Tag Archives: East of Scotland League

The Sales Pitch

28 Monday Jun 2021

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Saturday 26th June 2021 ko 14:00

Pre-Season Friendly

TWEEDMOUTH RANGERS 10 (11, 17, 22, 32, 35, 46, Friere 49 60 80, 82)

BERWICK COLTS 0

Att c80 at Old Shielfield, Berwick-upon-Tweed

Free Entry

Pies £2

The fun of these next two games is the way they do make a mockery of attempts to pigeonhole them. This Saturday out was built around taking in a Berwick Charities Cup game at the Stanks, a competition that I’d argue fits in the 2020/21 season, but its 18.30 kickoff allowed for this pre-season friendly beforehand. That presumably would be precursor to the 2021/22 season, so if you took that train of thought far enough you’d think we started next season before we finished the last! Continue reading →

The Cuddy

07 Tuesday May 2019

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Sunday 31st March 2019 ko 12.30

East of Scotland League Conference A

PEEBLES ROVERS 1 (Lindsay 72)

NEWGRANGE STAR 3 (Jamieson 13 Scott 40 Porteous 78)

Att 288

Entry £5

Programme £1

With the Scottish Hop coach full I found myself driving from our base in East Kilbride to the event’s final destination in Peebles. It wasn’t a quick drive once I’d left the M74, but the rolling hills of the Borders and the roads’ sweeping bends made for a enthralling journey. It was time to reflect on how this game should have taken place on last year’s hop, the cold and snow saw the game, also scheduled for Sunday lunchtime postponed. I pulled into the rugby club car park, and pondered on how many fewer people would have attended the game last year given the lousy conditions? Continue reading →

Dragon Soup

03 Friday May 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 20.00

East of Scotland League Conference C

LINLITHGOW ROSE 3 (Roddie MacLennan 15 39 Coyne 63)

JEANFIELD SWIFTS 2 (Davies 6 Connor McLaren 46)

Att 618

Entry £6

Programme £2

We left Blackburn, and headed over Cockleroi Hill. We were a little tight for time, I’d spent a little too much time thanking those involved at our previous game. The nerves jangled slightly, was driving past a Korean War Memorial part of the plan? But then the county town of the Lothians peeped into view, and as it turned out, the hop coach used exactly the same route as we had. The over-riding reason for the nerves was due to a massive sense of anticipation. Continue reading →

The West Lothian Question

29 Monday Apr 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 17.15

East of Scotland League Conference C

BLACKBURN UNITED 4 (Downie 1p 4 65 Browne 81)

PRESTON ATHLETIC 1 (McFarlane 77)

Att 328

Entry £6

Programme £2

I smiled when I heard the groundhoppers’ joke, yes Blackburn vs Preston could so easily be an English Championship game in Lancashire rather than a Scottish non-league fixture in West Lothian. That Lancs/Lothians connection wasn’t lost on former MP Tam Dalyell who in 1977 used the two towns to illustrate a situation after Scottish devolution where Scottish MPs could vote on English affairs, but not vice versa. Continue reading →

The Wreck Of The Old Mauritania

27 Saturday Apr 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 14.15

East of Scotland League Conference C

INVERKEITHING HILLFIELD SWIFTS 2 (Cowie 71 Hamilton 75)

Miller sent off 60 (2nd booking)

Francis sent off 78 (Foul & Abusive)

Cowie sent off 82 (Foul & Abusive)

HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY 4 (Muttitt 27 57 Huxford 31 Singh 82p)

Att 301

Entry £6

Programme £2

The Scottish Hop’s move from the Lothians to the Kingdom of Fife was nothing if not spectacular. First the Kelpies, the steel horses wild but frozen but their energy an inspiration to motorists on the M9. With the Hop coach’s 61 seats more than sold out, I was driving in effect an overspill car, but the there was a silver lining as we could stop close to the three Forth Bridges to take some fairly spectacular photos!

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The Inland Mariners

24 Wednesday Apr 2019

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Saturday 30th March 2019 ko 11.00

East of Scotland League Conference C

CAMELON JUNIORS 5 (McKenzie 8 43 46 Sneddon 10 25)

EDINBURGH UNITED 1 (Auriemma 40p)

Att 356

Entry £6

Programme £2

The biggest mistake you can make round these parts is to describe Camelon as being part of Falkirk. As any local will tell you the two places are separate even if you do pass the Falkirk Wheel as you arrive, and one town does rather run into the other! But as we approached Carmuirs Park I felt more anticipation than perhaps any other ground on this year’s Scottish Hop. Oddly that was in part because I’d been here before…. Continue reading →

Everything & Nothing

16 Tuesday Apr 2019

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Friday 29th March 2019 ko 20.00

East of Scotland League – Conference B

DUNIPACE 0

BONNYRIGG ROSE 4 (Murrell 6 Currie 60 83p Lough 88)

Att 380

Entry £6

Programme £1

Just like last year Robyn and I were sat having breakfast at the Wetherspoon’s at Beaconsfield Services. Our duties were exactly the same as for previous years’ Scottish Hops; meet Doug and the coach at Hillingdon Underground Station, then with Robyn couriering the coach I’d follow behind in my car to Birmingham International Rail Station to meet Chris Berezai. From there Dave Collins and Craig Dabbs would join us, and we’d aim to reach the first ground on the hop 90 minutes before the coach (not difficult with Doug’s mandatory stops) and use the time to make up the programme and ticket packs. Continue reading →

The Stalking Horses

28 Wednesday Mar 2018

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Saturday 17th March 2018 ko 13.30

East of Scotland League

KELTY HEARTS 11 (Ritchie 10 Dalziel 27 51 McCabe 42 Douglas 45 75 84 Husband 55 79 Cargill 60 Greig 81)

TWEEDMOUTH RANGERS 1 (McKenna 21)

Att 278

Entry £5

Programme £2

Climbing up to the former pit village of Kelty involved a lot more than a further drop in temperature and a steady increase in the snow flurries. Kelty Hearts switched from the East Region Juniors to the Senior ranks for this season, and their reasoning was abundantly clear. Continue reading →

Shippy

27 Tuesday Mar 2018

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Saturday 17th March 2018 ko 11.00

East of Scotland League

BURNTISLAND SHIPYARD 1 (Graham 44) 

Kinnaird sent off (violent conduct 77)

Galloway missed penalty 84

PRESTON ATHLETIC 2 (Binnie 38 Grotlin 62) 

Att 166

Entry £5

Programme £2

Brave ancient isle, thy praise if I should sing,
The habitation of a Pictish King,
Dreftus, who made against the Roman strokes,
Forth’s snakie arms thee to enclose with rocks,
They often pressed to vanquish thee with fire,
As Macedon did the sea embordering Tyre,
But thou didst scorn Rome’s captive for to be,
And kept thyself from Roman legions free. Traditional

I was sat at breakfast at the hop hotel in East Kilbride contemplating a Lorne Sausage. All was right with the world, the coffee was warm, and the world outside looked frost-free and bright, but then a flurry of snowflakes blew across, shattering my illusions. 5 minutes later I aimed for the hotel’s revolving door, and once outside the cold stopped me and others in our tracks.  Continue reading →

Proximity

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

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Sunday 26th March 2017 ko 12.00

East of Scotland League

ORMISTON 1 (Gordon 87)

LEITH ATHLETIC 4 (Ferguson 18 Wilkie 19 Millard 62og Martin 73) Allen sent off 30 (2nd booking)

Att 259

Entry £5

Programme £1

I and I suspect many others were glad of a lie in on Sunday morning, and I hope everyone remembered the clocks went forward! Sat over breakfast in Leith I felt able to do more than just the one game on offer, but when I typed my home address into the SatNav and saw I’d be home by 10pm the regret quickly evaporated. Monday is a work day, and coach driver’s hours dictate the you either do one game and head for home, or do more and stay another night in Scotland. We’d learned the lesson that more want to head for home then stay the hard way last year.

Continue reading →