Saturday 3 April 2010

Hearts V Hamilton Academicals (Feb 21 2010)

The Gorgie & Wheatfield stands in silhouette as the sun flashes through the steel tubing that links the two structures with the flood lighting
The main stand. An Archibald Leitch apparently. No gable though.

The Roseburn stand on the right houses the away support.


From the lower tier of the main stand. In spite of what the SPL says, standing is allowed at SPL games, or rather, a blind eye is turned. Or am I getting this the wrong way around?
They don't mind you standing, as long as there's a bucket seat in front of you.
I'll bear that in mind next time I get crushed by fifty Jambo mad lads when the home team scores and they make their way over myself and the girls who sell draw tickets in an attempt to gesticulate at the opposition support. I'll bear that in mind when someone goes arse over tit and breaks their neck.
Ah yes, all seater football stadia. A concept that can only have been conceived and implemented by someone who has never been to a football match in their puff, or worse, had only ever attended cricket & rugby matches.
The game itself? A straightforward 2-0 win for Hearts. Accies looked reasonably threatening, from what I recall, but a couple of cracking goals from Obua & Templeton and an imperssive showing from Ryan Stevenson, newly signed from Ayr United capped the day for the home side.

Sunday 7 February 2010

Hibs v Hearts, New Year Derby










Hibernian 1 Hearts 1
A few quick shots from Easter Road, taken at the New Year game. A decent game I suppose, with a fairly full-on atmosphere generated by these two sets of loveably hate-filled fans.

Three G's

Game (3/5) - Hibs looked good initially, Zemmama & Riordan looked pretty tasty but they went behind to a Gordon Smith goal. Cue much celebration in the Hearts end and much lusty singing of certain x-rated ditties in the bogs at half time. Hibs struck back early in the 2nd half and that's how it stayed, neither team really carving out too many more chances. Palazuelos & Cormack had a wee head to head as they jostled about before a Hearts free kick and were both given their marching orders. Suso for Hearts did his best to join them before getting subbed.

Ground (3.5/5) - Three great big two tier modern stands surround the remaining part of the old Easter Road. The shed generates a good atmosphere, packed as it is with the Hibby hardcore, and it would be a bit of a shame if it was to be replaced by another big bucket seated monstrosity, as has been intimated recently. It contains bench seating, and seems as close as you'll get to terracing in the SPL.
Grub (1.5/5) - Pretty poor. I made the mistake of buying the steak baguette, which looked very nice on the display above the counter. Sloppy with rapidly cooling gravy and tasteless strips of beef. The cola was flat too and none of the kids working in the servery seemed to know how to change the cannister. Maybe next time, eh?

Saturday 6 February 2010

Petershill v Kirkintilloch Rob Roy

Petershill Park

View towards stand at half time

Main stand

50-50

Rabs move down the wing

Peasy No9 tries some fancy footwork

Another high ball

Rabs goalie at full stretch

Where's the ball?

Full Time.

Shaking hands


Petershill FC 1 Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 4

A grey day in Springburn for this West of Scotland Super Premier league match. Peasy looked out of sorts from the start & Rob Roy's superior pace and less convoluted approach paid off, as they went in at half time 3-0 up. Petershill changed things about in the 2nd half and things improved for them. They started to carve out chances and managed to bag a goal. They were a little stretched though and Rabs capped off a good day by sticking a fourth, decisive goal away with about five minutes to go.



Three G's.

Game - (3/5) Rob Roy were clinical, physical and pacy, taking advantage of Petershill's defensive deficiencies with frightening regularity. The game turned around in the 2nd half a bit, but it was too little, too late. Peasy seemed happy to move forward at a snails pace in the 1st half, trying to thread the ball through a packed Rabs defence with zero success. Rob Roy on the other hand ripped into Petershill every time they won the ball in midfield, making them suffer on three occassions. Charles Reep would have loved this match.

Ground - (4/5) Having watched games at the old Petershill Park, the new ground does seem to lack something in character, but that's not to say it isn't worth visiting. The backdrop of Glasgow tenements and high rise flats is similar to it's predecessor, and the view of the game from the stand is very good. A wander over to the dugouts on the other side of the park at half time provided the opposite, with the big perspex benches getting in the way, even on the top step of the shallow terracing. Curious note. Spectators watching the game at the fence in front of the stand are asked to move on so as not to obcure the view of anyone in the stand. Fair enough, but from what I could tell, there were damn few sitting in the first few rows of the stand. Not because they are undesireable seats mind, but simply because a great many of them no longer exist. In fact, it saddened me to see just how many seats in a stand that's barely three years old have been destroyed.

Wear & tear? Vandalism?


Grub - (4/5) Very good. The sausage rolls were pretty decent, and very cheap. Three sausage rolls, two cans of coke & a packet of crisps came to less than four quid.

I hope that was the right price, cos I came away with the nagging feeling we might have been under-charged.......

Thursday 3 December 2009

Firhill In The Fog



Hello! In the absence of anything approaching activity on this blog, I decided the shots I took last weekend at Firhill would be worthy of being popped up. The fixture was Partick Thistle v Inverness Caley Thistle and the final score was a dramatic 2-1 for the Glasgow Jags. A goal down within ten minutes and seemingly unable to find a man in red & yellow to pass to for the 1st 45, The Jags changed gear after the break and got their act together to stick two passt ICT.

It must be stated that there is a general lack of coverage on this blog from Firhill, odd considering they are the team closest to my heart. One day I intend to do a proper Firhill piece, with shots of the grounds many fascinating features and a potted history. Until that day, I hope these low-res, but atmospheric shots will do.

Anyway, I promise I'll get off my increasingly flabby buttocks at some point this winter/spring and do a few more grounds. Easter Road, Tynecastle, Meadowbank, New Petershill & Somerset Park are all on the radar.

Cheers!

Half time, and the fog has descended

Getting hard to see what's going on now.....


Happy Jags head home after a fine victory.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Beechwood Park, Auchinleck


SJFA Cup Sixth Round: Auchinleck Talbot 1 Arthurlie 1


Police horses? At a Junior football match?


Sure, two West Super Premier rivals facing off against each other in the Junior Cup (especially with Rangers & Celtic playing the next day in the league Cup Final) is going to generate a bit of interest and a bigger than normal crowd, but this is just weird. One guy shared my surprise as we stood in the pie queue. He reckoned there would be about 400 Arthurlie fans down, but still little need for the boys in blue (and luminous yellow). In the end, they had little to do but kick out a few shell suit clad dobbers (top marks to the lad caught trying to smuggle in bottles of Buckie and MD) and keep a watchful eye on the Talbot Choir in the shed for some reason.


Beechwood Park is remarkable for it's decent sized stand, though on closer inspection, I found that the seats, especially near the front were in a poor way, and I think the roof needs looking at, the small concourse at the front slippery and green with a lichen like substance. That said, if you found yourself a pew near the back, you'd get a grand view of the game. The rest of the ground is open, consisting of concrete slab terracing of varying depths, with the exception of the aforementioned shed, which provides just about enough resonance to get a good sing-song going.


The atmosphere for this game was actually fairly electric for the first five minutes or so, especially with Arthurlie scoring after less than ten seconds. A combination of strong running and neat first time passes sent John McLay through on the keeper. His initial shot was blocked, but he was alert enough to scoop the rebound into the net. Cue wild celebrations from the Arthurlie players as they all piled into one corner of the field, before making their way back for the KO, doubtless pinching themselves at the ease with which they ripped open the zombie like Auchinleck defence.


The game settled down into a bit of a stodgy affair after that, Talbot coming into the game with plenty possession, but no edge, and Arthurlie looking dangerous on the counter attack on a few occasions. Into the 2nd half, and it was Auchinleck who took the game by the goolies though, pressing relentlessly for the equaliser. It came roughly on the hour mark. From where I stood in the shed, it looked like a series of headers across the edge of the box eventually found Sean McIlroy, who drove into the box and stuck the ball past the keeper. Cue bedlam amongst the relieved Talbot fans, and thoughts turned to getting a winner.


It didn't come. The game looked to be petering out, though with Auchinleck still on top. Unsure of the train times, I sloped off with about five minutes to go, but found out from fans who congregated later on the station platform that the game had ended 1-1.


Overall, an enjoyable day out, and a good atmosphere to soak up on what was a cold, overcast and sometimes showery day in deepest Ayrshire.


Three G's:

Game - 3/5 - Pitch looked a bit heavy, and the first half dragged a bit. Nicely taken goals and the 2nd half was better entertainment.

Ground - 4/5 - Tidy, though slightly 'rustic' in places. Good view out to the rolling Ayrshire hills. Main stand makes the ground seem a little bigger than it is. An impressive non-league stadium.

Grub - 2/5* - Plenty choice, and all cheap. Tea/coffee/bovril/soft drinks, as well as two types of pie, plain or with onion. I chose a plain pie, but I think it had been in the display too long as it was more than a little crunchy.


*Maybe a little unfair on the Auchinleck pie there, as everyone elses pies looked lovely. Still, it's what I was given for my pound, so 2/5 it is.........


Saturday 14 March 2009

Beechwood Park

The shed fills up before the game.
The main stand, transferred brick by brick from Douglas Park, former home of Hamilton Academicals.

You'll get a decent view of the action from the surrounding houses.


The Talbot hardcore congregate in the shed, alobng with anyone sheltering from the elements.

A hefty crowd for a Junior game. My guess is between 1000 & 1200.




Monday 9 March 2009

Not Dead, Just Resting

View of the city from the Jackie Husband stand at Firhill, across the now demolished terracing where I stood as a nipper (cue the Hovis music). Ibrox can be seen in the distance.

Greetings from the Ground-hopper equivalent of Brigadoon. Just a short post to let anyone sticking their head in the door know that this blog will be back on the go within the next week or so, with a report from Glenafton vs Neilston (weather permitting).


A big thanks to the blogs and websites who have linked to this blog in the past year, despite the fact I seem to have forgotten it exists. You've been linked, and I shall be looking in to check my tracker and add any more new sites to the list.

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Used Caravan Salesman & Harvester Of Souls