This commemorates “the North East’s own Regiment,” 1794 – 1994. It’s off Castle Street just before the archway at the Simpson Building at Gordon Schools.

I missed photographing this when I visited Huntly before despite  it being very near Huntly’s War Memorial.

Christie Park is the home of Huntly FC, who play in the Highland League.

View of ground from Castle Street:-

Entrance gates/turnstiles. These have an Art Deco styling:-

Christie Park from southeast. I had to stand on a wall to get the photos from which I made this stitched picture:-

It’s a tidy ground.

Scottish Cup, Round 2, The Rock, 23/3/21.

Well, maybe we’re not so rubbish after all.

Mind you this was Huntly’s first game after the long lay off (and probably their last for this season.)

We pretty much controlled the early stages with Huntly more or less sitting in but they began to make inroads after about twenty minutes.

We broke the deadlock following a corner where Ross Forbes played the ball to Adam Frizell outside the box; he ferreted it on to P J Crossan on the right who beat his man and cut it back for Jaime Wilson to score.

Just before half-time we scored again, another Forbes corner was powered into the net by Ryan McGeever.

Second half we never looked troubled apart from a free-kick which Chris Smith (thank goodness) in goal dealt with well. We played the ball about at the back a lot trying to pull Huntly out of shape. The third came after a great through ball from Forbes to Wilson whose chip the keeper got just a fingertip to on its way over him into the net.

The fourth was down to Adam Frizell worming his way through the defence and feeding Forbes who looked stretched but poked it past the keeper.

This was far more comfortable in the end than I had feared. The chances we made we by and large took. It ought to give the confidence a huge boost.

Onwards to the next round and Aberdeen at home on April the 3^rd.

We’ve got three other games in the league before that though, one of those only two days before it.

Strange times.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 20/3/21.

Well.

It turns out this was a must-win after all.

It wasn’t just a defeat. It was a calamity. They came to within two points of us and Peterhead won to stretch their lead over us to five points. Our game against them (next up in the league) has now become a real must-win.

What’s more Forfar showed very little to suggest they are or will be a good side.

The trouble is neither did we.

Even making allowances for the lack of games this was dire. Both teams will be lucky to avoid relegation. I hardly think Clyde can be worse than us both.

To cap it all, Stefan McCluskey is now going to have an operation and will be out for the season. As if we didn’t have few enough bodies already.

Make no mistakee; this was the performance of a side doomed to relegation.

In the absence of Rico Quitongo, Tomas Brindley filled in at left back. He was okay but at least twice was in a great crossing position with players free in Forfar’s box and miserably failed to get the ball in to them. Too many passes in midfield were misplaced. There was some neat link-up play at times but it never led to anything. Everyone had a game to forget – except for one player, who has a very cogent reason to remember it, as a warning.

For the goal was utterly preventable. I would say it was comical but it was worse than that. It was totally abject. New signing Sam Ramsbottom had hit three out of four clearances against one of our players already as well as getting away with several other low kick-outs. But while having plenty of time to make sure his kick would be well-placed he did it again, clattering the ball against poor Ryan McGeever’s back, from which it rebounded goalwards. Ramsbottom’s dive after it was futile. He only helped carry it into the net.

Ramsbottom will now linger in my mind (along with Peter Shaw of dreaded memory) as being just about the worst goalkeeper I’ve ever seen in a Sons jersey. He was woeful. Not just his kicking, his ball catching skills also leave a lot to be desired, he seemed to punch or palm away just about everything that wasn’t the easiest of catches.

I would say that it would be for the best if we lost in the Cup against Huntly on Tuesday, to save us the fixture pile-up, except for the effect such a defeat would likely have on morale.

My mood is despairing.

The amended fixtures that will suposedly allow Tier 3 SPFL clubs to complete 18 games for this season have been published.

(After a top five/bottom five split a further four fixtures are proposed to make up a 22 game season – but only if every side has managed to fit the 18 game total in.)

Sons’ games are scheduled as follows:-

Saturday, March 20 – Forfar Athletic (H, 3pm)
Saturday, March 27 – Peterhead (H, 3pm)
Tuesday, March 30 – Falkirk (A, 7.45pm)
Thursday, April 1 – Airdrieonians (H, 7.45pm)
Tuesday, April 6 – Montrose (H, 7pm)
Thursday, April 8 – East Fife (H, 7pm)
Saturday, April 10 – Cove Rangers (A, 3pm)
Saturday, April 17 – Clyde (A, 3pm)
Tuesday, April 20 – Partick Thistle (H, 7.45pm)

To those has to be added the game against Huntly in the Scottish Cup on March 23 (ko 7.45 pm) and a possible tie beyond that if we win.

It’s some schedule, In fact it’s an insane schedule given that we have a less than threadbare squad and no hint of imminent signings.

The players will be dead on their feet by Apr 1 (5 games in 12 days.) There’s also 4 in the seven days Apr 3-10 if we’re in the next round of the Cup. That’s due on Sat Apr 3.

It seems Sons will be back in action soon as the Scottish Government has agreed to tiers 3 and 4 of the SPFL (and also the Scottish Cup) resuming.

Our Cup game against Huntly has already been scheduled for Mar 23. That only leaves twenty days to get back to training and up to speed for a full ninety (or heaven forbid, 120) minutes.

How the rest of the league season will be finished is anyone’s guess. There’s not enough time I would have thought for the full 27 games agreed before the season’s start to be played now. Sons completed nine before the shutdown so that would be 18 to be fitted in by May. Maybe the clubs will agree to reduce the total to 18 games which would certainly be manageable.

Fans won’t be back anytime soon though.

I do hope this post is not too previous.

Should Sons beat Huntly in our Second Round Cup Tie (currently due on Tuesday evening at 7.45) our next opponent will be Aberdeen at home.

We’ve made a habit of drawing Aberdeen recently, in the Quarter-Final in 2014 and in last year’s Third Round, both times up at their place, both 1-0 defeats.

This outcome is of course not guaranteed as the last time we played Huntly at home in the Cup (1992) they beat us 2-0.

So another postponed game, the third this season and the second in a row – with the possibility of a fourth next Saturday if Huntly cannot get their 1st round Cup tie against Cumbernauld Colts on before then.

Mind you, when I saw the weather forecast for Dumbarton for the week just gone and that the temperature would not rise above 0^oC until about 3 pm today I knew this would be off.

So we are now in eighth place, just one above the relegation play-off spot and with Clyde in ninth having a game in hand (they have had even less luck with getting games played than we have.) Admittedly, Peterhead are only two points above us and we have two games in hand over them.

I’d still prefer to have more points on the board, though.

The draw for the Second Round of this season’s Scottish Cup has paired the Sons with the winners of the Huntly vs Cumbernauld Colts First Round tie, postponed on Saturday.

I don’t think we’ve ever played Cumbernauld Colts but I well remember a home game against Huntly in a season when we won promotion from the old third tier (in the days when there were only three.) Unfortunately that success was not replicated in the Cup. In another home tie for us Huntly beat us 2-0. We were obviously concentrating on the league.

This season’s game is due to be played on Sat 9^th Jan. That’ll be in the middle of a run of what are now five games at home in a row (provided the East Fife game – also postponed on Saturday – gets rescheduled during the period.

I observed this school (Gordon’s School) while photographing Huntly’s War Memorial, so naturally had to take these as well.

Horizontals, verticals, flat roofs, square chimney, rounded corner:-

Rounded corner again and strong verticals:-