Clayhole Blue

Last seen being summoned to see the referee after yesterday’s game. Referee supervisor also in attendance. Supervisor was surrounded by Clyde directors after the game - suspect they were trying to persuade him not to include the guy’s antics in their report.

Looked around 150 at Civil

Nice to see the home fans confident of a win - hopefully the game goes ahead and we can upset their day! Looking forward to tomorrow’s game and hoping for continued improvement from us.

No game for us today, so went along to Olivebank to see Musselburgh v Berwick. Strange one in that Musselburgh were the far better team for the vast majority of the 120 minutes, yet Berwick were still in the tie right till the end. Not sure if the Burgh had anyone missing up-front, but had they had a striker who could hit the target this could genuinely have been about 6-0. Great celebration when they finally did score with about 5 minutes left of ET. Decent crowd - maybe about 250, and credit to a sizeable travelling support from Berwick. Good day out at a very trim ground - and a bonus with the nicest pie of the season so far!

Haha - love the title! Think we’re all looking forward to this one with trepidation too after last Saturday’s ‘Fun Day’ at Stenny. Been genuinely impressed by us since Aggy came in, but really struggling with injuries just now. No Grant Gallagher, Matty Yates, Kyle Girvan, Dean Hawkshaw, and Cammy Williamson and Ginge McDonald toiling. That apart, we should still have been a lot better at Ochilview. Suspect we may be along the same lines as second half last Saturday.

Possibly because there were no seats left at the far end.

We were awful - a team brimfull of individual errors all over the park and players operating out of position. Simply too many players out injured. We went into the international break hoping that the time off would allow one or two of the injured to return. Instead today we actually had more players missing. Thoroughly deserved win for Stenny.

East Fife’s announcer malfunctions are hilarious. Last season she left it switched on throughout the game and we were treated to her blethering with somebody!

If they still do the Stovies in the Peterhead Social Club make sure you give them a try!

Yes, last season’s two visits to Ochilview were a real let-down after our previous impressive form there! Can’t praise our start to the league season too highly and we have looked impressive for at least a spell in every game. Be a bit surprised if Aggy changes anything much from the line-up that started against Peterhead, although if Grant Gallagher is fit he might consider him. Please keep Matty Yates on the bench Stenny - an impressive young player for us, and you looked to have brought him on last season.

I wasn’t that sure that it was a penalty, but it clearly was not a dive. We also had a player booked for going down in the box in the first half - referees need some awareness that if an incident isn’t a penalty, it doesn’t automatically mean that the attacking player dived.

Watching the highlights - Aaron Reid certainly didn’t dive, so that yellow was wrong. Not convinced it was a penalty, but clearly not a dive. At the other end, Olly McDonald’s penalty claim was for a foul outside the box, but no penalty - but how did Mr Hardie or his assistant not see the foul?

Agree it was more comfortable than 2-1 suggests - only a short pass back 7 minutes into injury time gave Peterhead their goal. First half we ran the show, and had Josh Walker scored late in the half it would have been game over, following earlier goals from Tam Orr and Kyle Fleming. Second half we managed it well until that late mistake. Should Peterhead have had a penalty when the big number 22 went down (he was booked for diving), and should we have had a penalty when Olly McDonald looked to have been clipped from behind (Aggy thought so and he was red-carded for advising the referee so)? Second half was mostly game management, but we did it pretty well. Peterhead reminded me a wee bit of us last season - some very decent passing football with nothing on the end of it. A very good win.

Long trek for Rory McAllister and Peterhead this Saturday as they come to Stair Park. Was a bit surprised by their loss on Saturday, but still think they will provide our toughest test of the season so far. Be surprised if we change our line-up from the eleven that started against Clyde. This season it looks as if we have players on the bench who can come on and change games for us, and who could easily be in the starting eleven. I know not many of us go to Balmoor, but those that do enjoy the day out - many planning to make the trip down?

Loved this description Ivo!!