David McGarrigle was sent off for an alleged elbow on a home player, which if called correctly by the official was a foolhardy if uncharacteristic act on the part of the big centre-half.

It was now eight-man Greenock against Ardeer’s nine, with even the beer-swigging and cannabis-smoking ‘Ultras’ stunned into relative silence by the events on the park.

However they did manage to blurt out a shameful threat to Greenock video man Gerry Begley, warning him they would damage his equipment if he filmed them.

Meanwhile on the park there was some kind of football match still going on, and incredibly Greenock levelled for a third time on 65 minutes, with Thomas Docherty bundling the ball home from close range.

The depleted Greenock ranks were somehow enjoying the vast space now open to them, and incredibly they took the lead six minutes later, when a cross from Downie was bulleted home via the head of the hard-working Brown.

There was an air of stunned silence around the ground, but the atmosphere was still intimidating, and a police presence arrived soon afterwards, with five officers watching over proceedings.

Ardeer were not making the most of their numerical advantage, and in fact it was Greenock who scored again on 83 minutes, when a shot from substitute Ryan Craig was parried by home keeper McCann but fell nicely to Thomas Docherty, who gleefully fired home from a few yards out for his second goal of the game.

Ardeer pressed forward near the end, but Greenock kept them at bay for the win, which was eerily similar to their league match at Kilwinning Rangers in March, when they were again reduced to eight men but snatched victory with a late goal from John Carter.

Manager Martin Campbell said: “I don’t know the details of the red cards, but I will speak to the players at Monday night’s training session.

“What I will say is that it was a fantastic comeback by the eight men on the park.

“Craig Brown was immense, and it was incredible for a right-back (Thomas Docherty) to get two of the late goals.

“It was a great three points to get, but as I said to the players after the game, the shine was taken off it by the red cards.” Greenock: Monk, T. Docherty, Doherty, Jamieson, McGarrigle, Downie (Williams 76), Stanton, McKay, A. Docherty, Brown (Dow 90), Gillan (Craig 65). Subs not used: N. Docherty, McWilliams.

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