Sunday 25th May 2014 ko 13.00

Scottish Womens Football League 2nd Division South East

BOROUGHMUIR THISTLE 3 (Livingstone 10 Hanson 50 To 83)

HUTCHINSON VALE RESERVES 1 (C Devlin 15)

Att 13  at Meggetland Sports Complex, Edinburgh

Entry FREE

No programme

As I stood in the almost deserted stand watching a game a pitch’s width away I watched two magpies stand on a crash barrier and survey the scene. Like me, they were sheltering from the torrential rain, most of the other spectators tried to keep their umbrellas from turning inside out at pitchside, but lets face it, if there’s cover its best used!

And there’s a lot to like about the stadium too, after all, the stand is double-sided! Originally this was just the ground for Boroughmuir RUFC, whose recent honours include the Scottish Premiership championship in 2002-2003 and 2007–2008, and  cup winners in 2000, 2001 and 2005. The likes of Sean Lineen and Bill Hay have appeared for the club. In recent years Edinburgh Council have redeveloped the facility into a fine hub for sports. A new stand was built containing a café, plus all the changing rooms needed for a modern sports complex.

The other side of the stand faces on to a water-based AstroTurf pitch (I assume it was, the rain was heavy!), and beyond that is the 3G pitch used by Thistle. I rather took to them, playing as they are at the lowest rung of the women’s footballing ladder in Scotland. They do things right here, I heard no dissent, and they tried at all times to play a passing game. I fact it was the weather that was the real issue here.

Mid-way through the first half the rain was so hard it sounded like hail on the stand’s roof, and the referee couldn’t see though it. An abandonment looked possible, but the weather relented for the second half. A restorative tea from the café helped, and the hosts took control of the game and were deserved winners. It was a good game to watch, not least for the referee, he’d had the misfortune to have to record all the goalscorers in a 32-0 demolition the previous week. That, I reflected afterwards would have been far better suited to the pitch the other side of the stand!