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.

Scottish Professional Football League

League 2

Friday 1st October 2021

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.44

Edinburgh City 1 Cowdenbeath 1, attendance 314

8’ 1-0 D. Handling

83’ 1-1 K. Renton

@ Ainslie Park Stadium

94 Pilton Drive

Edinburgh

EH5 2HF

£14 Admission

£3 Programme, 56 pages.

I was fast running out of opportunities to tick off Ainslie Park Stadium whilst it is hosting Scottish League football. It is normally home to non-League club Spartans F.C. who play in the Lowland League. Back on 6th January 2001 I saw Spartans lose 1-3 at home to Stirling Albion in a Scottish F.A. Cup 2nd Round match, a tie that was played at City Park, in nearby Ferry Road. They left that ground, since demolished and built on, in November 2008, moving here to Ainslie Park. Edinburgh City signed a deal to play their matches here whilst their home ground at Meadowbank Stadium underwent a complete rebuild, due to move back there at the start of this season, but work has overrun, so they have extended their stay here a little longer. They are due to play their first game back home some time in November, so time was certainly of the essence to visit Ainslie Park as a League ground, although there is always a chance that Spartans themselves could gain promotion in the future.

With this weekend being the ‘Scottish Ground Hop’, with six matches being played from Friday-Sunday at staggered kick off times, it fitted in perfectly for me, especially as there were only two grounds hosting matches that I hadn’t yet visited (11.15 and 17.00 on the Saturday). The only problem was how the ‘fuel crisis’ might affect things, but once clear of the M25, there was a very high availability of fuel at the petrol stations en route, which improved the further north you went.

Tonight’s match was 5th versus 10th (bottom) in the league table and when Edinburgh City opened the scoring just eight minutes in, it looked to be going to form. However, Cowdenbeath came back into it and really made a game of it. They dominated the second half and totally belied their league position. The equaliser came seven minutes from time, when a cross from the right was flicked past the ‘keeper at the near post. In the end, they will feel disappointed that they only got a draw. They certainly deserved all three points against a very poor Edinburgh City side.

The ground here is not great for a ‘League ground’. One goal end is not accessible to spectators and there is open grass banking at the other. The far side, where the dugouts are, is also out of bounds. Although the 500+ seated stand on the near side looks impressive, it is not much use on a wet and windy night like tonight, as it is on the eastern side of the ground, so people got wet even on the back row (admittedly only 6 rows).

It is not surprising that the crowds here are so poor. With Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian also based in Edinburgh, then Edinburgh City are very much the third club of the city (some of the non-League clubs might dispute that). There seemed very little ‘home’ support, with most of the crowd appearing to be neutral. I wouldn’t think charging £14 for this level of football is encouraging too many new fans either.

I’m now left with just Cove Rangers to complete visits to the current 42 Scottish League grounds.