th1stleandr0se

Did your son get found guilty?

I agree with what you say. When you pulled it back to 2 each I feared the worst as your boys seemed up for it but then we started taking the chances we'd been missing in the first half and seemed to score at will. Musselburgh were dangerous up front but woeful at the back.

7 scored and 2 more disallowed for offside and good many more chances missed. A lot could be attributed to Mussy's defence though. It's as though they'd never played together before. They scored 3 though and also had 2 chalked off for offside. It's just as well that Musselburgh were generous in defence. Good value seeing the ball in the net 14 times in a game! Special word for Ruari with 4.

A good result today as no other team has done that to Blackburn this season. I have to say that it was one of those days when it was all coming off for us. We've played as well as that in other games without getting the breaks. Today we got the goals our play deserved. Correct me if I'm wrong but was that not a very good artificial surface? The bounce seemed to be natural, not like that Broxburn one which I see as an unfair home advantage.

Comfortable victory today although how much it was due to the Rose playing well and how much it was due to St Andrews I really can't tell. St Andrews were coming off a narrow defeat away at Broxburn and a win against Jeanfield so I presumed they would give the Rose a stern test but 3-0 in the first half didn't really flatter the Rose. A deserved red card for a rash tackle by John Ovenstone changed the balance of the game although the result was never in doubt. 3-1 was a fair result. Owen Ronald's adventurous play is a pleasure to watch even if it doesn't always come off and Gary Thom is making a claim for a striker's role.

I reckon we had around a dozen clear-cut opportunities and was getting that feeling before TC's goal that they would score with their first chance. When that second goal came it was with Roddy getting to the bye-line and cutting it back for Tommy to stride forward onto. So simple yet we don't do that enough.

Give credit to Ormiston today. Right from the start they closed down on Rose players and from the manager's shouts that seemed to be the game plan. They also broke well and the two wingers (brothers?) were impressively fast and skillful. However, the Rose twice shot over from point-blank range and had a good few efforts just the other side of the post. In terms of actual chances we had plenty but only put three away. Ormiston had about four and took three. You could say it was just one of those days but there are plenty of those same days. Even so, scoring three would normally have won that game so the defence has to be looked at. We are using the backs as wingers so effectively we only have two defenders plus normally Barbour as cover. Maybe we need to think of three at the back with one an out-and-out stopper of the Leiper/Ovenstone type. I do like Thom and McKenzie and they would always be my first-choice defenders but, as mentioned earlier, they do seem to get caught out of position from time to time. It's the system rather then the players that seems to be the problem. Also, where is Plan B when Plan A is clearly not working?

Comfortable win for the Rose with the wind not affecting the play as much as I'd expected. Craigroyston must be the lippiest team I've seen in ages. About 5 or 6 of their 7 or 8 bookings were for dissent. They had already heavily disputed the first goal for offside when the Rose had probably just timed the run and pass to perfection and when the lino unbelievably put his flag up to confirm the second goal rather than flag it offside they went mental. Maybe the ref was a bit quick with his yellow card but, having seen that, to keep on using strong language with him time after time was asking for trouble.

I did! Honest. I had the money ready but there was no-one to take it so it was there in my back pocket.

The crowd was more interested in the parking attendant booking any car in the nearest car park or trying to find any place selling anything resembling a pie and Bovril. Routine victory against a team who were nippy up front but never managed to hold on to the ball for long.

I think there might be something in that. Two half-penalties makes a penalty.

I thought it was a penalty as I've never thought that getting to the ball first allows you to foul the player. That applies even to my own team.

Good first-half performance today and with better finishing should have had the game sewn up by half-time. However, we gave the initiative away in the second half and started playing for time. What was that about? When we did go forward we were still dangerous but we took the foot off the pedal and let Camelon back into the game. Also, Marley continually wasting time when he was already on a yellow for needlessly getting involved in a handbags incident could have had dire consequences. Ian Gray was my man of the match today. He never put a foot wrong all day. Good performances from a number of others as well. If only Roddy had put his shooting boots on.

It's not a stupid question. Is there a Rose policy of always choosing to kick a particular way or would a change in wind direction alter that? Have we always, over the years, chosen the same direction? Do away teams tend to choose direction or to kick-off? I don't think it drastically changes anything but it's an interesting question.

Decent performance today and a chance to give everyone some time on the park (except Strickland, Thom and Whelan, from memory, and I assume they're all injured). I like what Ronald brings to the central role as he tries to make runs behind the defence, something which we've not being doing, preferring to play up to someone with his back to the goal. Once the midfield starts to time the right passes for him to run onto we'll be in business. I'm not sure if that was Clyde's full first team today but we certainly matched them.

Strange game. We were always on top but couldn't seem to get a second to make the game safe and even contrived to have one of those comedy defensive situations again which almost cost us dearly. Once we did get that second one everything went in, deflection, own goal, keeper saving but the ball still crossing the line and so on. In the end, 6-0 was a bit harsh on the students who put up a decent show.

Going down memory lane, I remember my first pub crawl, a long time back, consisting of The Star and Garter (we only did the lounge though some pub crawls did the Bar as well), St Michael's, Red Lion, Auld Hole i'the Wa', Football and Cricketers, Unicorn, Miss Kings', Swan Tavern, Black Bitch and West Port. I wasn't old enough to have had the Cunzie Neuk and Windsor Buffet in there as well.

Can you elaborate on that? I have - Star and Garter, Platform 3, Old Post Office, Four Marys, Linlithgow Tap, Crown Arms, Swan Tavern, Kelpies Bar, Black Bitch which is 9. Are you counting Cafebar 1807? Is the West Port counted as a pub?

£6 plus £1.50 extra for the stand but a really great view from there. Some of the best pies in the game from a great local baker. Mince, steak, steak and haggis, chicken curry, macaroni before we start on sausage rolls etc. Come early and have a walk down by the loch and round the palace then visit a pub or the Rose Club at the ground. You'll have a great day out.

For the third goal, more than one Rose fan shouted to put it out but the referee was aware of the player on the ground so the Rose played on. I felt uncomfortable about that and I certainly would have felt aggrieved about the "red card" incident if we had been the attacking side. Yes, he had already lost control of the ball but he was fouled. Free kick and yellow in my opinion as it wasn't a clear goalscoring opportunity. Blackburn came and gave it a go rather than just defending in numbers and a few times they had a fair number of players up on the break.

Interesting point. A couple of times when things were getting bogged down Jamie took a run up the park with the ball and showed amazing speed. I thought maybe he could have been shifted up front to change things around a bit. He has the potential to be used in various positions. Of course, no player wants to be the utility man as that could mean sitting on the bench.

I should have added that Ruari put in a good shift again. We'd be in a sorry state without him.

We played a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card today. The difference from last week was that we were actually creating chances and it's a shame that Tommy just wasn't taking them. It's encouraging to see that at least he was getting into those positions and on another day he would have scored a few and we would have had a comfortable win. Something that was the same as last week was that we lost another slapstick goal. A late Thom header saved our blushes but despite the frustrations up front I thought there were some good individual performances and a number of good deliveries into the danger area. It's just the finishing which isn't clicking yet. Kevin Watt had a disappointing day in that he never even got into the positions that Tommy Coyne got into to but I was intrigued by the late substitution which put central defender McKinley up front in his place. He actually looked as though he had the makings of a decent bustling striker. Kyle Turnbull was effective all day and Robert Sloan brought a cool head into things and delivered telling corners including the critical one for the winner. But, having said all that, we almost lost the game on counter-attacks near the end. Maybe I shouldn't be but I'm still optimistic that it will all click into place.

It's starting to make sense now.

My wife went out without her phone so I rung her to tell her. It rung right beside me.