East of Scotland League

Premier Division

Saturday 14th March 2026

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.39

St. Andrews United 2 Sauchie Juniors 1, attendance 374

39’ 0-1

69’ 1-1

88’ 2-1 (pen)

@ The Recreation Ground

Langlands Road

St. Andrews

KY16 8BN

£10 Admission

Programme available, but I won’t buy one at any event organised by Groundhop U.K.

After an hour and a half relaxing at my hotel, it was time to head for game three of the day, in the coastal town of St. Andrews, more famous for its golf course (regularly hosts The Open Championship) and university (it’s where Prince William and wife Katherine were educated), rather than its football club. The Recreation Ground is to the south of the town, about a mile west of the beach and I’d arrived early enough to grab street parking right opposite the entrance. The ground is fully enclosed, with the clubhouse behind the south end goal. There’s a small section of covered standing beyond the dugouts, with the changing rooms in the corner at the far end, with a notable slope on the pitch towards here and is obviously floodlit. Kick off was nine minutes late, owing I believe to the later than expected arrival of the circus bus, as their earlier match had been delayed due to problems with the pitch (according to the Referee) which meant it got underway twenty minutes later than scheduled.

The match was 10th versus 16th in the league table, Sauchie having been dumped bottom following previous incumbents Hutchison Vale having won last night. Only a point separates the bottom three, with Glenrothes making up the battle to avoid relegation, as none of these three are likely to catch fourth bottom Whitburn, who are 14 points clear of the drop at present. It was Sauchie who broke the deadlock six minutes before halftime, meeting a corner from the right that sent a looping header over the ‘keeper. The hosts were reduced to ten men on the hour mark, a player picking up a second yellow card, but numbers were levelled up at 10 a side eight minutes later, when a Sauchie player was red carded too. Within a minute of the restart St. Andrews drew level, with a stooping header at the near post from a corner on the right. It looked like heading for a draw, but with two minutes left St. Andrews were awarded a penalty, which they duly dispatched to take all three points.