Ground 24: Ochilview (Part 2)

Ochilview

Game: Stenhousemuir 0 v 0 Stranraer

Date: Saturday 12^th January

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 2

Attendance: 484

Admission: £13

Programme: £1.50

Two games into 2013 and I’ve still to see a goal. I hope that’s not an omen for the rest of the season. Although unlike the Edinburgh derby, there was a lot to admire at Ochilview.

This was my second visit to Ochilview having been here in November to watch Stenhousemuir’s tenants East Stirlingshire. This time I decided to travel by train to get here and an enjoyable 45 minute journey it was from Waverley before I got to Larbert.

It’s less than a mile from the station along the main road to Ochilview where I chose to sit at the back of the stand and have a read of the programme (I doubt I’ll be able to buy one for less than £1.50. Although the production values weren’t up to the standard of other clubs, it was clearly a labour of love for those involved).

What was clear from reading the programme and listening to the tannoy announcements was that Stenhousemuir is a club where a lot of activity is taking place. In 2009 Stenhousemuir registered to become a Community Interest Company and its clear that the community in where Stenhousemuir sees itself. The sooner other clubs realise this is the way forward and emulate Stenhousemuir the better. Football clubs have the potential to be great agents of change within their local communities and it’s disappointing how few are realising their potential.

The game itself wasn’t a bad one and I felt if there had been a goal, then the floodgates might have opened and we could have seen several. Sadly, that wasn’t the case and both sides were too ponderous in the midfield to get the ball forward quickly and cause panic within the defences. Therefore, there weren’t many scoring opportunities. It’s easy to see why both clubs find themselves in 7^th and 9^th in the league respectively.

Stenhousemuir controlled the bulk of the game, but as I mentioned were poor in the final third. They looked at their most threatening when their full-backs overlapped the midfield on the wings but frustratingly, the quality of crosses left a lot to be desired. Rarely did they go beyond the first defender and when they did Stranraer goalkeeper Mitchell was more than qualified to deal with them.

With not a great deal to get excited by on the pitch I was grateful to be surrounded by some characters in the stand, who were all knowledgeable and good humoured to boot. Unsurprisingly talk turned to the recently announced league reconstruction. There wasn’t a fan in my section that supported the 12-12-18 proposal and it could be summarised as “pish”.

Overall, it wasn’t a dreadful game, but was short on goals. This was my second visit to Ochilview and I’ve enjoyed both visits – any ground where the club shop is contained in a garden shed is always going to be a winner for me!

Ground 23: Tynecastle

Tynecastle under the lights is one of the best ways to watch a game in Scotland

Game: Heart of Midlothian 0 v 0 Hibernian

Date: Thursday 3^rd January 2013

Competition: Scottish Premier League

Attendance: 17,062

Admission: £30

Programme: n/a

In lieu of the Old Firm games, the Edinburgh derby is this season’s biggest game. Sadly, it was a spectacle that didn’t do this season’s entertaining SPL much justice.

I didn’t get a ticket to the match until just a few hours before kick-off. I’d been unsuccessful a few weeks before from the Hibs ticket office, but fortunately I was helped out by a friend Ian, who had a spare ticket for the Roseburn Stand. So I had a quick dash home from work to get changed and back on the bus towards the Gorgie area of Edinburgh where Heart of Midlothian call their home.

I got to Roseburn to meet the guys I was a little shocked. It was a strange mood in the air as there were a lot of people who had been drinking for hours. Truthfully, Roseburn looked a little like a war-zone. It certainly added to the atmosphere late on in the stadium but there was no doubt that it created a little edge in the air.

I’ve managed to pick up a programme at every ground so far but both clubs in Edinburgh have let me down! I’m sure there were programme sellers around but I didn’t see them.

We found our seats up the back end of the Roseburn Stand, but the only time they had people sitting on them was at half time, 3,000 odd Hibs fans stood and sang their lungs out for the whole game. The Hearts fans responded with good voice too. It was a shame that the next 90 minutes on the park was an utter disappointment. It says something when a penalty shoot-out between club legends at half time it probably the highlight of the match.

Both sides are capable on their day of playing attractive football, but both managers lined up their sides to play stuffy, agricultural football. The ball was hammered back and forth without any real cutting edge. Hearts substitute Jason Holt was the only player who looked like he had potential to change the game, but even that wasn’t enough.

Things could have been very different if Hearts had been given a penalty which they should have had in the first half, or if Ryan Stevenson had been sent off for his wild, reckless lunge on Hibs captain James McPake.

£30 will probably be the most I’ll pay for a game this season and without doubt it was the worst match I’ll see, however, the game had what has been missing from a lot of grounds this season: atmosphere. And this game had it in abundance.

Ground 22: Tannadice

Dundee United on the attack at Tannadice

Game: Dundee United 3 v 4 St. Mirren

Date: Sunday 30^th December

Competition: Scottish Premier League

Attendance: 6,386

Admission: £19

Programme: £3

I don’t think I’ll witness a more enthralling match all season – some great goals and some kamikaze defending all contributed to my favourite visit of the year so far.

Navigating Dundee can be quite difficult if you don’t know the city that well. I’m one of those people, so I was absolutely delighted to find a parking space on Dundonald Street, only a matter of minutes away from the ground. I seriously thought that I was going to miss kick-off, which would have been disappointing.

A quick walk around the stadium, I found myself at the turnstile for George Fox Stand and paid my £19 to get in. My first thoughts were that the ground wasn’t at all like I remembered. I’ve only been to Tannadice twice before, years ago, with both times being pre-season friendlies when we holidayed in St. Andrews. Both times we sat in The Shed end which in my mind made Tannadice seem like a much bigger stadium than it actually is. This time, in the lower tier of The George Fox Stand I found the ground to be much smaller than it appeared in my memory and on television. It means that the fans are very close to the action and the noise generated within the ground much louder. The fans around me were loud and passionate, if a little moany. They obviously have high expectations of their side. What was also great was the number of women and young children at the game (including the two old women behind me who made me laugh several times with their commendatory on the match and their withering assessment of the referee, “och, he must have got that whistle for Christmas”).

The trip to Tannadice was shaping up to be one of my favourite grounds, although the legroom left a lot to be desired – I’m grateful the seat to my left was vacant.

Dundee United started the game brightly, having lots of possession and looking the most likely to score – and any time Johnny Russell got on the ball he caused panic in the Saints defence. However, a slip from Barry Douglas allowed Gary Teale to drive the ball across the box and Paul Dummett was there to poke it home. The goal clearly knocked the stuffing out of United, who lost all composure for the next part of the game.

However, United got back into the game with a penalty. Jon Daly was brought down in the box when he leapt for a header. From the spot Daly sent the keeper the wrong way to equalise. United are very composed team on the ball, if sometimes unsure of how to play that ‘killer’ pass. This approach wasn’t being particularly welcome by the fans around me (“och no, we’re back to this tiki taka stuff”), which might explain why certain clubs don’t put an emphasis on passing football. But it was precisely the neat, patient interplay which resulted in United taking the lead when Stuart Armstrong quickly turned a Saints defender and rifled a low shot in from distance that found itself in the back of the net. It was a great strike, although Samson in the St. Mirren goal would probably feel he could have done better at keeping it out.

A 2-1 lead at half time gave the locals lots to be cheerful about at half time and it gave me the opportunity to sample a Dundee pie or ‘peh’ as the natives prefer to call them. And it wasn’t half bad either.

Some basic defending mistakes made it inevitable that we’d have goals in the second half and so it proved as we got four more. Five minutes into the second half, a terribly slack pass from Keith Watson allowed St. Mirren to take full advantage with Steven Thompson more than willing to put the ball in the back of the net. It was an entirely preventable goal but one which Dundee United have been guilty of several times this season. At 2-2, United continued to have the lion’s share of the possession but couldn’t find a way of making it count. The fans were getting on their back too, with the familiar refrain of “get it up the park” ringing around my section of the stand. I’m not convinced that would have helped United’s cause but football fans are rarely the most patient characters in the world.

United’s fans were further tested when St Mirren took the lead for the second time. Another Gary Teale cross (this time from a free kick) landed in the box and Mark McAusland was the quickest to pounce, lashing it high into the net from about six yards out.

The turning point of the game in my view came when Michael Gardyne managed to squander a perfect opportunity to get United back in the game with this effort. It was truly a horrendous miss and a further example of United not have a great deal of the luck on the day.

United were then reduced to 10 men when Brian McLean received his marching orders. He mis-controlled a simple ball and then recklessly lunged in to recover it. Initially, I felt it was a harsh decision but I can also see why the referee produced his red card. There was no malice, only clumsiness in the tackle, so perhaps a yellow would be fairer. You can judge for yourself in the highlights.

United’s afternoon got even worse when David Van Zanten put St. Mirren 4-2 with a cross-come-shot that the United defender Gavin Gunning hesitated over and it squirmed its way into the back of the net. Van Zanten has not yet reached double figures in goals in a 14 season career, so it would suggest that United were having a really bad day at the office. The fourth goal saw the start of a mass exodus from the ground.

Barry Douglas was able to grab the goal of the game with a spectacular free kick in injury time, but sadly it was too late for United to rally back and grab a point.

As I’ve mentioned, this was probably my favourite visit of the season so far. A great ground, firmly within the city (they’ve been playing football at Tannadice since the 1870s), a loud and passionate support and two teams competing and scoring plenty of goals. It’s these sort of games that are a credit to Scottish football and make me delighted I’ve undertaken my 42 Grounds adventure.

Ground 21: Stark's Park

Stark's Park Main Stand

Game: Raith Rovers 2 v 2 Cowdenbeath

Date: Saturday 29^th December

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 1

Attendance: 1,877

Admission: £17

Programme: £2

It wasn’t supposed to be Stark’s Park today. I was hoping to keep it (relatively) local by attending Livingston’s home fixture with Hamilton. The West Lothian club had reduced prices for this game to £5, which was an offer too good to resist. I picked up my friend Gordon, and we headed to pick up my Dad who was also going to attend the game with us. By the time we arrived at my family home we received bad news – the game was off.

A quick scan of the fixtures saw that the only game we could make from the west of Edinburgh at 2.10pm was the Fife derby between Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath. So it was off we went!

We arrived in Kirkcaldy at around 2.45 and got parked in the very pleasant looking Beveridge Park. We then made our way southwards under the railway bridge down Pratt Street where we found Stark’s Park. It’s an unusual stadium, being squashed into a small area with two large single tiered stands behind each goal. There’s also a fantastic looking L-shaped main stand from the 1920s, which hosts the tunnel and dressing rooms. The stand stops midway up the pitch where there is unused terracing. The far side stand has been built but currently does not have any seats due to Raith’s financial difficulties and lack of need for the ground to be completed.

This was the second time this season I was taking in this fixture having watched the dramatic 4-4 effort at Central Park back in October. We took our seats high in the South Stand which offered a great view of the pitch as well as of the town of Kirkcaldy.

Great views over the Lang Toun

The most extraordinary scene of the first half was watching a Raith fan two rows in front return from the catering stand with a burger and a pie. Nothing unusual there, until he inserted the pie between the two buns alongside the burger. Unbelievable.

Cowdenbeath took an early lead when Lewis Milne curled a cutback past Ross Laidlaw, but much of the first half was a drab affair being played on a heavy pitch. There were occasional glimpses of quality but they were fleeting. The Blue Brazil extended their lead just before half-time with a penalty converted by James Stevenson who had clearly been fouled inside the box. It made the visitors sitting in the McDermid Stand (sponsored by Scottish crime writer, Val McDermid) happy, although I was disappointed by the numbers of travelling Blue Brazil fans. There was only a smattering of them that had made the 10 mile trip to Stark’s Park.

Rovers’ manager Grant Murray must have given his troops a relocking at half time as Raith returned in the second half rejuvenated. They pulled a goal back within five minutes of the second half with a Dougie Hill header. Three minutes later they got their equaliser when Brian Graham was slipped in to put the ball in the net.

The rest of the game was Raith dominated but they couldn’t find a breakthrough to take all three points.

Once again, another entertaining if sometimes dour encounter between two sides hampered by a heavy pitch. Raith will be disappointed not to take all three points whilst Cowdenbeath must be wondering how many times they have to lead in these matches before they can get a win?