Ground 15: New Broomfield

New Broomfield

Game: Airdrie 0 v 0 Raith Rovers

Date: Saturday 24th November 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 1

Attendance: 747

Admission: £16

Programme: £2

When I sat down to write this post I checked my phone where I keep the notes that I keep when watching games. Tellingly I didn’t write a lot about this game. There were a few reasons for this: it was very, very cold and there wasn’t a great deal to write about. I was also sitting with my friend Graeme and his family who are great company and kept us entertained.

A trip to New Broomfield meant another trip along the M8 and we made the game just in time for kick-off. Getting parked was simple as there are two car parks at the ground but I was very impressed in the recent changes to area surrounding the ground – where was once wasteland there are now several five-a-side pitches.

New Broomfield was built at the time that SPL clubs were insisting that clubs in the top division must have a ground capable of holding 10,000 seated fans. Why this rule was necessary was never quite explained but it cost clubs like Airdrie who harboured ambitions of returning to the top flight but had to divert cash away from their playing squad to finance grounds they would rarely fill. Unsurprising, Airdrie got into financial difficulties and are only in existence today because of the collapse of Clydebank.

As a sign of the times, all the fans for this match were held in the main stand meaning that three quarters of the ground were closed.

As I mentioned, Airdrie have invested in artificial surfaces outside and in the stadium too which are all available to hire, showing initiative that many other clubs could follow. If I could summarise this game it would be to say the game was played at a quick pace but sadly without a great deal of quality. Especially in the final third. The more games I watch this season, the more it becomes apparent that having a serious frontman with a bit of quality could be the difference between midtable and relegation.

Throughout the 90 minutes both teams huffed and puffed but unfortunately there was no breakthrough. Arguably Airdrie were on top for most of the match until they were reduced to ten men then Rovers were able to ratchet up the pressure. No goals sadly, my first this season, but plenty to enjoy about this visit to New Broomfield. 

Ground 14: Hampden Park

The lights are on...

Game: Queen’s Park 2 v 1 Stirling Albion

Date: Friday 23^rd November 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 3

Attendance: 557

Admission: £12

Programme: £2

Another Friday night adventure and this time it was at Hampden Park for what is one of Scottish football’s most surreal experiences.

But first I had to get there – I couldn’t physically get there in time to make the game by train so I was on the M8 again. It’s fair to say that I’m getting sick of this road. I also had to endure a shocking edition of Sportsound on the way there. Like most football fans I enjoy listening to coverage of the football to build up anticipation for the game. The whole hour wasn’t a pleasant experience. Firstly, there was coverage of the news that Elgin’s clash with Rangers was postponed due to Elgin overselling the number of tickets. Rightly, Elgin will be hauled over the coals for their lack of ticketing oversight but asking luminaries such as Billy Dodds to speculate on a story that the BBC had not further news on was ridiculous and patronising. Then followed twenty minutes on Celtic, including Neil Lennon’s foray into the league reconstruction debate. Why the manager of a team whose club has never been relegated is being asked for his opinion I’ll never know. The hour long show featured no coverage of the SFL aside from the sneering comments on Elgin. All in all, I find that pretty disappointing.

As I mentioned, watching Queen’s Park play in Division 3 is one of football’s surrealist sights as they play their home games at the Scottish football national stadium, Hampden Park. Hampden Park can hold 52,063. Queen’s Park attract an average crowd of 500. In comparison to other stadium’s in the division it is luxurious. You can get tours of Hampden Park as part of the Scottish Football Museum (which I highly recommend) the tour guide told me that the changing rooms for the ballboys is bigger than most changing rooms in other grounds in the SFL. As I parked up, Hampden was full of people entering the BT Scotland Stand dressed up to the 9s, clearly going to functions in one of the many hospitality suites. The fact that the football fans don’t go through this entrance demonstrates that football might not have been the biggest attraction in Mount Florida that night. Near the turnstile you get a good view of Lesser Hampden, which is a smaller stadium where a game was also underway. To get the history of Hampden, Lesser Hampden and sport generally in Glasgow, I can highly recommend Played in Glasgow which is a wonderful history of sport in Glasgow with some fabulous photographs too.

I paid my £12 admission and bought a programme and headed to get my dinner for the evening opting for a pie and coke which came to £4.70! Whilst I acknowledge that the catering will be run by a private firm on behalf of the stadium – that is a ridiculous sum of money to pay. I looked at the rest of the menu - £2.50 for chips, a cup of tea is £2.20, a packet of crisps £1.50, hotdog £4 (yes, £4), what planet are these people living on? On my way to the ground I spotted an enormous Asda superstore and another Tesco Express within sight of the West Stand – if I’m going to games in future I know where I’ll be stocking up because at those prices it feels like the catering operators are taking liberties.

I took my seat just in time for the Queen’s club song (every club should have one) and reflected that this is the clash of the idealists in Scottish football – the amateurs (Queen’s Park) versus Scotland’s first ever fan owned club (Stirling). But sadly, both teams were struggling for form in Scotland’s lowest division – both sides hadn’t won in five and four respectively, so I was fully expecting a goalless draw.

As you would expect, the pitch was immaculate but it wasn’t able to elevate the quality of play on it. Both teams were playing without confidence, with Queens looking slightly better but struggling in the final third of the pitch. Without much action in the first half it allowed me to reflect on my surroundings. There were a lot more female fans that I would expect but I couldn’t help feel that there were many things that could make the evening’s entertainment better. Firstly, beer and wine should be allowed in Scottish grounds – it would add to the atmosphere and give the clubs much needed revenue. Admittedly it wouldn’t work for all games but licences could be applied for on a game-by-game basis. Secondly, a move to summer football wouldn’t go amiss. I understand that the weather is not always better in the summer but for sheer comfort of the fans (heaven forbid this might be considered) a summer move might be better than fans in eight layers shivering for 90 minutes.

At half-time the majority of fans returned to the concourse to try warm up a little. Luckily, the second half was a vast improvement on the first and within three minutes we had a goal. Queens broke down the left and the ball was whipped in to Aidan Connolly who slotted home from 12 yards.

Ten minutes later Stirling equalised (unlike six days earlier when they had wilted under pressure from Elgin). Strong running from Stirling striker Scott Davidson saw him get his shot away and it hit the back of the net after coming off the bar.

Queen’s manager Gardner Spiers moved Aidan Connolly in from the left and into the centre of the park and this change had a desired effect. Connolly is the son of former Dundee United and St Johnstone striker Paddy Connolly and he had impressed me all evening, despite his short stature he was confident on the ball and gave the Spiders a lot of impetus in their forward play. I couldn’t believe when I heard others around me referring to the fact it was his debut. I couldn’t believe it, he looked far more accomplished than his 17 years suggested.

Even though it was 1-1 it was clear that Queens were the better side – they were playing a better standard of football, whilst Stirling offered a more robust approach (in fairness they are struggling with a lot of injuries – I’d seen three limp off last weekend) but the referee was missing a lot of fouls on the young Queens side. There’s a lot to admire about Queens – they’re an amateur side trying to mix it with the rest of the Division and they have a whole host of young, exciting players but as an alternative it’s not cheap to come and watch the Spiders.

Then in the closing stages Queens put together another good move and Stirling player-manager Greig McDonald brought down Ian Watt in the penalty box. Queen’s striker Anthony Quinn stepped up to fire home and the PA system played Manfred Mann’s The Mighty Quinn. Obviously. The goal secured the three points for the Spiders.

For the second Friday in a row I’ve enjoyed the game in spite of poor first halfs. But overall I can’t say that a visit to Hampden is anything but surreal. The club will move away from Hampden next season whilst the stadium is prepared for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and the Queen’s committee may use the time to reflect on how they can make the stadium work better for them as a club. The history of both Queen’s Park and Hampden are forever intertwined and the fact they still play at Hampden is one of the eccentricities that makes me love Scottish football. 

Ground 13: Forthbank

Forthbank Stadium's East Stand. Plenty of room to spare

Game: Stirling Albion 1 v 4 Elgin City

Date: Saturday 17^th November 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 3

Attendance: 454

Admission: £10

Programme: £3

Confession time: I’d didn’t pay to get into this game. In fact I wasn’t going to attend any games this Saturday as I was a tad cash-strapped. Thank goodness then for my Dad, who stepped in and met me in Stirling and paid us both through the turnstile (in return it looks like I’m taking him to Ibrox in a couple of weeks, so I’m not sure who’s the winner in the long run).

This was only my second visit to Forthbank – in 2009 I saw Dundee turn them over 2-0 in the Challenge Cup, but it’s a compact little ground to the east of Stirling town centre. Forthbank hosts 3,808 but all fans for today’s Third Division clash were held in the main stand. Stirling in the past few years have very much been a yo-yo club flitting between all three SFL divisions. Hence this was Elgin’s first visit to Forthbank since 2004.

We entered the ground to be greeted by fans selling lottery tickets and tickets for the away visit to Ibrox. Rangers were defeated here at Forthbank earlier in the season in a result that shocked Scottish football. Another appealing aspect of Stirling Albion as a club is they are Scotland’s first fan-owned club through the Supporters Trust. Hopefully this a model that is replicated throughout the country as the community value of these clubs are recognised.

We took our seats at the north end of the Main Stand but not before I picked up a copy of The Albion, Stirling’s official magazine. It’s a substantial A4 production costing £3 but covers a month’s worth of games. This is something I’ve seen before in the United States and I welcome the innovative. The magazine is well designed and put together and clearly they’ve done their work getting lots of sponsorship from local businesses. If they could provide an insert with that day’s teams like they do in America then that would be perfect!

Kick-off in the game was delayed by a linesman checking the net and discovering something was amiss. Another first in this 42 Grounds adventure! Who knew there was actually a reason for the assistant referees to be checking the net.

The game finally got underway and both teams were feeling each other out – Stirling are struggling near the foot of the division whilst Elgin are flying high in 2^nd behind Rangers. My Dad turned to me and said “Elgin haven’t offered much – they are just looking for that quick through pass to Gunn”, which less than three seconds later happened and Craig Gunn put the Black and Whites 1-0 ahead.

At this point, the rain started to lash it down obscuring the great view of the Ochil hills you get from the ground. The game was still a bit of a battle for the next twenty minutes before Gunn doubled Elgin’s lead with a cool finish after some neat interplay and a good advantage played by the referee.

Gunn completed his hat-trick five minutes later when he tucked in from close range, whilst Elgin extended their lead to 4-0 when Stuart Leslie netted a pass from left-winger Daniel Moore. Stirling were shell-shocked – they really hadn’t played that badly yet found themselves four down! They managed to pull a goal back just before half time with a deflected shot that looped over Gibson in the Elgin goal.

At half-time we discussed the likelihood of more goals in the second half – I went for two more whilst Dad, ever the optimist, predicted none. Unfortunately for us both, my Dad was correct. The game really petered out and any chance of a Stirling comeback looked unlikely as they were forced into their third substitution of the game in the 52^nd minute with a sub replacing an injured replacement. Elgin threw on a few of their fringe players but neither side pushed hard for more goals, but after a cracking first half we could have very few complaints as we filed out of a lovely but cold Forthbank.

Ground 12: New Douglas Park

Academia: the best programme name out there?

Game: Hamilton Academical 1 v 0 Partick Thistle

Date: Friday 16^th November 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 1

Attendance: 2450

Admission: £16

Programme: £2.50

Time for another Friday night, and after the success of my visit to Fir Park a month earlier, I was very much looking forward to my trip to New Douglas Park, home of Hamilton Academical. New Douglas Park opened in 2001 and had artificial turf installed in 2004. However this was removed upon on the Accies promotion to the Scottish Premier League. However, since their return to the First Division they have continued to play on grass.

I got away from work pretty sharpish and made my way along the M8 to Hamilton – the ground is pretty easy to find, going past the racecourse and then I found plenty of parking near the stadium as the headquarters for North Lanarkshire Council are nearby. Congratulations must be passed to the Council for not trying to monetise the potential for taking more cash off football punters. There’s also a train station nearby (Hamilton West) which is a short walking distance from NDP. All in all, it’s a good set-up the Accies have got going on.

New Douglas Park in itself is a bit of a strange ground – on two sides of the ground are supermarkets and to get near the ground you walk under a covered car park – it’s quite surreal. There were big queues for the away section as I skipped past the away stand (named The Spice of Life stand), which also houses the Lanarkshire Valuation Joint Board and South Lanarkshire Council Leisure and Culture offices. A good use of the ground for sure.

I hadn’t had any tea so by the time I’m got through the turnstile, bought a 50/50 ticket (one day I will win *fingers crossed*), a programme and a pie and coke I was down the best part of £24. The two open stands (plus a strange looking marquee stand opposite the main stand that houses Old Firm fans when they visit) have a flight of stairs that take you up to the stand. It looks bizarre but it affords great sightlines for the fans. As I searched for a seat I came to the conclusion that there must be a lot of Accies fans due to turn up as most seats near the middle of the stand had stickers saying ‘reserved’ on them. These fans did not appear. This is a bit disappointing as I don’t for one second believe that all those season ticket holders didn’t turn up but more the fact that these seats once belonged to season ticket holders. It allows one to pose the question: if a club isn’t bothered about attention to detail like this, then what else isn’t it bothered about?

Thistle, flying high in the league brought a sizeable support to New Douglas Park and where making plenty of noise too. NDP is an open ground, meaning it’s a) bloody freezing and b) the pitch is exposed to a lot of sunlight which meant the grass looked in good condition for a game in the middle of November.

The teams for tonight’s game were led out by local Real Radio DJs who were wearing the strips of both teams. I’m not quite sure what the purpose of the promotion was, but if it brought a few people through the turnstile then it’s worth pursuing. There was no doubt that the game was hotly anticipated, the Accies twitter feed beforehand listed the people within the game who were in the main stand watching: managers Pat Fenlon, Stuart McCall, Allan Moore and SFA Performance Director Mark Wotte with scouts and coaches from Wolves, Swansea, Falkirk, Wigan, Burnley, Livingston, Huddersfield, St Johnstone, Stevenage, Kilmarnock, Bolton, Sheffield United, Hearts, Dunfermline, Airdrie and Ross County. If they all paid then Hamilton were quids in!

The atmosphere within NDP was good and further aided when an Accies fan turned up with a small drum (which usually I can’t abide, but somehow was fitting at a night game), with seconds of him making some noise the Jags fans responded with the question “Who’s the wanker with the drum?” Hardly original, but it did make me chuckle.

The first half was nothing much to write about, Partick have struggled to score away from home and so it proved tonight at NDP. Their fans were making plenty of noise and are clearly enthralled with their manager, former Scotland internationalist Jackie McNamara (also a sitcom writer). His opposite number, Billy Reid was once approached to become Swansea manager. I wonder with Accies poor start to the season if he ever regretted the invitation to join the Liberty Stadium club. In truth, the first half was poor – there were lots of aimless headers and long balls but neither side took a grip of the game and the all important precision was severely lacking. It was the worst first half I’d watched so far this season even with Hamilton taking a 1-0 lead. A corner from Ali Crawford was whipped in dangerously and Partick keeper Graeme Smith punched the ball into his net. The referee attributed the goal to Crawford, but I think that’s rather kind.

The half time entertainment was provided by the fans rather than anything official put on by the club – both sets of fans going to get something to eat converged and managed to ‘noise’ each other up – with lots of pointing, singing and shouting. The ineffective-as-ever stewards couldn’t sort the issue and the police eventually made their way along to deal with the non-incident. Not for the first time I found myself questioning why football clubs are forced to hand out heavy sums to police forces for their work within the stadium where in my experience I’ve found them to be as much use at preventing trouble as a chocolate fireguard.

The early stages of the second half was all Thistle as they pushed for an equaliser. Hamilton had one source of joy with on-loan striker Stevie May looking dangerous on the break. He was able to win a corner and Smith in the Thistle goal managed to drop the cross causing a stramash in the box.

Thistle were piling on the pressure with their left back Aaron Sinclair looking very dangerous with an array of crosses that had Accies on the backfoot, sadly for the Jags there wasn’t anyone there to meet them. Sinclair was sometime up against the Accies new cult hero Ziggy Gordon, a red-headed right back who was pretty useful himself. However, it was a bombardment on the Accies goal and I did wonder how on earth they were staying out of the net.

You could tell it might not be Partick’s night when they were reduced to 10 men sixteen minutes before the end. The ball broke from the Accies box and both Stevie May and Thistle’s Paul Paton ran towards the ball. May, thinking he was going to be second to the ball shoulder barged Paton about three yards away from the ball. The referee didn’t give a foul and Paton recklessly retaliated by lunging into the next challenge missing the ball completely. Paton couldn’t have any complaints about the sending off for the challenge but arguably shouldn’t have been in that position to make it. The decision clearly enraged Jackie McNamara whose vociferous complaints resulted in him being banished from the touchline.

Even with 10 men Thistle dominated the final stages of the match but couldn’t find a way through – giving Hamilton a vital three points. It should be said that if Thistle had played with the liveliness and energy in the first half that they did in the second they might have not found themselves a goal down.

At half-time I had tweeted that this was one of the poorest games I’d seen so far this season which was true at that point, but by full time I’d seen a turn around, the second half was great entertainment and a fantastic advert for First Division football and another indication that Friday night football might just take off in Scotland.

Ground 11: Somerset Park

Somerset Park, home of Ayr United FC

Game: Ayr United 2 v 1 Clachnacuddin

Date: Saturday 3^rd November 2012

Competition: Scottish Cup 3^rd Round

Attendance: 1032

Admission: £10

Programme: £2

I have a conflicted relationship with the Scottish Cup. On the one hand, it’s one of the great cup competitions in the world – and the second oldest cup competition in the world, the romance...but on the other hand, I’m a Hibs fan, so I loathe the competition with every sinew of my being. It’s been 110 years since Hibs won the Scottish Cup and after May’s 5-1 drubbing from Hearts I am even less sure that I’ll ever see them lift the cup at Hampden Park.

But every year, I find myself falling back in love with it. When the draw was made last month, this clash between the Second Division side and the Highland League team from Inverness looked to be the most tempting. And if I’m truly honest I just liked the fact I was seeing Clachnacuddin. It’s a quintessentially Scottish football team name – evocative, exotic and difficult to place – there are more clubs in Scotland that don’t give a clue as to where they are located (Albion Rovers, Celtic, Clyde, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Morton, Queen of the South, Queens Park, Raith Rovers). I was hoping for a good, old fashioned, competitive cup game.

I was joined on this trip by my friend Greg and my Mum and Dad – my Dad wished to see the Ayr game whilst my mother saw it as an opportunity to get some early Christmas shopping down in Ayr town centre. We drove through on a gloriously sunny winter’s day arriving in Ayr around 2.15pm. We got parked in the town centre and made our way through the high street and across the river Ayr in attempt to find Somerset Park, which we did pretty easily. Once inside the ground we got our ‘lunch’ which for me was a pie and a Ribena, an exotic combination if ever there was one.

I’d only been to Somerset Park once before – 18 months previously when Hibs visited in the Scottish Cup replay on a Tuesday night – it was a miserable night in which Hibs predictably lost 1-0 and my friend Mark and I appeared on Sky Sports as the gloomy looking Hibees. What I did enjoy that night was the intimacy of the ground and the noise generated by the Ayr fans that evening.

Unfortunately that wasn’t to be replicated on this day, although the arrival of the Clach fans from Inverness certainly did ramp the volume up – knowing full well of their chances of victory against the Honest Men, the Clach fans made plenty of noise and a good number of them had turned up in fancy dress.

From our vantage point on the terrace facing the Main Stand, we spent a lot of the first half shielding our eyes from the bright sun. Looking around Somerset Park, you would be far pushed to call it anything other than rustic, although I’d rather watch a game at Somerset than at an identikit new stadium such as St Mirren Park or the like.

Clach almost gave us a cup shock in this game by taking the lead after 14 minutes with a well worked goal. However, from that moment on the Lilywhites were on the back foot against a team that were evidentially much better. However, Ayr couldn’t make it count and went in at half-time 1-0 down.

The second half began much like the first had ended with Ayr dominating Clach. The feeling on the terracing was that it was only a matter of time before Ayr unpicked the lock to Clach’s goal, whose defending wasn’t as assured as a giant killing side’s need to be. Only five minutes into the second half and Ayr equalised through a Michael Moffat header from a fine cross by Ross Robertson.

Ten minutes later and Moore killed off any chance of a replay in Inverness when David Winters was brought down in the box. Moore slotted the penalty home and gave Ayr an unassailable lead. The gulf in the two teams became more apparent with every substitution as Clach clearly didn’t have the depth in their squad that the Honest Men had.

No cup upset, but a competitive enough match to make Somerset Park an enjoyable visit. The only disappointment I would say was the lack of backing that Ayr had, although it was consistent with the crowds they’d be getting all season. Just over a thousand people in a town of 46,000 (not including the wider area) is not great, but there may be numerous reasons behind this.

Ayr now find themselves in the draw for the 4^th Round with an away tie to Forfar Athletic.

Ground 10: Palmerston Park

The teams-line up at Palmerston Park, home of Queen of the South, the only football team to make an appearance in the Bible (Matthew 12:42)

Game: Queen of the South 1 v 0 East Fife

Date: 28^th October 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 2

Attendance: 1577

Admission: £15

Programme: £2.50

Another day, another game was the motto for this weekend – as Dumfries marked my third game in three days. A two hour drive from Edinburgh to Dumfries via a quick stop for lunch in Moffat meant we arrived at Palmerston Park just twenty minutes before kick-off. Queen of the South’s home ground is only a few minutes away from Dumfries town centre near the Glasgow road.

The first thing to say about Palmerston is that it’s a great old fashioned ground that’s full of charm. I attended the game with my Dad again, who hadn’t been to Palmerston before either. We entered through the modern far-side stand but it was the covered terracing behind the goal that caught our attention and it looked to be perfect for viewing today’s encounter.

East Fife were the visitors to high-flying Queen of the South, who were relegated to the Second Division last season. They changed their personnel by appointing ex-Hearts hero Allan Johnstone as their manager and his impact has been felt immediately with strong performances in the league and cups.

There wasn’t a big travelling East Fife support for this Sunday afternoon game, which was disappointing. What wasn’t disappointing was the old school feel of the Palmerston atmosphere which was aided by someone waving a rattle in our stand – fantastic stuff.

Queen of the South, dominating in the league, continued the rich vein of form they are in by taking the lead within four minutes – Derek Lyle headed in from a corner. From that moment on Queens had control of the game and the goals could have rained in if had it not been for on-loan from Hibs keeper Callum Antell in the East Fife goal. He denied several chances, including a point-blank effort on the 35^th minute.

Our home for the 90 minutes and very welcoming it was too

Half-time came around and we treated ourselves to a pie each which were fantastic. There was nothing about Palmerston that was disappointing!

The second half was very much the same as the first – with Queen of the South the much better side but struggling to press home their advantage. Truth be told, East Fife, although not a bad team looked like they wouldn’t score if we played all night. Queens will be disappointed to not have put further goals past Antell.

At the end of the game the tannoy announced that ticket holders would be given free admission to the ice hockey in the rink nearby for the game that evening. A good initiative from the Doonhammers, but sadly we had a two hour drive ahead of us in the Dumfriesshire darkness and decided to give it a miss.

A first visit to Dumfries but I’m going to ensure that it won’t be my last.

Ground 9: Links Park

Links Park, Montrose

Game: Montrose 2 v 2 Elgin City

Date: Saturday 27^th October 2012

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 3

Attendance: 346

Admission: £11

Programme: £2

A gloriously sunny Saturday in late October saw me and my Dad set off to Montrose for my second game of the weekend.

Setting off at midday we made our way over the Forth Road Bridge, past Dundee and then across to Montrose arriving around forty minutes before kick-off. We even managed to get parked on the street with the entrance to Link’s Park at the end of it. We were joined by my Dad’s friend Brian (who had been at the Falkirk game with us) and we set off in search of a cafe to grab a coffee before the game.

The town centre was around five minutes away through some very pleasant and wide streets. The town centre was pretty busy even for a cold day and plenty of folk seemed to be giving Link’s Park a miss for the comfort of the pub. It’s understandable but nonetheless must be disappointing for a club like Montrose.

We arrived just before kick-off and paid our £11 to get in. Link’s Park is a lovely wee ground, with a modern main stand dominating the ground. There’s an old fashioned terracing behind one of the goals and the rest of the ground is just tarmaced meaning you can get very close to the action on the artificial pitch. Which is what we did taking up a position opposite the main stand.

Elgin started the game strongly, and found themselves 2-0 up in the first half. The first goal was a result of a lack square pass from one Montrose centre half to another which was intercepted by Stuart Leslie who slotted home. Soon after Elgin were 2-0 up against ten men as Montrose goalkeeper Sandy Wood was sent off for a foul in the box. Daniel Moore duly dispatched the penalty past David Crawford to give Elgin the early advantage. Wood’s replacement was David Crawford whose previous appearance against Elgin saw him concede six just a few weeks earlier.

At this stage, against ten men and having beaten Montrose 6-1 in their last meeting there was surely a question of how many? But as I’d witnessed only ten days earlier at Clyde, Elgin are clearly catchable with a two goal lead. Instead of pressing their advantage, Elgin seemed content to keep the ball but not push on. Montrose seemed to gain confidence from this timidity and pulled a goal back through Garry Wood who scored from the corner of the penalty box. It was a fantastic goal.

Snow from the night before, swept to the side of the pitch

Elgin had a chance to put the game out of Montrose’s reach once more less than a minute later when Terry Masson was judged (fairly) to have handled the ball in the box. Moore, was handed an opportunity to grab his second goal of the day. However his penalty was desperately poor and possibly led to more doubts in the minds of the Elgin players. Then, in stoppage time, Elgin gave away a needless free kick, which was rifled into the net by Jamie Winter. The goal sent the Montrose crowd into delirium and left Elgin fans dejected, once again the Black and Whites squandering an opportunity to strengthened their position at the summit of the Third Division.

Ground 8: Fir Park

Friday Night Football under the floodlights

Game: Motherwell 0 v 4 Hibernian

Date: Friday 26^th October 2012

Competition: Scottish Premier League

Attendance: 5,301

Admission: £22

Programme: £3

Friday Night Football. It was trialled on a few occasions last season and it’s becoming a more regular event in all divisions this season. I’m all in favour of it judging by this game. This corresponding fixture all took place on a Friday night the season before but was abandoned at half time due to a fire in a floodlight. This season the game was being televised by ESPN and unlike last season the price of admission wasn’t reduced.

This had no impact on the level of Hibs support who travelled in numbers (amazing what a few wins can do for a club) after their work along the M8 to Lanarkshire. I was one of them, escaping from work on time and arriving in Motherwell just before 7.30.

Fir Park floodlights from a distance

The night did not get off to the best of starts – I arrived at the turnstile ten minutes before kick-off and saw great big queues for all gates. Although there was stewards around they didn’t seem to be taking a proactive approach to their role, they seemed overwhelmed by the number of Hibs fans. Still I thought I’d arrived in plenty of time to make it into Fir Park, however I was mistaken. It was taking an age for each person to get through the turnstile, for reasons that seemed beyond comprehension. When I reached the front of the queue I handed over my £22 only for the guy behind the glass to write down on both sides of the ticket how much I paid. This seemed like an entirely pointless exercise. I’m sure there was a good reason for this but it meant that I missed the first five minutes of the game which is not good enough for an SPL club. Getting into a ground should be the easiest process in the world, yet for Motherwell it wasn’t.

It’s at this point I should address something that riled me when I was queuing. Without doubt all clubs have fans who after some drink is taken are not the most pleasant. However, Hibs have a significant minority who sing some fairly tasteless ditties. The sound under the stand whilst we were all queuing sounded fantastic, however, I find the “Rudi Skacel is a f***ing refugee” chant particularly tasteless and not in the slightest bit amusing. Skacel, in the news that day because he’d signed a short-term contract with Dundee United (and chose 51 as his squad number. 5-1 get it?). I just find the song crass, unfunny and a stunning lack of self-awareness from fans of a club who were formed by Irish immigrants.

I took a seat directly behind the goal in the lower tier of Fir Park’s South Stand and it was at this point I realised three things: 1) it was cold. 2) the Fir Park pitch has a funny slant to it and 3) bloody hell, it really was cold.

On the evidence of tonight’s game, Friday night football seems to work. Games under floodlights are always a bit special and both sets of fans were in boisterous mood. Any warmth towards Motherwell’s noisy fans soon dissipated when the drum started up. A drum...

Fir Park is an odd ground. The South Stand that was hosting the Hibs fans is a two-tier monster. The north and east stand are single tiered and the main stand is an old fashioned grandstand that runs for two thirds of the way up the touchline. I think it would be fair to describe Fir Park as a tired looking ground. There was a PA system in the South Stand which is inaudible. You know it’s on but you can’t hear a thing coming out of it. This has been a problem for clubs in recent years: do you spend any spare cash you have on improving your infrastructure or do you spend it on strengthening your playing squad? I can understand the latter, but I have public safety concerns for some grounds if they continue to neglect their infrastructure.

Motherwell started brightly, especially their Estonian forward Henrik Ojamaa. However, it was Hibs who took the lead through David Wotherspoon. Wotherspoon has been a revelation this season, replicating the form he produced when he first appeared in the Hibs team in 2009. His strike from outside the box was a cracker. The rest of the half saw Motherwell on top. I genuinely believed at that point it would be a miracle for Hibs to keep a clean sheet. There was a form of a miracle as Motherwell at one stage clearly had the ball over the line for it to be clamoured away by Ben Williams. As I was directly behind the goal it was hard to tell if it had gone in but within minutes I received a text saying the ball was at least two feet behind the goal. How the linesman hadn’t noticed this I’m not sure but us Hibs fans in the South Stand were grateful.

Half-time came with Motherwell continuing to assert their control on the match. As I’d come straight from work I decided to get myself some tea. Big mistake as there was only appeared to be two kiosks open and the whole catering area was absolutely rammed as I opened the door. I weighed up the chances of queuing and still seeing the start of the second half and returned to my seat. I know it’s difficult for clubs to estimate how many travelling fans will attend a game but Motherwell just did themselves out of fiver from me and who knows how many other fans.

Not sure what these structures are

At the start of the second half Motherwell continued to dominate Hibs and Hibs were helping them by backing off the whole time almost asking Motherwell to attack. This didn’t seem to bother some elements of the away support who began singing their new song to the tune of Football’s Coming Home – “They’re going bust, they’re going bust, the Hearts are going bust”, this was timely due to the news breaking on the way to the ground that their city rivals will be facing a tax bill to the tune of £1.75 million. It’s amazing to see how much technology is advancing news in football – everyone is the ground with a smart phone was able to receive news about Hearts’ latest woes as were they able to see Motherwell’s first half strike cross the line.

Higdon's penalty

The game then changed in a dramatic few minutes. Hibs cleared their lines and broke quickly with Leigh Griffiths taking the ball into the box and rounding Well keeper Darren Randolph who brought him down for a penalty. Griffiths duly dispatched the ball into the net to put Hibs 2-0 up. Minutes later Motherwell had a chance to get back into the game when James McPake was judged to have fouled Well striker Michael Higdon by climbing over him to get to the ball. On watching the replay I would probably say the referee got the decision correct but equally we’ve all seen those sort of decisions not been given. Higdon took the penalty and blasted high, with it hitting the top of the cross bar and deflecting higher – we couldn’t see this subtle hit at the other end of the pitch and it just looked like Higdon had skied his effort.

Hibs then marched up the pitch and won themselves another penalty, albeit in controversial circumstances. Wotherspoon was brought down by Stevie Hammell and it was adjudged to be inside the box although television replays showed that he was clearly outside the box. Not the finest night for the officials at Fir Park. Griffiths stood up again and coolly put the ball where had previously – to the goalkeeper’s left in the side netting where it’s virtually unsavable. Being 3-0 up Hibs started playing with a bit of swagger, Paul Cairney showing why he’s been fantastic since joining from Partrick Thistle in the summer.

In what had been a terrible night for referee Stevie O’Reilly as he had to be replaced due to injury by Iain Brines. The game looked like it was petering out when Wotherspoon crossed the ball late on for young Hibs substitute Danny Handling to bundle the ball into the net to make it 4-0, a scoreline that didn’t really reflect the game and was harsh on a good Motherwell team.

Leaving the ground I was struck once again that this was a Hibs team to be proud of. They’re grafters that don’t go missing in games and they’re harder than they were last year. Players like Claros and Wotherspoon looked like they’ve been transformed whilst new signings like Cairney and Taiwo in midfield have slotted right in. The only concern for Hibees is that if loan signing Griffiths continues to bang in goals, he’ll have a lot more suitors come January. Keeping Griffiths is essential if Hibs want to be in contention for European places at the end of the season.

Friday night football on this occasion was a great success – a busy stadium, lots of atmosphere and a cracking game under the lights. If this season was meant to be Armageddon for Scottish football then a lot of clubs will be requesting it every year!