SPFL Tier 3, New Central Park, 9/11/24.

My – and Sons – first time at New Central Park, a very tidy ground with two enclosures on the east side, a smallish stand on the west with standing areas behind the goals.

Well, the better team won. As in the game at the Rock, they looked confident on the ball, but the first half was pretty uneventful on the whole, though they did seem to force a lot of corners.

Early in the second half a neat exchange between Michael Ruth and Jinky Hilton set up the former with an excellent chance but his side-footed effort went wide.

Their first goal came almost out of the blue. Their guy suddenl;y found himself in some space and leathered it from the edge of the area across Brett Long and into the net via the top of the post. No goalie was going to stop that one.

Jinky Hilton then created a chance for himself down the left cutting in past the defender but again the shot just went wide.

Their second killed the game. A corner went all the way over the box and when it recahed their attacker he hit a shot through a forest of lage sand it ended up in the net.

We did come into things towards the end but by that time they were managing the game.

We need to start taking any chances we get – and soon – or there’s no  prospect of us climbing the table.

SPFL Tier 3, Gayfield,* 19/10/24

What on Earth just happened?

It seems like we never win in the league at Arbroath, which is why I wasn’t going to go to the game.

But I did and we did – and mighty pleased I am. (Plus it wasn’t cold or windy, a minor miracle in Arbroath in mid-October.)

Not that we started all that well; and they scored a poor goal from our point of view, a free header from a free-kick.

But  after their brief heads-up flurry we came back onto it and Michael Ruth’s enterprise from the right wing into the box and cut back deflected in to Carlo Pignatiello’s path he hit it sweetly with the outside of his boot for 1-1.

There wasn’t much in it for the rest of the first half though Ruthie made the goalkeeper work several times very unlucky his first spilled shot didn’t spill quite far enough on one occasion. They looked the better side but didn’t really threaten Brett Long in goal much, if at all.

Then, suddenly, in the second half we were ahead David Wilson’s corner touched into the net. The announcer gave the goal to young loanee centre half Ethan Brown but it may have been an own goal.

I thought “we won’t be able to hold out for 40+ minutes” but we did, reasonably comfortably. Icing was put on the cake in the last minute when sub Joel Mumbongo headed on for fellow sub Tony Wallace to progress down the left and centre for third sub Finlay Gray to finish things off.

As we were walking out of the ground an Arbroath fan said to my son and I, “You deserved the win today.” That’s not a comment you often hear from the opposition.

So that’s the first league win this season monkey off our back. Mind you, we’re still bottom of the league.

Big game next week, then.

*Call it the Greenversity Stadium at Gayfield if you must.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 24/8/24.

Another draw. Four in a row in the league now. And again we had to come from behind, this time from two goals down, Michael Ruth and Matty Shiels doing the business. Perhaps we should have won, though, as it seems Michael Ruth missed a penalty earlier in the second half than he finally scored.

I see we’re top scorers in the league with 7. We’ll need to begin stopping them at the other end though.

Scottish Challenge Cup,* The Rock, 13/8/24.

This is a competition in which our record is truly dire. The worst of any club to play in it, in fact.

We do sometimes win our first tie but usually not our second. (The only time we did do so we went on to the final. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)

Nevertheless, a 4-0 win (all goals in the first half, Craig McGuffie with two, Michael Ruth and David Wilson the others) is not to be sneezed at. Even if our opponents are two levels below us they have still had an impressive start to their season.

There are harder tests to come though.

*Call it the SPFL Trust Trophy if you must.

SPFL Tier 3, The Rock,* 10/8/24.

Well it looks like we can score (Michael Ruth with a brace and Jinky Hilton doing the honours) but we also need to stop them.

However, this may have been a good point. Alloa finished 3rd in this division last season and we were without Mouhamed Niang in midfield due to his sending-off last week.

It could be a tight division though, with every point a hostage.

*I’m afraid I’ll not be calling it the Marbill Coaches Stadium.

Scottish League Cup*, Pittodrie Stadium, 27/7/24.

Well, at least it was 0-0 at half-time.

We had more or less done ourselves justice in the first half and even got the ball in the net but Michael Ruth was offside. (Well I thought it was Ruthie but the club’s website says it was Carlo Pignatiello.)

Two minutes inro the second half and the wheels began to fall off. Their pace got them in behind our right and it was slotted past Brett Long. Three minutes after that it was game over. I didn’t actually see the build up because some idiot scoming back from somewhere or other stood in front of me for longer than necessary – this in a sparsely populated away end – before sitting down again.

Thereafter it was more than an uphill struggle. Our substitutions were copious and by the time all five had been made our defensive organisation had gone completely. Their last three goals were the result. In general they looked faster, fitter, stronger and better passing angles than us. They are full time though and at this stage of the season that makes a big difference.

As to us new signing Mouhamed Niang looked good in midfield and Ruthie ploughed his usual lonely furrow up front. His replacement, latest signing Joel Mumbongo, did not have much time on the pitch to be able to make a judgement on him.

On to the real stuff next week.

*Call it the Premier Sports Cup if you must.

SPFL Tier Three Play-off Final, Second Leg, Ainslie Park, 17/5/24.

I’m still processing this.

For so long this season promotion looked a long way off, but seven wins out of the last eight games in the last quarter gave us momentum and in the play-offs themselves the team handled the situation perfectly.

Mind you after three minutes of this one I had that familiar sinking feeling. I knew as soon as the cross was hit a goal was coming. And so it was.

Thank goodness we got back into it quickly so that there was no possibility of nerves getting the better of us. Jinky Hilton’s corner was well met by Sean Crighton and – not for the first time at Ainslie Park this season – their keeper spilled it. I didn’t see who scored. I was on the grass banking behind the goal near the corner flag and Ainslie Park is tight and does not have good sight lines when there’s a big crowd. Only when I got home did I find out it was Michael Ruth.

From them on the first half was quite dour with Jay Hogarth having only one save to make and their keeper not much troubled either. The most worrying thing was Sean Crighton having to go off injured. Aron Lynas has played at centre half for us before though he’s really a right back but up against the foot taller Blair Henderson I feared for him. Yet despite losing their first mutual challenge easily he pretty much handled him relatively easily. 1-1 at half time and a nervous 45 minutes (plus) beckoned.

We came out better than Spartans in the second half. First Finlay Gray hit the post after good work by Kalvin Orsi and Michael Ruth. I wondered if we’d rue that not going in. But then Michael Ruth stood up to be counted. A brilliant first touch near the halfway line saw him set off on a run at their defence. He cut inside and then placed a shot back across the goal, leaving the keeper stranded. Superb stuff.

Only once did Spartans threaten our goal but a combination of a defender (Cian Newbery?) and Jay Hogarth forced their player wide and it went out for a goal kick. Then they were given a penalty in stoppage time. I was too far away to see what had happened for it to be given. As it turned out there was too little time for Spartans to capitalise on their equaliser.

The final whistle nevertheless still came as a relief .

So now 2024 joins 1972, 1984, 1992, 1995, 2002, 2009 and 2012 as promotion seasons I have witnessed.

Even if Mark Durnan has been a defensive rock since he came back from injury it was fitting that Michael Ruth secured promotion for us. Throughout the season he has been our best player.

SPFL Tier Three Play-off Final, First Leg, The Rock, 14/5/24.

We started slowly (or Spartans started fast.) Then we began to come into the game. The weather was awful. I’m glad I decided not to make the long trip and opted for BBC Alba coverage instead.

Our first had an element of luck. Gallagher Lennon was definitely trying to cross the ball but the wind took it and made it into a “shot on target.” Their keeper really messed up his attempt to deal with it though. He ought to have pushed it over. As it was he simply pushed it into the area and Tony Wallace steamed in to put it past him.

The second by contrast was superb. Michael Ruth rolled his man and sprinted down the left hand side. His cross in was perfect for Finlay Gray to score. I’m not sure about our disallowed goal for offside. The TV didn’t have a conclusive angle. It did show though their centre half deliberately stamping on Michael Ruth at halfway. The ref was only eight yards away and looking right at it!

To rub salt in the wound that was the guy who scored their equaliser three minutes in to the second half. The randomness of football. He just stuck a leg at it.

From then on it was like water torture (even if the weather had improved.)

So it’s finely balanced for the second leg on Friday night. I don’t know if my nerves will stand it.

SPFL Tier Three 3 Play-off, Semi-Final, second leg, Forthbank Stadium, 11/5/24.

Like water torture. This was indeed a long 90+ minutes.

Albion looked a side lacking in confidence, not surprising when you slide into a relegation play-off spot.

In the first half they only threatened our goal once, after a bit of ping-pong in the box following a corner. Jay Hogarth saved the first effort but when the rebound was played across goal their attacker air-kicked a sitter.

We ought to have scored when a great move culminated with Div Wilson going for the near post but just shaving it into the side net. (Just for a moment it seemed he had scored.)

In the second half Albion came out to throw everything at it even going to three at the back. As a result our midfield was overrun at times but Jay Hogarth never really had a save to make. One shot did hit the post but that was it.

We had a few counter-attacking forays but tended to overcarry the ball when a pass was on (Kalvin Orsi and Finlay Gray I’m looking at you) or else players strayed offside so we never put the tie to bed. (Curiously, the linesmen flagged at the earliest opportunity, something which is very rare these days.) Michael Ruth was again superb up front but never got the clear chance his hold-up and general play deserved.

The final whistle was more of a relief than anything else even though Stirling never looked like scoring.

So it’s on to the Rock on Tuesday evening for the first leg of the Play-off Final against The Spartans then to Ainslie Park (of ill memory but also great memory) on Friday.

Spfl Tier 4, The Rock, 27/4/24.

We started this quite well with Kalvin Orsi and Carlo Pignatiello tearing up their left hand side. One such foray saw a great cross onto Michael Ruth’s head but he somehow managed to skew it over the bar.

Then Elgin began to come into it and some comic defending, a missed header and poor marking, left their player alone  ust outside the six-yard box and he squeezed it in.

Jay Hogarth didn’t look comfortable at all, he fails to command his box. Their second came from a free header from a corner. 0-2. At this point it was all Elgin. A long-range shot clattered our bar. If it had gone in the game would have been over.

As it was a carbon copy Orsi, Pignatiello combination again saw the ball home in on Michael Ruth’s head. No mistake this time. 1-2 half-time.

The second half was not uneventful but not inspiring. Twice Jay Hogarth was exposed in a one-on-one and both times made the save. Good at these and shot-stopping it’s a pity about his box-commanding.

Flurries of substitutions didn’t much affect the game but James Graham got himself some space in the area to use his feet to get a shot past their keeper. 2-2. As it finished.

So one game to go before the normal season ends and on to our now traditional humping in the play-off semi-final.