GordonS

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.

I knew someone would pretend they thought that wasn't a joke, not to be taken literally even though it's obvious to absolutely everyone and yep, there it is. For future reference, when someone actually wants you to die they tend not to communicate it by means of a cartoon meme.

Yep, that's part of the reason why it's a trapdoor to hell.

Thank you for bringing this into our lives. It was genuinely more entertaining than the Rangers-Hearts game.

ohpleaseohpleaseohplease

If you've never been, I'd recommend a trip to the Showfield for Nairn St Ninian v Stonehaven. A lovely place to watch a game of football at that time of year. ETA There's a small chance that Downfield v Dundee Violet could be a league decider too.

Who's the Hearts f*ckwit that wandered into midfield and gave the ball away?

Sunday. That's what he said. He said they should have reversed the order of the semi finals because the other one didn't have a team that were due to play midweek. It's fair enough. The reason he's so angry isn't about this game, it's because he and other managers have been asking for improvements to the calendar regularly for years and nothing changes. It's not good for players or fans.

Watched Glasgow, Edinburgh and Scotland women's matches this weekend and the best was the game in Parma. A pot-boiler between two very evenly-matched sides decided by a couple of moments of brilliance and with a nail-biting finale. That's the first time Scotland have ever won in Italy in the 6 Nations. Scotland go to Belfast next Saturday where a win would give them a first 3rd-place finish since 2005, a spot in WXV1 and, best of all, qualify them for the World Cup in England next year. They'll be without Chloe Rollie who was fantastic in this match, but she got bunkered for a dangerous clear-out in the last minute and it's been upgraded to a red. To say Scotland had a better day than Ireland today might be a slight understatement...

I assume you know the plan is to demolish it, and that Valencia have a half-built shell of a ground that's been mouldering away for 15 years which they intend to complete? World Cup candidacy put the wind back into the sails of the project but Peter Lim doesn't appear to be rich enough to get it done. https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/valencia-nou-mestalla-66-005.508609/page-72?nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#replies

Sure but that would likely happen to whoever comes down.

The SPFL Four have finished this season in the bottom half of the Lowland League, behind Cumbernauld Colts, Civil Service Strollers, the two B teams and the three ex-Juniors. Edinburgh Uni will be going down, maybe Gretna too. At some point Beith will stop c*ck-blocking the WoS and then the likes of Clydebank, Talbot and Pollok will come up. The league gets tougher every year and even if you win it you only get a play-off for a play-off. Albion Rovers nearly survived last season, they got 39 points, and they've just finished 9th.

The team in 9th had the best defence and the teams in 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th and 12th all conceded exactly the same number of goals (43). Tranent can join them if they concede one in their final game. And it's the same number of goals that the team with the best defence scored. Coincidence? Yes.

Whoever missed out was always going to have a lot of games they could point to where they 'blew' it. If Buckie hadn't made it today they would have remembered those three Saturdays when they couldn't beat lowly-placed team after good mid-week results. Brechin will point to their losses to their two main challengers and their general inability to beat better teams. Fraserburgh can blame their weaker start to the season - they were 10 points behind Brechin and had played a game more as recently as mid-February. In the end it was a cracking run-in and brought a lot of well-deserved attention to the Highland League.

Worth saying, their financial issues stem from apparently lying about their accounts to hide the fact Roman Abramovich has poured more than €100 million into the club. KNVB had investigated twice before and not found anything untoward, but leaked documents in the Oligarch papers researched by The Guardian and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism sealed Vitesse's fate. KNVB and the Dutch government are still investigating and Vitesse aren't out of the woods yet. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/19/vitesse-arnhem-relegated-from-eredivisie-after-18-point-deduction

That's your opinion. It's not a fact, or the same for everyone else. To me the entire point is to enjoy it. I'll never understand the puce-faced stroke-dodgers screaming abuse every weekend. I can't understand what they're getting from the experience. I make more than my share of noise but there are some folk whose entire football life seems to be anger and frustration. With respect that's batshit mental. I want my club to win every game I go to, but I know they'll never reach the ranks of full-time professional football and that's fine with me. You don't get to decide what makes someone a fan and what doesn't. I suspect I'm pretty typical of a fan of a non-league club. And are you seriously telling me you'd prefer your club to reach the level where they're charging over £60 a game, a quarter of the ground is occupied by tourists and the whole thing is arranged for TV than be where they are now? Everyone has their line. I didn't say anything specifically about L2. Though FWIW I don't fancy paying £18 to sit in a one-stand ground and watch the likes of East Fife or playing the same clubs 4 times a season. Each to their own though, that's the point.