GordonS

Forth & Endrick looks like it has a lot of nice places to visit and it's a summer league, though I'm a bit put off by the gazillion midgies per square metre. The Moray Welfare League though, that's hardcore. Personally I draw the line at public parks but that's a beguiling list of places to visit. https://mdwfa.leaguerepublic.com/index.html

Now very curious about where he's heading.

Lochgelly Albert 3-3 Bathgate Thistle, East of Scotland Third Division. Attendance 90. Lochgelly found themselves 3-1 in front against their promotion-chasing opponents midway through the second half and although they'd had the better of the chances there had been little between the sides. Their second was the penalty in the clip below. As darkness drew in I heard the ref saying there would be three additional minutes and in the third of those Bathgate pulled it back to 3-2. Cue goal-net stramash to get the ball back, standard booking for the keeper. Incredibly, Bathgate snatched their equaliser within a minute and it finished 3-3. I nearly left early too as I was meeting a pal. This is one of my favourite grounds of its size, it's so tidy and well looked-after. A credit to the club and their volunteers - and a surprisingly beautiful view to the south. Easy to forget Lochgelly is basically on top of a hill, the ground sits at 165 metres, though the wind tonight was a sharp reminder. 20240424_194624.mov

James Forrest potentially drawing level as the most decorated player in Scottish football history.

Fun fact - the Dutch royal house of Orange (or Orange-Nassau to give it its full title) has nothing to do with the colour Orange. They originate from Orange, the city in the south of France, which is named after Arasuio, a local Celtic water god.

Lochore Welfare 0-4 Hill of Beath Hawthorn, East of Scotland League Cup Third Round. A fine hat-trick from Ross Allum within 35 minutes killed this tie; the first a double nutmeg of defender and keeper after some trickery, the second a clever near-post header and the third smashed home from a one-on-one. It might be as many goals as I ever saw him score for Linlithgow Rose... Lochore weren't bad, they played with pace and intensity, they just lacked a wee bit of skill compared with the Haws. A very tight pitch meant any loose touch in midfield immediately lead to a clattering. Highlight of any Lochore game is their keeper, who, let's just say, has considerably more athleticism than appearances would suggest. Last time I saw them he was the hero as they knocked much higher ranked LTHV out of a cup. At least half a dozen dugs at this game, probably the highest dog-to-human ratio of any game I've been to. One was altogether too interested in my pie. At half time there was the bonus of an amateur game over the wall, I think it was Benarty Astros v The Swifts AFC. Dunno what the score was but there was a fair bit of cheering later on.

In terms of numbers of consecutive relegations, below the SPFL, Vale of Leithen are about to suffer their third relegation in three years, matching Brechin's record. In that time they've won 3, drawn 2 and lost 78, conceding 396 goals. Still got 9 games left this season but they've lost every match so far. They'd been circling the drain in the LL for a while, saved by Covid and before that by Selkirk going bust and the LL choosing not to relegate anyone. They've won 5 league games in 5 years.

Edinburgh South 2-0 Dalkeith Thistle, East of Scotland Second Division. @Groundhopping Adventures' recent post about Paties Road reminded me I hadn't been there in over 15 years, so the chance of a Monday night game was too good to pass up. The (groundsharing) hosts started the night 8 points behind Armadale and the final promotion spot but with 4 games in hand. They were much the brighter of the two sides early in the match and scored a howitzer of a free-kick to take the lead midway through the first half. This caused the three wee guys behind the far goal to finally start beating the drum they'd brought. Only drumming when you're winning. Dalkeith gradually came more and more into it and it was pretty even through the second half, until South converted a four-versus-zero player breakaway late on to win 2-0. Big fan of the Edinburgh South away kit, all green with red numbers, no trim and no sponsor. They looked like old-fashioned goalies. Paties Road is a fine and distinctive wee venue in an uncommonly posh area for a football ground. A choice of four pies too, I recommend the steak and haggis.

It's a Westminster election so anyone talking about a council matter should be ignored.

I saw Broomhill beat Linlithgow Rose 2-0 at Dumbarton early in the season and they did it by being really well organised. They had a great press, were good in transition and easily played out around Linlithgow's press. It was similar when they came to Prestonfield in December, they just didn't have the players to avoid losing 1-0. They may have finished 15th but they were only 7 points from Albion Rovers in 9th. In terms of getting the most from the players at their disposal IMO he was one of the best managers in the LL.

Seeing as this has resurfaced - pardon the expression - those interested might like this explanation of the crash that came up in my YouTube recommends recently.

I suppose the thing to compare it to is touches in the opponents' box, you'd think you'd get penalties roughly in proportion to that. I don't know where to find those stats though.

If a Lowland area team comes down - Clyde, Stranraer or Bonnyrigg, the only sides that can finish bottom - but EK don't go up, then there would be 19 clubs in the LL, so they would relegate 2 clubs instead of 1. In short, if Buckie win the play-offs, Gretna get relegated.

They've scored 12 - they're been awarded 15 and missed 3 of them. Also 2 in the Scottish Cup and 2 in the League Cup for a total of 19 in 41 domestic matches. Almost 1 every other game. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jumplist/elfmeterschuetzen/verein/124/saison_id/2023

I hope it gets abandoned late in the second half due to a waterlogged pitch with Rangers leading comfortably and Celtic down to 9 men, and Celtic win the rearranged game.