HibeeJibee

HT was 3-0 to Inverness Athletic (all scored before half-hour). After a number of subs at HT from Athletic it was brought back to 3-3 before a late goal won it 4-3 for Inverness.

Disappointing and frustrating to have 3 clubs enter then fail to make the start line... that, plus withdrawals at the tail end of the season, have become tryingly more common in recent seasons. With the action starting this weekend it also gives regrettable knock-on effects. Blackburn and Gala were both in Section B of the Qualifying League which now has 4 clubs compared to 6 6 & 5 in the others (on paper the clubs will have 2 blank weeks out of 5 too); also the conferences are now 12 & 13 (on paper leaving 2 clubs idle in Conference A each weekend or leaving the conference 4 weekends short of games if patched-over). Gala and Sauchie had been drawn in R1 of both knockout cups. Blackburn had bye to Knockout Cup R2 leaving a gap there.

No problem I can put up averages at the end of each month, like with the way goalscorer charts get updated. Of course there will be some oscillation in the early months due to away supports etc. SPFL figure of 207 for EK v Spartans in Irn-Bru tonight.

700 Dundee Utd v St Johnstone 'B' 420 Cove v Montrose 401 Elgin v Arbroath 207 East Kilbride v Spartans Half the ties drew under 350. Almost a third under 250. From my recollections of discussion last year I presume tonight's crowd at Tannadice has again shattered their post-war record low crowd in normal conditions? Indeed it may even endanger the couple of outliers posted on weekday afternoons during the fuel crisis.

In one of those "it's a funny old game" examples which football throws up - LTHV didn't lose a league game the whole of last season until the final day, and then open this season with a defeat. Indeed they only lost a single league game in each of the last 2 seasons but of course these are much-altered conditions.

Rough headcount of 210 at Inverkeithing-Linlithgow this evening, plus a couple of dozen Swifts youngsters who put on some quarter-pitch showgames at HT.

Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 0-10 Linlithgow Rose Swifts faced one of the powerhouses of the former Junior football in their first-ever league game and the gulf in trajectory was clear. Rose dominated possession, and as the game worse on so the Swifts defence wore out. By the end they were being cut open at will with every attack - and only some desperate defending from the goalkeeper and centre halves kept the score below a dozen or so. Great strides have already been made with Ballast Bank's facilities, and 200+ turned out on a pleasant night marred only by a brief shower on kickoff. In the first half Rose scored 3 deserved goals, all well-worked with patient build-up then put it from close range; although the third was slightly fortuitous with the flick taking it beyond Swifts stopper, off the post, along the line and in. Just before HT the home side had a penalty shout denied, and shortly after the break a pile-drive required a headlong save from the Rose 'keeper to turn it around the post - perhaps if those had gone differently the final score might have had a different complexion. Thereafter what had been largely one way traffic became a procession. Rose made it 4 with a power header direct from a corner, 5 with a lovely curling shot from the edge of the box high into the top corner, and 6 with some fortune after a lashed shot sprang back off the post - only to bounce in again courtesy of the prostrate keeper's head. Then it was 7 & 8 via two mazy runs over the middle of a crumbling defence, 9 from a one-on-one with neither defenders or 'keeper quick enough off their mark, and finally 10 when the ball clipped off the bar with the rebound neatly headed home from inches out. Somewhere in the middle of this the Swifts goalie had somehow leapt to get a hand on rasping shot and tip it over, then later skimmed another onto the bar, but it was a torrid night for him and his defence. By the end the post mortem was well underway amongst the back 5 in robust terms. If they have a consolation they'll likely face few opponents as daunting in the remainder of the season. Late on Swifts had a spell of pressure and should have scored with a glancing header from a whipping cross that somehow landed wide... It would have been scant consolation had it nestled in, though, as a night to remember became a night to forget score-wise.

Sneaking into a £10/£5 Irn-Bru cup-tie East Stirlingshire v Motherwell 'B'?!

They beat them 3-1 last season. Possibly he's one of these people who think "senior" means "SPFL", tbf. Excluding ties against each other the 'B' teams record is now: 2016-17 Won 8 Lost 12 2017-18 Won 5 Lost 11 2018-19 (to date) Won 2 Lost 4 for an overall total of Won 15 and Lost 27. Of the wins 6 have come against non-league teams, the remaining 9 against SPFL2 teams. Dundee Utd host St Johnstone 'B' tonight, while Livingston 'B' v Forfar is next week. Attendances: 2016-17 1,214 Livingston v Celtic 'B 1,007 Motherwell 'B' v Airdrie 493 Rangers 'B' v Stirling Uni (at Forthbank) 476 Stirling v Hearts 'B' 449 Cowdenbeath v Celtic 'B' 436 Partick 'B' v Queen's Park 402 Motherwell 'B' v Edinburgh City 351 Clyde v Partick 'B' 350 Elgin v Hearts 'B' 350 Ross County 'B' v Brora 324 Rangers 'B' v Stenhousemuir (at Stirling) 320 St Johnstone 'B' v Turriff 305 Formartine v Aberdeen 'B' 299 Queen's Park v Kilmarnock 'B' 296 Inverness 'B' v Arbroath 221 Aberdeen 'B' v Forfar (at Pitmedden) 216 Celtic 'B' v Annan (at Greenock) 190 Cove v Dundee 'B' 119 Cumbernauld v Hamilton 'B' 114 Albion Rovers v Hamilton 'B' 2017-18 1,130 St Mirren v Hearts 'B' 1,035 Raith v Ross County 'B' 494 Crusaders [NI] v Motherwell 'B' 389 Dumbarton v Rangers 'B' 387 Hibs 'B' v Elgin (at Spartans) 296 Hamilton 'B' v Cove 278 Annan v Celtic 'B' 255 Kilmarnock 'B' v Berwick 234 Ross County 'B' v Forfar 228 Stranraer v Partick 'B' 200 Formartine v Hearts 'B' 190 Partick 'B' v Stirling Uni 175 Aberdeen 'B' v Inverness (at Brechin) 168 Motherwell 'B' v Queen's Park (at Stirling) 155 Aberdeen 'B' v St Johnstone 'B' (at Brechin) 153 Hamilton 'B' v Edinburgh City 110 Dundee 'B' v Alloa 2018-19 636 Rangers 'B' v Falkirk (at Stirling) 479 Raith v Aberdeen 'B' 344 Hearts 'B' v Ross County 297 Hamilton 'B' v Clyde c250 Livingston 'B' v Forfar [abandoned] 208 Kilmarnock 'B' v St Mirren 'B' 191 Dundee 'B' v Hibs 'B' 150 East Stirlingshire v Motherwell 'B' ??? Annan v Celtic 'B'

FWIW the official SPFL figure is 150.

261 Cowdebeath v East Fife 191 Dundee 'B' v Hibs 'B'

Preliminary 399 Fraserburgh v Inverurie 147* BSCG v East Stirlingshire First Round 1,046 Inverness v Dunfermline 834 Queen's Park v Ayr 680 Dumbarton v Morton 636 Rangers 'B' v Falkirk 496 Peterhead v Brechin 480 Stranraer v Partick 479 Raith v Aberdeen 'B' 387 Stenhousemuir v Queen of the South 344 Hearts 'B' v Ross County 332 Alloa v Stirling Albion 317 Berwick v Airdrie 297 Hamilton 'B' v Clyde 208 Kilmarnock 'B' v St Mirren 'B' 182 Edinburgh City v Albion Rovers 150 East Stirlingshire v Motherwell 'B' tbc Annan v Celtic 'B' tbc Cowdenbeath v East Fife tbc Dundee 'B' v Hibs 'B' tbc Inverurie v Formartine abnd Livingston 'B' v Forfar tmrw Cove v Montrose tmrw Elgin v Arbroath tmrw Dundee Utd v St Johnstone 'B' tmrw East Kilbride v Spartans

If it's any help I've been putting your figures in a spreadsheet as gone along. Lack belated figures for Whitehill-Gretna, LTHV-Ormiston and Burntisland-Preston (see HW Uni-Coldstream was 34).

Aye that is basically like the Huntingtower example... round had been drawn then they were unable to fulfil it. Though the club did not fold (although they did so at the end of the next season). What's being hypothetically talked of here would be like the FA Cup in 1999-00: after the withdrawal of Manchester Utd to play in the Club World Championship they filled the R3 gap with a R2 "lucky loser".

I've just looked at that again... There are 32 unseeded clubs and 18 places in R3. On paper a single round of 14 ties & 4 byes. So why a R1 with 3 ties, eliminating 3 clubs, then 11 ties & 7 byes in R2? Most obviously: either Banks o'Dee or Elgin and either Kelty or Partick will exit in North R1 and Central R1, and yet in the respective R2s some 4 and 3 clubs get byes to R3.