SPFL Tier 4, Stair Park, 4/3/23

Sons fans do not travel to Stair Park with expectation. Not expectation of a good result anyway.

So, this was a delightful suprise. Then again we needed it as Stirling Albion won again.

Ross MacLean did the business for us first half and Gregor Buchanan put a gloss on it in the second.

On now to the big one against Stirling at home on Tuesday (weather permittting.)

It’s not a must win but it’s verging on a can’t afford to lose.

I’d take the draw now.

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 24/12/22.

A very good way indeed to celebrate the club’s 150^th anniversary.

From the reports I’ve read it sounds like we fully deserved the win. Goals from Gregor Buchanan and David Wilson did the job.

I can’t remember ever being top of the league at Christmas before. Ditto at New Year. (Our four point lead means we wil achieve that accolade too.) Mind you our next game – on Hogmanay – will be tough. We’ve found Albion Rovers to be difficult opponents this season.

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 5/11/22.

Well. Another win. Another clean sheet. And, since Stirling Albion only drew, top of the league again.

The goals came at the end of each half – Gregor Buchanan and Michael Garrity on target – but we apparently hit the post twice and goalie Brett Long made a great contribution to the clean sheet. (What a contrast to Sam Ramsbottom.) The second half must have been a bit nervy, though.

Onwards we go to Elgin on Saturday.

Scottish Cup, Round 2, Townhead Park, 21/10/22.

So to deepest, darkest (and wet) Ayrshire.

At least it was a win. Potential banana skin avoided.

But we made hard work of it.

We were on top for most of the first half with some neat approach play but only a Finlay Gray strike just off target to show for it before a leading arm challenge in the box resulted in a penalty. Carsy duly netted past the keeper. Not much else of note occurred before the break.

In the second half they came out more strongly (as was only to be expected) but we made the mistake of letting them back into it. From where I was up the other end – about three or four yards from their keeper at times – it looked to be a mistimed clearance gave them the ball and the equaliser was inevitable from then on.

I was now getting flashbacks to the play-off game at Ainslie Park last May. Not that Brett Long in our goal had too much to do, but still.

We started to press them in the latter stages, had several efforts just off target, but got a reward when Gregor Buchanan headed in after a corner was returned back across goal. He couldn’t really miss. I felt relief more than anything and reflected to myself that we stil hadn’t scored in open play since that one at Methil.

Then almost at the death we did, thanks to them giving the ball away to Finlay Gray. He rounded the keeper beautifully and slotted in.

In the hat for the next round.

Thankfully.

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 13/8/22.

I didn’t see this coming. Annan did well last season. And this is the first time since 1959 we’ve won our first three league games. (Mind you, we finished sixth that season.)

A brace from Declan Byrne, one from Finlay Gray and the icing on the cake provided by Gregor Buchanan – with an assist from a trialist – John Gemmell of misty memory if Pie and Bovril is to be believed.

I’m not letting myself get carried away by this.

After all we beat East Fife 5-0 at home last September and look how the season ended.

But it is an encourgaging start.

SPFL Tier 3 Play-off, Semi-Final, First Leg, Ainslie Park, 03/05/22.

Calamity.

Shambles.

Disgrace.

Choose your own noun.

Whichever, this was a come-uppance that has been coming all season.

We weren’t the worse team in the first half; indeed we had several opportunities to put in good crosses, notably from Ross MacLean, but the delivery was never acceptable enough except when Conner Duthie put one over for Josh Oyinsan to head. Josh’s angle was slightly wrong and the ball just cleared the bar. That would have made it 1-1 and might have changed the game.

But our perennial ability to shoot ourselves in the foot manifested itself when George Stanger underhit a back-pass and Kieran Wright couldn’t prevent the forward getting past him to be presented with an open goal.

Their second was also an abject disaster, a corner somehow not being cleared and the ball going in off Gregor Buchanan. At that point any thought of winning this tie all but disappeared.

Mind you, if we had approached the start of the first half the way we did the second things might have been different. For the first twenty minutes we were all over them, creating space down the flanks and getting crosses in. It was two odd substitutions though with Kris Syvertsen who had looked as if he might create something and big Josh (who admittedly wasn’t at his best) being replaced by Kalvin Orsi and Callum Wilson. At this point Paul Paton was bossing the game from the base of midfield and it was his cross that was looped over the keeper from the edge of the box for our goal. Young Callum did his best, twisting and turning past defenders several times, but nobody was able to be calm enough to finish off his work.

Their third killed it. Another defensive mix-up and a reasonable save from Keiran Wright was followed by a failure to clear the ball which fell to a guy who couldn’t miss.

At 2-1 and with us on top there was the possibility of getting an equaliser but that goal knocked us back. 3-1 was always going to be a different prospect.

The final nail in the coffin with minutes to go – another short pass back latched on to by the home attack – just completed the humiliation.

The thought of watching the second leg was by then almost unbearable.

So; unless some sort of miracle happens on Saturday we now know where we’ll be playing next season; Tier 4.

Who knows where we’ll be the season after that?

The club is in deep trouble on and off the park. It’s its 150^th anniversary later this year. What a sorry state it’s in to greet that.

Profound change is required.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 5/3/22.

This was grim. We were barely in the game, couldn’t string any passes together worth the name. I’d be tempted to blame the pitch but Queen’s Park managed it quite easily it seemed.

Those two red cards last week potentially cost us but Queen’s were so much better overall that perhaps they didn’t. Big Josh missing up front through injury has been a big loss in the last few weeks.

Their first two were due to defensive errors. In both cases the bounce of the ball (or lack of it) deceived Stephen Bronsky and Gregor Buchanan respectively allowing a Queen’s player through on goal. Kieran Wright made a save at the second but couldn’t prevent the rebound reaching the attcker following up.

The only time we vaguely threatened was in the first five minutes after the restart. First Joe Mckee was free in the box but he took a touch which allowed their keeper to position himself for the save. A natural striker would have hit it first time. Then Carlo Pignatiello worked a bit of space for himself with a good take and turn in the box but the keeper made himself too big.

Their third was a joke with them exploiting too much space down our left and the cross finding a man completely unmarked.

I’m just about resigned to relegation now.

Wake me up when it’s over.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock,* 25/9/21.

This was a strange, scrappy game. I thought we played too many long balls first half, which their defence tended to gobble up. Alloa on the other hand looked more purposeful going forward without really threatening at all, though Sam Ramsbottam had to make a save from a well hit effort. It all livened up just before half-time. Conner Duthie scuffed an effort straight at the keeper and in Alloa’s next attack Gregor Buchanan’s back headed clearance fell to one of theirs on the edge of the box and it was despatched behind Ramsbottam.

We’re quite easy on the eye going forward, young Callum Wilson looking very assured in possession. They tended to sit back and soak up our pressure though, and I lost count of the times they broke up play with niggly fouls so we didn’t really create many chances but Gregor Buchanan miscued a header from a set piece when he would usually score.

The equaliser came from a set piece, Callum Wilson’s corner well met by Paddy Boyle and put away.

There were chances at both ends after that, Sam Ramsbottam got down well to thwart Niang after his mazy run and sub Ross MacLean had two efforts which weren’t clinical enough – one screwed horribly over the bar.

An opportunity for three points not taken, then. However at half-time I’d have taken the draw.

On this evidence Callum Wilson is definitely a talent and Edin Lynch is evolving into a fine attacking force from right back.

First quarter ends next Saturday with ua away at Peterhead. More of a chance to assess where we are after that.

*I’m not calling it the Moreroom.com Stadium.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 11/9/21.

Wow!

What a contrast to the last few seasons.

This was our biggest league win for ten years. (Curiously that one was also against East Fife, 6-0 at their place in our last promotion season.)

Mind you there wasn’t much sign of it in the early stages where both teams didn’t threaten much. But then we got a free-kick which was flighted in by Connor Duthie and headed towards goal by Ryan McGeever. It looked to be going wide but ex-Son Scott Gallacher in the Fife goal palmed it out straight to Ross MacLean who gleefully stuck it away.

For a spell towards the end of the half East Fife had a lot of possession but their best – their only – chance came from a free-kick. Sam Ramsbottam looked beaten but the ball crashed off the bar and out.

Just before half-time a Callum Wilson corner saw Gregor Buchanan get a free header yards out. 2-0.

Things meandered round for a bit second half but we put the game to bed when another Callum Wilson delivery was met by Buchanan again despite the attentions of the defence.

Two more goals from set-pieces gave the result a welcome gloss, Ryan McGeever was left all alone in the box to put away Kalvin Orsi’s knock-back from a long corner before Eoghan Stokes headed in from a beautiful delivery from fellow sub Joe McKee following a short corner to him.

If you can be churlish about a five-nil victory here comes the churl. We didn’t score from open play. Indeed we didn’t create a chance from open play except for Ross MacLean’s dribble and shot from a narrow angle which hit the post.

That’s curmudgeonly though. It was such a delight to watch a Sons second half performance with absolutely no trepidation.

They won’t all be like this though.

Falkirk away next week. I never thought we’d be heading there next Saturday above them in the table. (Even if it is only on goal difference.)

SPFL Tier 2, Starks Park, 28/1/17.

What an odd set of emotions this evoked. We won and I’m still raging at the referee.

We had the better of the first half, Robert Thomson and Sam Stanton had good efforts on target and I was beginning to think we might regret not scoring when on top. I didn’t expect to lose a blatantly illegal goal. Daniel Harvie was shoved over by the forward in the build-up – how the ref and stand-side assistant missed it is beyond belief – and the subsequent cross was converted. 1-0 down at half-time having played well with nothing to show for it I feared the worst.

Second half we started brightly and got the goal when Christian Nade headed in from a cross. Then the second decision under the Val McDermid stand that was criminal. Andy Stirling cut inside the fullback and looked to be scythed down in the box. even if there was no contact he was taking avoiding action from the lunge and that still makes it a penalty. No penalty. Andy Stirling got booked for “diving”. Why would he have dived? He wouldn’t have gone over in that position if not fouled. It definitely was not a dive. No-one dives at that angle. It was a pen and a sending off. That decision could have cost us. In many a game it would have. Today though Raith weren’t up to much.

Our second was a thing of beauty. A piece of intricate passing up the right seemed to have got us up a blind alley but the ball was suddenly switched over to the left and Daniel Harvie steamed onto the ball, took a few paces and lamped it into the far corner.

Six minutes later we made it three. A low corner looked to be a wasted one but it evaded everybody and reached Gregor Buchanan beyond the far post and his shot crashed in.

We saw out the rest of the game with not much trouble and Sons’ 87 fans making a noise fit for many more.

Those two decisions weren’t the only bad ones in the game but I can’t recall any iffy ones the ref made going in our favour including loads where he let things go which he should have pulled back for a foul for us. At one point he and the assistant stared at each other for seconds not knowing what to give. Eventually it went Raith’s way, of course. But those two in particular had been so appalling that even though we were winning somehow I still felt we weren’t and had been robbed. It is apparently not the first game this ref has given baffling decisions mostly against us. Let us name the guilty man. Mat Northcroft.