Highland ITFC
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Posts posted by Highland ITFC
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Big win from KRR yesterday, capitalising on another disappointing showing from Colts as their season fizzles out. Colts started well & looked like they'd stroll the game after having all the play for the first 15 & then scoring an excellent opener. They then didn't take an excellent chance to double their lead, which one suspects may have then made the game a procession, & instead an unforced error gave away a corner, & a decent delivery to the back stick was nodded home.
KRR's belief that they were in the game visibly grew, & minutes later one of their big CBs struck a once-in-a-career worldy from 35 yards or so, & all of a sudden the game was a different affair. Whilst Colts continued to have more possession & territory, they struggled to create much with it & the visiting 'keeper had little of note to do, & when KRR had the ball, they acquitted themselves well against their higher level opponents, & killed the game with a late third. Cue justified delight from players, staff & the excellent support at their achievement of reaching the final. Would be nice to see them go one better in that & turn over EK.
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20 hours ago, Brian Carrigan said:
Extending from this topic - are there any players you'd expect to be making the step up to the SPFL after this season? Would you expect them to be a success?
It's obviously a huge jump and difficult for players to navigate (the Swift lot, Andy Rodden and literally everyone else Clyde brought from the LL etc). Tiwi Daramola made the leap from below the LL and people expected big things but after a bright start dropped off exponentially once the real business began. He now finds himself in that huge EK pool, and if they go up will he cut it in L2?
I wouldn't agree that it's a huge jump, as from watching SPFL2, HL & LL over the last few years, I'd reckon that there's a fair degree of overlap between the two tiers in terms of the quality of both teams & individual players. I certainly couldn't see that if all these teams played in one big division, that the SPFL2 teams would all end up above all the HL & LL teams. The way that HL / LL sides that have been promoted into SPFL2 have performed, & not just come straight back down would also seem to support this.
A lot of players seem to move between the two tiers aswell, stepping up aswell as stepping down. A couple of recent examples are Lyall Booth & Michael Dangana following manager Allan Hale from HL Huntly to SPFL2 Elgin, & both doing well at their new club / level. There's of course a number of factors that affect whether a player does well when stepping up, with individual talent of course being one, but also importantly needing to have a manager that gives them confidence & support & plays them, & playing in a team / formation / style that suits them & enables them to perform at their best.
Maybe in the example of Daramola, something was missing from the mix at Kelty? As a talented young goalscorer, if he's genuinely good enough & has the attitude & desire to play higher, then further opportunities will come, be this with EK or a.n.other side.
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29 minutes ago, JCScouting said:
Taking the B teams out and EK out due to their vastly larger budget. You cant really argue against Stuart and Michael. Without meaning to cause offence Bo'ness have been a bit of a surprise this season. Big improvement on last year.
Ditto Cumbernauld, & therefore David Proctor & his team.
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13 minutes ago, aidan-bufc said:
Bo’ness probably don’t have too many individual standouts but it’s hard to see past Musa Digaba as GK and Michael Travis as one CB in a team of the year for me.
Granted i’ve not seen enough of the other contenders in their position but those two have been key to our league position at the moment.
Ryan Porteous was mentioned above and although he has decent numbers and has done alright in his first season at the club I can imagine there has probably been performers throughout the season.
Have been impressed with Digaba on the couple of occasions that I've seen him, but from an objective perspective there are six sides with less GA than Bo'ness, so would think that one of those 'keepers would take precedence. Fully appreciate that clean sheets aren't just down to 'keepers, but it's certainly high in the key criteria.
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Would think that Keelan Adams of Cumbernauld Colts would have to be in there, bearing in mind that his level of performance this season has got him the move to full-time football at Falkirk for next season. And likewise Joe Bevan from Albion Rovers, even if he did only play half the season before heading down to Burnley.
Billy Mortimer from Colts also worth a shout, based on his two-thirds of the season form & goal return prior to his injury.
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12 hours ago, KirkieRR said:
Heading for Broadwood this Saturday. Used to go with my ICT-by-marriage hat on when in the same division as Clyde.
Tenner to get in - I take it the pie stall is open?
I'll be there this Saturday aswell. Yes, decent refreshments available.
Big game for Colts if they're not to see their season fizzle out, having sat second for so much of the league campaign but now down to fifth off the back of two points from the last nine available; & this being the second of two semis after already being knocked out at that stage of the LL Cup. It really will be a big disappointment for them if they aren't able to come out on top vs KRR, so would definitely fancy them to make the final to face either EK or Tranent, their LL Cup semi conquerors.
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Suspect it will take them a fair while before they get down to SPFL2, HL / LL & below.
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21 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:
Extract from SPFL rules:
As at 31 January in each calendar year a Club and the Candidate Club must be, as regards all of its employees, in compliance with the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 and/or any supplementary, variation or replacement regulations or other provisions in force from time to time
Yup, spot on EB, but there will be plenty of clubs out there that aren't complying.
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13 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:
Hope you’re not suggesting paying players less than the minimum wage
That's pretty standard in football. Given the time commitment for training twice a week, & at least one game (including travel time to away games that should also be paid), if you take an average of say 12 hours a week committed by a player to their club, any player being paid at less than c.£140 a week - of which there will be plenty across this league & other semi-pro leagues - is below the minimum wage.
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Advantage BU now in the race for the 2nd spot, assuming that EK don't suffer a remarkable implosion, although having said that it does look that BU have a tougher run-in than Cumbernauld, with Tranent's also being tough.
Heard that the Albion-Cumbernauld game was largely in the latter's favour in terms of possession & chances, but that they couldn't make that pay, & one moment of quality from a freekick won it for the home side.
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Top 5 looking very competitive for the next month or so's final run-in. Great work from Bo'ness to keep things alive & interesting. EK couldn't throw it away, could they?
Cumbernauld will be ruing all their draws, as only one defeat worse off than EK. Another one yesterday, although after midweek & the 5-1 loss earlier in the season, they'll likely see it as a point gained. Anybody at the game & able to offer a report?
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Huge game for Cumbernauld who are so far 9-1 down on aggregate vs Tranent this season. following the 4-0 cup loss on Tuesday & 5-1 league defeat earlier in the campaign. Given that Tranent also trounced EK a while back, & have games in hand over all teams currently above them, they are very much pushing to show that they're the second best team in the league. Colts will need at least a point if they're to give themselves the best chance of claiming that second spot themselves come season-end.
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Took in this one yesterday. Cumbernauld with what must have been 70%+ possession & similar amount of the game played in the Civil half, but lots of huffing & puffing & no real idea how to get past the Civil bus that was parked across the goal. Visitors looked like they came for a point & were highly successful in sitting deep, 5-4-1, & watching Colts mostly pass the ball side to side most of the game. Subs made by Colts were all like-for-like, with the introductions of Graeme Holmes & Zak Mckay adding a little zip to proceedings, but no change in tactics / approach to see if they could disrupt the well organised & hardworking Civil rearguard. The lack of the injured Billy Mortimer certainly looking to be an issue for Colts on this showing. Civil actually had the best opportunities of the game, hitting a post & forcing a fine save from Ryan Adamson as the result of good quality inswinging corners.
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17 hours ago, lowenan said:
More impressive work from Colts, which sees them consolidate second place, helped by Hearts loss. Every time it looks like their race may be run, they seem to come back & stick in there. Impressive work from David Proctor & his largely unfancied side, a goes to show that it's not all about a big budget!
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The League social media guy seems to have overlooked / forgotten the Colts game in all their posts this week.
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3 hours ago, glensmad said:
Keelan was the Colts' best player and biggest threat yesterday against Glencairn, although after the initial half hour we managed to stifle his threat and Colts never really looked like scoring after that.
How was the game overall glensmad?
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On 02/02/2024 at 12:34, NELLY 1 said:
Good player mate. Atheltic and powerful runner. Good with the ball and an asset down the right side. Loads of potential.
Would add that he's an excellent one-to-one defender, with it being pretty rare that a wide man gets the better of him. And when running with the ball, he's a little unusual for a fullback in that he almost always goes inside & very direct towards the box, which has helped him not just help create Colts' goals, but has also 4 or 5 himself this season, usually shots from around the edge of the box.
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20 hours ago, bigwullieac said:
Yet another ridiculous signing. If EK dont go up at this stage you've got to question the fairness of next campaign considering the amount theyve spent this year. I doesnt just disadvantage the rest of the LL, their resources far outstrip any HL team and whoever Team 42 turn out to be. For all of MK's chat of sporting integrity recently re: the B teams, it really is shocking how EK have conducted this campaign.
Just catching up on this thread, & being somebody that watches most of their football in the HL, (along with a few LL games each season), I just wanted to pick up on this perspective, as not sure that it would be correct. There is certainly some pretty large financial disparity between the haves & have-nots within the HL, & accordingly there's definitely a few clubs that are well placed commercially, such as Brechin, Buckie, Fraserburgh, Banks O'Dee & Formartine, & the likes of Brora & Inverurie Locos have also been in that category, although perhaps not quite so strong of late. Bear in mind also that Buckie are going to bank c.£250k from their trip to Parkhead this weekend. There's perhaps actually one or two more 'well-resourced' clubs in the HL than there are in the LL, & I'd suspect that whoever ends up top of the HL pile will be very competitive opponents for EK. One thing is for sure, that if Buckie don't end up getting to L2 this season, then they'll certainly have no excuse next!
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5 minutes ago, Grandmas Enigma said:
It has been said before I think... But the lowland league can clearly function successfully with 18/19 teams as we've seen with the 'b' sides. Get rid of them, change the leagues stipulation of 16 lowland teams to 18 and increase relegation/promotion places.
Ideally the bottom club in league two would be relegated without playoff and the playoff winner between highland and lowland would go up. Obviously this is less likely to happen but we are dealing with many hypotheticals already anyway.
Intrigued as to why this is the case, as the corresponding HL constitution permits for a league of up to 20 teams?
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5 hours ago, Sarto Mutiny said:
IIRC Tranent play EK on the last day of the season at Forester's. I can't see the league still being up for grabs at that stage, but how good would a last day title decider be?
It was certainly a big thing in the Highland League last season when Brechin visited Buckie needing a win for the title, & ended up getting a very late winner. Biggest crowd that I've seen at an HL game in the years that I've been watching, a couple of pitch invasions from Brechin fans, & a great atmosphere!
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5 minutes ago, lowenan said:
Tranent has two games in hand. Aren’t that far behind.
Got to win them though, & still six points back if they do. Just can't see it getting interesting. Hope I'm proved wrong though.
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That looks like the title pretty much settled then, as Colts really needed to beat EK yesterday in order to keep things interesting. EK looking llike they're over their recent wobble in turning over one of their closest challengers. Can't really see a way that any other team can catch up with them, unless they somehow self destruct. Bit of a shame that it doesn't look like it's going to be kept interesting until the final few weeks.
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Huge game next week when EK visit Cumbernauld. A win for the latter gets them within 4 points.
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Was at the Braves-Colts game yesterday. Fairly horrible conditions for both playing & watching, with rain for most of the proceedings to go with the fairly bitter cold. So perhaps not a surprise that the game was far from a classic.
In the first half Colts seemed to have changed their usual approach, banging long balls forward & looking to play off knock-downs, rather than the passing game from the back which generally serves them well. Played into their hosts' hands to a degree, as they defended well, & probably played the better of the football on the deck that was attempted by either side. Both first half goals were tap-ins after each 'keeper didn't do aswell as they would have wanted with shots from distance, & presented strikers with easy finishes.
Colts reverted more to type in the second period & whilst not dominating, were the better side & created more opportunities than Braves. It looked for a long time though that they were going to have to settle for a third draw on the trot, until a free kick from the right was nodded back across goal to be headed home. No real frights for the visiting team in then seeing out the remaining minutes in order to take home the 3 points.
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The East Kilbride FC Thread
in Lowland League
Posted
Buckie now in the box seat after last night's result put them ahead of Brechin on GD ahead of both teams' final game on Saturday. Another final day finish for the HL in terms of their champion being determined.