I
only made one New Year’s Resolution; to complete visits to all the 42 Scottish
League grounds before the end of 2020/2021. As I made this pledge in November
2019 and gave myself an 18-month window to do it in, you could justifiably say
it’s more of an aspiration than a resolution, but there you have it. Back on
December 1st last year, Benfield crashed out of the FA Vase away to
Vauxhall Motors who, ironically, drew our scheduled Northern League opponents
for the date of the next round on January 11th, specifically Hebburn
Town, I was thus presented with a window of opportunity for Scottish adventures
early in the New Year, with the chance of fording a psychologically important
groundhopping Rubicon. You see, my personal score in the grounds visited versus
unvisited tally was a 21-21 tie.
Further
investigation showed, surprisingly perhaps, that I’d only 6 Western clubs,
specifically Airdrieonians, though I’d seen them at Clyde’s Broadwood Stadium
before their current ground was built, Ayr United, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, St
Mirren and Stranraer to tick off, but 15 Eastern clubs, which could subdivided into East Fife, the solitary side
from the Kingdom, as well as 6 lots of Highland laddies (Aberdeen, Cove, Elgin,
Inverness Caley and Peterhead) and 8 in a loose amalgam, based around Tayside
and its environs (Alloa, Arbroath, Brechin, Dundee, Dundee United, Forfar,
Montrose and St Johnstone). Obviously, I’m taking liberties with my
geographical interpretations, but there you go. Having already booked a weekend
in Glasgow at the start of February, with Airdrie v Raith Rovers and Queens
Park v Cove potentially earmarked and an Easter Saturday jolly to Dundee
against Morton already in the planning stage, my thoughts turned to a day trip
on January 11th.
The
choices, bearing in mind future planning, were: Alloa, Inverness or Stranraer.
Frankly, having run the destinations through a train ticket website, £22 return
to Alloa won hands down and so I headed North on the 9.46 to Waverley from
Central Station, anticipating Alloa Athletic against Arbroath. The Wasps had
replaced The Hornets of Hebburn, even if it meant I was missing out on
Benfield’s rearranged fixture at home to North Shields. A 10-minute delay at
Prestonpans meant I missed the 11.23 to Alloa, so the 11.48 to Dunblane became
my gateway train to Perth. Arriving at 12.35, things went desperately downhill
immediately I pitched up. The gale-force winds in the North East had been
replaced by torrential rain as soon as we crossed the Border. The effect and prevalence
of the tempest could be demonstrated by postponements at both Inverness and
Stranraer, but also Stirling Albion. Even more distressing was the news that
Alloa’s 4G pitch had failed an inspection and so the reason for my trip had
been revoked, though even if the game had gone ahead, I had no way of getting
there as the rail services in the whole area had been decimated by flooding on
the tracks. It looked like I was stuck in Stirling for the afternoon, with no
option but to break my booze ban to kill time. So much for Dry January eh?
Amazingly,
just as I began to search Google for Craft Ale palaces in Stirling, one of
ScotRail’s posh new trains turned up unexpectedly just after 2.00. It was
headed for Waverley and, if I were being sensible, I should have headed back to
Old Reekie to await the 20.00 to Newcastle, but news that it was stopping at
Larbert gave me a chance to save the day. Stenhousemuir against Brechin City
was on, proving Stenny’s 4G pitch was a better drainer than the one up the road
at Recreation Park, though the dank, dreich weather meant Ochilview Park did
not live up to its name; however, it’s always nice to see The Warriors come out
to play. I’d boarded the train alongside the half a dozen disappointed
travelling Red Lichties and disembarked at the same point as they did. Having
already been to Stenny, the remainder of the journey on foot provided zero
problems for this cartological cretin, though I was surprised to see a Tim Hortons on Tryst Road by the
entrance to Ochilview Park. Even more surprising, the Maple Leaf did not
flutter at half mast after the passing of Rush’s Neil Peart, or the 63 Canadian
nationals who died in the Tehran plane disaster.
A
swift exchange of £12 for entry and a programme, with a further £2 for an
absolutely glorious steak and haggis pie, acted as a prelude to me taking a
seat in the main stand, which appeared to have a larger crowd than my last
visit in March 2018, when Elgin won 2-0, though Stenny somehow won promotion at
the end of that season, as I was forced to take C81 rather than C86 as my perch.
As long as it was named after an iconic NME cassette, I was happy enough. The
crowd was subsequently announced as 629, including the bereft Red Lichties
cheering on the home side against their local rivals, with approximately 60
visiting supporters in the away end, which was a respectable turnout for the
bottom 2 sides in the bottom division. Once they kicked off, you could
understand why the teams were occupying those rungs on the league ladder, as the
game teetered on the brink of the unwatchable, with howling wind now
accompanying driving rain, meaning the Warriors endlessly overhit passes with
the gusting wind behind them. If there was an option, Stenny always took the
wrong one and, having seen Brechin spurn two presentable chances, they
deservedly fell behind when Olly Hamilton clipped a well-judged finish over the
advancing keeper. It was goal of a quality the rest of the play did not warrant
but saw Brechin ahead at the break and justifiably dreaming of swapping places
in the table with their opponents.
Having
spent the break pondering how I’ve visited Ochilview as often as I’ve been to
Hampden and twice as often as my trips to Celtic, Hearts and the Huns, but
still not seen Stenny score, I was delighted by the increased momentum shown by
the home side in a massively improved second period. The strong wind in their
faces forced the Warriors to play the ball on the ground, rather than aimlessly
lumping it forward. After a couple of
efforts flashed just wide and anther brace were headed away from close to the
line, the home side got their reward on 63 minutes when Andy Munro’s deft
header nestled in the far corner. It was all Stenny now and they took a
deserved lead on 80 minutes when David Hopkirk’s firm shot left keeper McMinn
unsighted. At this point the Warriors were on course to end the day 6 points
ahead of their rivals, making an end of season Brechxit a knocking bet, but a
dismal lapse 5 minutes later allowed Hamilton to profit from weak indecision in
the home rearguard, to tie the game up. This completed the scoring as a
cautious subsequently Brechin ran the clock down against a deflated Stenny.
Full
time, I stopped off at Tim Hortons
for a couple of boxes of Timbits for
Laura, then struck out for the train. The 17.18 was cancelled and the 17.48
crawled to Waverley in rain so heavy it appeared we spent 90 minutes in a giant
carwash, though ScotRail’s free Wifi allowed me plenty of time to digest NUFC’s
point at Molineux and Benfield’s weak showing in a 2-0 loss to Shields. A last
latte from Costa and a seat in a
deserted quiet carriage, while bladdered drunks screamed and shouted at each
other in a neighbouring noisy one, were the order of the day as I arrived home
just as Match of the Day started.
I’d
have been 5 minutes earlier, but ran into a tall, tipsy Scotsman who bemoaned
his team had been rained off, rather than telling me about his month in South
East Asia. Welcome home Kenny; despite’s Damien’s cowardice, we’ll visit Dens
on April 11th. Mind, I’m on the lookout for potential Scottish trips
on 22/2 and 28/3, as well as the aforementioned Easter trip, though February 1st
will be my next time in Bella Caledonia.
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