SPFL Tir 4, The Rock, 18/10/25.

Another home game, another loss. Three attempts at goal from open play in the whole game – only one of them on target; and that a sclaffed effort easy for the keeper. Plus Spartans were waltzing through our midfield almost at will. Things aren’t good.

Quite why Scott Tomlinson was playing up front alongside Leighton McIntosh I have no idea. He’s more effective cutting in from the wing. And McIntsoh and Ally Roy (who came on late as a sub) had been reasonably effective as a front pairing earlier on the season.

Their first came from a feigned short corner where we put two men out to defend it. It was swung in and they scored from the resulting ping-pong.

We did put a bit of pressure on late in the first half (without of course testing the keeper,) getting a series of corners. Finally McIntosh’s leap forthe ball gave us the equaliser.

Thrown away a few minutes later when they got down our right too easily, Shay Kelly’s parry – away from goal though it was – went straight to the shooter, whose header across goal wasn’t contested and was deflected in well by their scorer.

I  now “have the fear” – as fans say – about the Cup game against Tayport next Saturday.

Edited to add (late 20/10/25.) We weren’t helped by the number of misplaced or short passes we played. Nearly everyone a culprit. Those need to be eliminated. As does the penalty give away. At least the taker this week clattered it against the bar or we’d have been another one lower on the goal difference.

SPFL Tier 4, K Park Community Stadium, 20/9/25.

A game of two halves.

But first, the K Park Community Stadium is a seriously awful place to watch a football match if you’re an away fan. We were confined to one end of the pitch in a small enclosure which had at most three steps up from pitch level and there was a net strung along the back of the pitch – presumably to prevent injury to spectators. Not an ideal view by any means.

Sons were awful in the first half. The home team seemed to have loads of room to play, with two wide men on their left getting two on one with Kristian Webster at right back far too often and also able to get down their right too easily.

Still, they didn’t force Shay Kelly into any kind of serious save. Then, on the stroke of half time they were given a penalty. This was up the other end from us Sons fans so whether it was justified or not I couldn’t say. Shay Kelly nearly got down to it but it had been struck too firmly.

The second half started much as the first had progressed then suddenly we came into it. This may have been because we had showed more urgency but seemed to coincide with Scott Tomlinson and Kai Kirkpatrick switching wings. Tomlinson began to interpret this as a licence to roam and was soon popping up all over the place in the attacking third. He missed a glorious chance to score, though by not hitting his shot early enough, then Kirkpatrick set up Dom Docherty beautifully but he opted for power rather than placement and blazed it over.

Then a fine move saw Tomlinson moving down the inside right channel before his shot beat the keeper.

It was nip and tuck from then on but East Kilbride ought to have scored at the death but somehow their attacker with only a touch required to put it in the net somehow managed to hit the ball backwards.

It was a much relieved set of Sons fans who greeted the final whistle as for all of the first half  a draw had seemed utterly unlikely.

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock,* 16/08/25.

This was a brutal watch. From the start we were more or less on the back foot. Elgin hit the bar with almost their first foray upfield.

They took the lead half an hour in, the scorer given too much space and rifling it past Shay Kelly. I think their keeper only had to field one ball the whole half, a cross cum shot from Scott Tomlinson.

They were much more streetwise, falling over at any contact – and the ref didn’t see through them. Indeed he gave some baffling decisions all through the game, not least only a yellow card for what was in effect an assault on Dom Docherty who had to leave the pitch after lengthy treatment, nursing his shoulder. They were also time wasting from when they scored until we got the equaliser.

That came after about the only decent move we had all game, Leighton McIntosh getting down the right and crossing for Scott Honeyman to bundle it in. He fell over in the effort, I think it went in off his chest.

They had a succession of corners towards the end and I feared the worst. We also gave away a couple of silly free-kicks (well one of them was the ref being conned again.) The last was just outside the box. Their stepping over routine opened up the wall but Shay Kelly got down magnificently to touch it round the post.

Whatever else this game showed how difficult this season is going to be.

Edited to add: I meant to say it was the first time I’ve seen a goalkeeper penalised under the new eight second rule. Not Shay, the Elgin keeper.

*Marbill Coaches Stadium

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock,* 2/8/25.

So after the phoney war of the League Cup group stage (see Group E) comes the start of the league season.

It somehow seemed right that after the tribulations of last season this should begin with a win but it wasn’t easy. After they scored just before half-time – and then missed a sitter – it was always going to be a tense second half. But we saw it through.

We had only three players in our starting line-up who’d  been with us last season (and one of them, goalie Shay Kelly, only for a couple of months  at that) with one other on the bench. It’s going to take a while for the new ones to gel and we looked that way.

Clyde started brighter but we began to come into it. The turning point came with us getting a corner. Ryan Blair dropped it right onto Clyde keeper (and former Son, Jay Hogarth) who didn’t deal with it and Ally Roy headed it in.

The second was almost a carbon copy. Again Hogarth didn’t deal with the corner and Mark Durnan was credited with putting it in at the far post. On Clyde’s highlights though it looks as if he made no contact as the ball seems to hit the post and go in so it would be Ryan Blair’s goal.

In the second half we sat back too much and so Clyde had a lot of possession. Shay Kelly had two very good saves but apart from that they didn’t really threaten our goal. We had a couple of breakaways where a run of the green would have seen us score but generally we didn’t link up as well as is necessary. That may come.

Morgyn Neill at centre half seemed to really enjoy himself. Big-hearted, throwing himself to get the ball, rousing the crowd.

There were signs of there being a team in us. I hope they come to fruition. I don’t think I can be doing with many games where we’re hanging on like we were here.

*Edited to add: the Rock is now officially the Marbill Coaches Stadium.

SPFL Tier 3, Ochilview, 3/5/25.

And so an utter car crash of a season comes to an end.

They were the better team, shifted the ball about well and scored early on. We didn’t start to come into it till later in the first half.

We got back into it from a corner nodded on by Mark Durnan to Matthew Shiels whose shot wasn’t cleared by their defence and ended up in the net. It was difficult to tell exactly what happened as we Sons fans were in the enclosure at the opposite end of the pitch.

Their second was hard luck on Shay Kelly in goal as he made a great point-blank save from the first effort but the rebound was put in off the post. (The guy almost put it past which would have been a shocking miss.)

So who knows how many of these players we will see again in a Sons shirt? Not Michael Ruth I would wager. He would provbably deserve a place in a Tier 2 team. Player of the year Mouhamed Niang might also be off. So might they all to be fair.

SPFL Tier  3, The Rock, 26/4/25.

The last home game of the season and an entertaining one.

Annan had the best of the opening twenty or so minutes but really only created one opportunity. It was a golden one though but loanee keeper Shay Kelly pulled off an incredible point-blank save. I still don’t know how he did it.

Then we got a free-kick reasonably far out from which I wasn’t expecting much but Ryan Blair beat the keeper with a shot at a fairly savable height I thought but which squeezed in close to the post.

One-nil at half time and soon Annan’s task got more difficult when a second yellow card was shown to one of their defenders. from where I was it looked as if his slip had simply caused Michael Ruth to fall over him but the ref signalled it was a trip.

Annan then brought on sub Tommy Goss. At 6 feet 4 inches he towerd over everybody else on the park. Not good when we were playing with a makeshift centre back pairing neither of whom are centre backs. (Curiously the same was true of Annan’s line-up. No centre backs playing at centre back on either side is surely an extremely rare phenomenon.) Goss began winning balls in the air bringing out another superb save from Shay Kelly but their forward blazed the rebound over when it was surely easier to score. Goss then converted a corner and Annan looked more likely to win the game – which they had to if they had any hope sof avoding the relegaton play-off spot.

A few minutes we had a pitch invasion. No, not really, but the crowd did end up on the pitch. A fire alarm had gone off in the stadium and the game had to be suspended.

That turned out to be the turning point. After the restart we scored twice in quick succession. Firstly Tony Wallace was played in by fellow sub Joel Mumbongo but he took what felt like an age in beating the same defender twice before finally planting the ball in the net. Also Mouhamed Niang was put on Goss at set pieces after which Annan seemed to stop trying to find him.

Two minutes later another quick break saw Finlay Gray play the ball across the box. Joel Mumbongo perhaps ought to have scored but seemed to miss the ball. However he mananged to confuse the keeper who then failed to stop the ball reaching another sub Jinky Hilton who put it away.

Things were not over. They were given a penalty and Shay Kelly took his good time getting into place going behind the goal line and seeming to aplly something to his gloves, time-wasting for which he was given a yellow card. His ….housery worked, though, as he got down well to save the shot from Goss. Man of the match for me.

The home season ended on a playing high, then. Only Stenhousemuir away next week before a season unforgettable for all the wrong reasons is over.

Will we still be around for the next one though? An owner whose only interest in the club is as a site for housebuilding might well pull the plug. Fans are powerless in this regard.

(For some reason this post didn’t appear when originally scheduled.)

SPFL Tier 3, Links Park, 19/4/25.

A draw is a decent enough result, though selection bingo was in evidence again. It’s really a bizarre approach to management.

They took the lead through a twice taken penalty which Shay Kelly seemingly saved twice but the second time couldn’t prevent the rebound off the bar leading to a goal.

Then Carlo Pignatiello brought things level. In the second half we went ahed through a penalty ourselves Tony Wallace doing the honours.

We couldn’t hold the lead though and they scored with six minutes to go.

Annan up next week for the last home game. Let’s hope we can round things off with a bit of cheer.

They have a habit of pulling results out of the bag, though.

SPFL Tier 3, New Central Park, 05/04/25.

Or maybe I should go….

Selection bingo obviously works.

We controlled this from the beginning even if I was nervous every time they moved up the park before we scored but at times it looked a bit like an old-fashioned end of season game.

Then Joel Mumbongo scored with a header from a Kalvin Orsi cross. A collector’s piece.

Then Kalvin got the ball on the wing, skinned his man and proceded to waltz past three of their defenders before striking his shot from about the D.

The next was a peach. Their keeper had just hit the ball aimlessly out for a throw-in, which was taken – to Carlo Pignatiello. Carlo moved infield and curled a Froxyesque curler into the top corner.

There was one strange moment when the ball looped up in our box and keeper Shay Kelly was in two minds about how to deal with it. He kept it out somewhat awkwardly.

Mouhamed Niang and Joel Mumbongo had picked up bookings in the first half and at three-nil up it made sense to remove Niang for the second half as being more likely to pick up another. Craig McGuffie was the replacement with Michael Ruth on for Orsi at the same time.

A telling sub as within five minutes a Kelty defender didn’t get his header in and Ruth was able to run in from just past halfway before slotting it past the keeper and inside the post.

Just after Joel Mumbongo went down after a challenge in the box and had to be stretchered off the pitch.

However, things went from bad to worse for Kelty when one of their players got a second yellow card for a trip.

A few minutes later Matt Shiels – on for Tony Wallace – nudged a Ruth free-kick past the keeper.

I just about missed our sixth. A cross looked to be Michael Ruth’s to head in but he was shoved in the box. I looked at the ref expecting him to blow but instead Craig McGuffie put the ball in the net.

By this time we were full of flicks and backheels and generally playing exhibition stuff.

Football is really bizarre. Where did this display come from? I know Kelty were poor but we were more than good enough to take advantage.

The lads obviously took confidence from winning last week. They should take even more from this.