East of Scotland League

Division 1 Conference B

Saturday 2nd October 2021

Kick Off 17.00 Actual 16.59

Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare 2 Glenrothes 5, attendance 228

8’ 0-1

55’ 0-2

60’ 1-2

63’ 2-2

78’ 2-3

90’+ 1, 2-4

90’+3, 2-5

@ Newbattle Complex

Morris Road

Easthouses

EH22 4ST

£7 Admissiom

£2 Programme, didn’t bother as I won’t buy one on any event organised by Groundhop U.K.

The drive from Ormiston was near enough a backtrack from the morning match at Dalkeith, which was only about a mile away. The journey was trouble free and I was parked up by 16.26.

The match was 8th versus 2nd in the league table and when Glenrothes went ahead after just eight minutes, it looked like it was going to form, but it was still only 0-1 at the break. Ten minutes into the second half they doubled their lead and looked to be coasting to an easy three points, but two goals in four minutes saw the hosts level it up at 2-2 eight minutes later. It was a wake up call for Glenrothes and they edged back in front with twelve minutes left, before finally sealing a resounding 2-5 win with two more goals in stoppage time.

East of Scotland League

Division 1 Conference A

Saturday 2nd October 2021

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.29

Ormiston 0 Craigroyston 0, attendance 53

@ Recreation Park

Meadowbank

Ormiston

EH35 5LD

£5 Admission

No Programme.

The game here in Ormiston fitted in perfectly as my middle game of three today, as it was only thirteen minutes drive from Dalkeith, but more importantly, it would take the same amount of time to drive from here to Easthouses, leaving plenty of time to make the 17.00 kick off.

A couple of years back, Ormiston moved their ground about a pitch length from where they played previously. The new ground is very much a work in progress, but at least it is now fully enclosed and although it is only railed off at present, there are plans to erect a covered spectator area at some point. The club officials were very welcoming, inviting the four ground hoppers at the game for tea and hot pies at halftime.

The match here didn’t look particularly appealing, as 14th hosted 15th in the league table, or to put it more bluntly, second bottom versus bottom. Ormiston had managed just two wins from their ten matches played so far, losing the other eight, having only scored four goals in the process, whilst conceding 36. Craigroyston had just one win from their nine matches, having lost the other eight.

There was very little to choose between the two sides. Ormiston had a player red carded eight minutes into the second half, but despite being a man down, actually created more chances than they had with a full eleven players. In the end they will feel this was two points dropped, rather than one gained, although it was enough to see them rise two places up the table, so not too bad an outcome.

East of Scotland League

Division 1 Conference A

Saturday 2nd October 2021

Kick Off 11.15 Actual 11.13

Dalkeith Thistle 8 Tweedmouth Rangers 2, attendance 309

6’ 0-1

31’ 1-1

35’ 1-2

50’ 2-2

58’ 3-2 (pen)

61’ 4-2

66’ 5-2

70’ 6-2

77’ 7-2

90’ 8-2

@ King’s Park

Croft Street

Dalkeith

EH22 3BA

£7 Admission

£2 Programme, didn’t bother as I won’t buy one on any event organised by Groundhop U.K.

Thankfully, of the six grounds hosting games on the ‘Scottish Ground Hop’, there were only two being played at grounds I was yet to see a match at. To be fair though, the Scottish ‘hops are far less overbearing than those held down south, as the locals are not taken in by the fanfare that surrounds the event. Unlike the open fields and recreation grounds that are visited down south for these events, where most clubs rarely get more than a couple of dozen spectators for a normal home match, these are proper clubs, with proper grounds and many of them already attract good crowds, even without the influx of around 150 extra punters that turn up as part of the ground hops. At least you are not forced to buy a programme and apart from the admission price possibly being a quid or two more than normal, it is more like doing the game on any day of the season. Clubs are also ‘advised’ to scrap the offer of a concession price (I’m not old enough to qualify for this yet!), which certainly doesn’t go down well with regular supporters who turn up every week and must leave a poor impression of ground hoppers once the fanfare rolls back out of town, never to be seen again.

This morning’s match was 10th versus 12th in the league table. The first half was a decent contest, with the visitors twice taking the lead to go in 1-2 up at the break. Two minutes into the second half the game turned on it’s head when the Tweedmouth No.9 was red carded for an alleged elbow in an off the ball incident. It only took Dalkeith three minutes to level the scores at 2-2. Eight minutes later they went ahead from the penalty spot and the resistance of the 10 men was broken. Five more goals were added in a very one sided second half. The red card certainly spoiled the game from a neutral point of view.

The ‘hop was heading to Bonnyrigg Rose for their next instalment, but having already been there, I would be going elsewhere, but it would need to be within easy reach of Easthouses, where the scheduled 17.00 kick off was to be my intended third match of the day.