HibeeJibee Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) EK against adjustment: ttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/east-kilbirde-boss-moving-play-12180806 Quote East Kilbirde boss: Moving play-off fixtures would undermine integrity of our leagues Fixture congestion in the Highland League has led to talks on changing League Two play-off dates, but Billy Stark would not be happy with the changes if his side get there East Kilbride boss Billy Stark reckons the integrity of the Lowland and Highland Leagues is at stake after a meeting was held on Friday to discuss the idea of changing the dates for the League Two play-offs. Representatives from both leagues met with the Scottish Football Association at Hampden amid concern regarding fixture congestion. There is a backlog of fixtures following the recent bad weather and, as it stands, they must crown their champions by Saturday, April 14, in order to play the first leg of the Highland/Lowland play-off on April 21. There’s a three-way title race in the Lowland League with East Kilbride leading the way from Spartans and BSC Glasgow. Kilby have just four games remaining and hold a six-point advantage over Spartans, who have seven games to play, and a seven point lead over BSC, who have six games outstanding. The Lowland League are on course to wrap up their campaign by the deadline. But it’s understood Highland League leaders Cove Rangers have forced the issue as they still have 12 league games to play and are involved in the Highland League Cup. John Sheeran's side are on course to lift the title as they have a two-point lead over Inverurie with five games in hand. Their argument is they will have to play four games a week to fulfill their compliment of fixtures. Solutions suggested have included moving the Highland and Lowland League play-off back almost two weeks and playing the first leg in midweek, on either Tuesday, May 1 or Wednesday, May 2. The second leg would be played on Saturday, May 5. This plan would allow the first leg of the League Two play-off final – set to be played against Cowdenbeath, who are currently bottom of League Two – to take place in midweek ahead of the second leg on Saturday, May 12, which is the date set out at the start of the season. However, the idea of playing the first leg of the Highland/Lowland play-off in midweek would entail the winners of the Lowland League facing a long midweek trip up north. And Kilby boss Stark reckons this would be detrimental to whoever comes out on top in the Lowland League. He said: “This would undermine the integrity of the league in my opinion and the dates should remain the way they are. “There’s no doubt there would be a disadvantage to the Lowland League winners having to travel to Cove on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. It would involve players struggling to get time off work and a long journey during the week. “The SFA have always been unbending in having fixtures played by the due date.” Stark even hinted if Cove win the league in the next few weeks, they could delay the rest of their league games to take part in the play-offs. He added: “Cove’s position at the top of the table means they could claim the league in the next few weeks, therefore the remaining games would be meaningless anyway.” Following Friday’s meeting, no decision has yet been made whether to delay the dates and both leagues will move forward to see how the fixtures pan out over the course of the next few weeks. The News contacted the SFA but they were unable to comment at this time. Edited March 14, 2018 by HibeeJibee 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haufdaft Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Undermining league integrity has nothing to do with Stark's complaint. If the situation was reversed he would want the fixtures changed to suit East Kilbride. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowenan Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 He is still right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrooge1928 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 He is still right. Definitely. If we'd been asked to play one of our most important matches ever in midweek for the convenience of the Highland League Cup, I suspect our Board would have declined. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 21 minutes ago, scrooge1928 said: 56 minutes ago, lowenan said: He is still right. Definitely. If we'd been asked to play one of our most important matches ever in midweek for the convenience of the Highland League Cup, I suspect our Board would have declined. As I mentioned last week they should have moved their League Cup to the end of the season like the LL do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PELE Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Why not make it easier all-round. No relegation this season. Winners of Lowland League (Spartans) and Highland League (Cove) get promoted. Two up and two down from next season. Get rid of this poor set up, with teams in League 2 and the non-leagues haemorrhaging money trying to avoid a potential death trap and battling for a slim chance of success respectively. Who is going to start the petition? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 8 minutes ago, PELE said: Why not make it easier all-round. No relegation this season. Nice try, but get down to where you clearly belong. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PELE Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 3 minutes ago, virginton said: Nice try, but get down to where you clearly belong. Joking aside, it should be 2 up and 2 down. Then the teams who are serious will have a fair shot at joining / remaining in League 2. Also, it will be less traumatic being relegated, as it will be easier to return. If it was 2 up and 2 down I have no doubt we would be heading down at some point. Strange as it may seem, we rarely finish bottom of the pile. Sods law, when we do is when it really matters. I still think we will catch Berwick. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 12 minutes ago, PELE said: Joking aside, it should be 2 up and 2 down. Then the teams who are serious will have a fair shot at joining / remaining in League 2. Also, it will be less traumatic being relegated, as it will be easier to return. If it was 2 up and 2 down I have no doubt we would be heading down at some point. Strange as it may seem, we rarely finish bottom of the pile. Sods law, when we do is when it really matters. I still think we will catch Berwick. Before last season we had only finished bottom in 1994 and 1960 in recent times. As you say we had to hit a really shit patch when it mattered! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aberdeen Cowden Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 40 minutes ago, PELE said: I still think we will catch Berwick. You’ve more chance of winning the lottery (not the Cowden one!) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 On 11/03/2018 at 18:16, HibeeJibee said: Posts on FitbaNorth and P&B's HL sub-forum suggest Highland League Cup Final has been put back, but only by 1 week to Saturday 7th April. Updated run-ins: Cowdenbeat Uncommon Freudian slip there HJ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) Cowdownbeat, surely .Clachnacuddin 1-2 Fraserburgh Cove Rangers 1-0 Brora Rangers So it's "as you were" atop HL. Edited March 14, 2018 by HibeeJibee 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginaro Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) Left field suggestion but how about making the upcoming Fraserburgh game a league/cup double header to get rid of the outstanding away game - seen it done with rugby fixtures before. Win that and Fraserburgh will be 7 behind (8 on GD) with 18 points remaining, a few more games and they've won it. Edited March 14, 2018 by Ginaro 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnsythebinman Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Clouds gathering over Cowdenbeath now for going down. although it would be a hell of a come back to get of the bottom spot, mathematicaly it is possible. top four are safe but six are mathematicaly possible. would be some come back, especialy with injuries and their money problems 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 On 14/03/2018 at 23:28, Ginaro said: Left field suggestion but how about making the upcoming Fraserburgh game a league/cup double header to get rid of the outstanding away game - seen it done with rugby fixtures before. Win that and Fraserburgh will be 7 behind (8 on GD) with 18 points remaining, a few more games and they've won it. Ummm no. Not seen that done at any level above schools' football! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 10 minutes ago, Burnsythebinman said: Clouds gathering over Cowdenbeath now for going down. although it would be a hell of a come back to get of the bottom spot, mathematicaly it is possible. top four are safe but six are mathematicaly possible. would be some come back, especialy with injuries and their money problems They're not finishing above 10th, forget it. If they find an XI and some momentum for the play offs they might squeeze through again, though. Although cards on the table here, I hope Cove or Spartans come up, just for some healthy churn in the leagues. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Minertaur Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 I think every Cowden fan is expecting us to finish bottom. What we badly need though is a win just to get some confidence back in the team. At times this season we've not played too badly - the narrow 3-2 loss to Peterhead at Christmas, the second half of the 1-1 draw against Annan etc. Shite results overall but performances were good. If we could sneak a win then I can see confidence coming back and us improving. We won't finish higher than 10th but it would give us a great chance in the play offs again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 Rumours of the Highland League Cup Final being put back 7 days have proven only rumours. It's been announced that it will go ahead as scheduled on Saturday 31st March hosted by Rothes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 2 hours ago, HibeeJibee said: Rumours of the Highland League Cup Final being put back 7 days have proven only rumours. It's been announced that it will go ahead as scheduled on Saturday 31st March hosted by Rothes. Cove are really getting let down badly by the Highland League. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 Important results in LL title-race tonight:BSCG 1-3 Gretna Spartans 5-0 Cumbernauld 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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