8th March 2019 The Spartans v Kelly Hearts 2-1
Friday night football for Spartans as Edinburgh City at home tomorrow at Ainslie Park. As weather was not great decided to take bus to the game and arrived at the ground at 19.20 for the 19.45 kickoff. I had just bought my coffee and a sausage roll and sat down the cafe/ bar when Jim arrived. He had been on a long weekend break in Italy and managed to get to several games while he was there. He had several amusing tales about his trip including being told by a security guard to delete a photo he had taken at the Verona stadium. We went outside for the kick-off and took up a position between the two dugouts opposite the stand.
It looked to be a good game in prospect. Spartans were on their usual lines although it was surprising to see that David Greenhill was on the bench. As always for Spartans players numbers did not give a clue to their positions. Fullbacks Mikey Herd and Gary Cennerazzo wore ten and eleven, while midfielders Jamie Dishington and Scott Maxwell lined up as numbers two and three. Striker Blair Atkinson wore the number six shirt. Kelty are now managed by ex-Rangers player Barry Ferguson. Kelty moved up from the junior leaugues two years ago and now stand third in the Lowland League. It was a bit surprising to see ex-Bonnyrigg striker Kyle Wilson was on the bench for Kelty.
The game started on a bitterly cold and windy night and although Kelty had the bulk of the early possession they created little in the way of chances. The touches of former Hearts and Blackpool midfielder Stephen Husband showed he had played at a higher level. Having played with Hearts in the Vladmir Romanov era and Blackpool under the Oyston regime he must have some interesting stories to tell. The first chance can around the thirty minute mark when Kelty's Chris Dodd had a run down the left wing. His low cross found Brian Ritchie just outside the six yard box but the ball appeared to become stuck in his feet. His resultant shot therefore trickled into the arms of Spartans keeper Blair Carswell for an easy save. As the rain began to come down Spartans came more into the match with Cennerazzo looking particularly effective over-lapping on the left. After one run he fired a cross into the penalty box only for the incoming Jack Smith to poke the ball past the post. Shortly after Atkinson had a go but his shot was blocked by keeper Scott Christie, who also got down to save the follow-up from the rebound. Smith went close just before the halftime whistle with a header which again went past the post.
Kelty went ahead after fifty-one minutes when a corner was partly cleared by the Spartans defence. The second ball into the box was knocked out as far as the edge of the eighteen yard box where Kelty centre-half, and former Spartans player, Errol Douglas hit a low shot back into the net. I felt that Douglas did not hit his shot cleanly and this may have deceived Carswell in goal. The lead however only last five minutes as Aaron Scott drove in the Kelty box on the left and found Maxwell twelve yards from goal who shot low into the corner of the net. Surprisingly after the goal Maxwell was replaced by Jack Stevens as Spartans switched to a 4-3-3 formation with Stevens, Smith and Atkinson up front. Five minutes later Stephen MacDonald came on as a direct replacement for Smith. The changes worked as after seventy-eight minutes a long ball from Scott found Atkinson on the left hand side of the pitch. He cut inside full-back Leighton and into the penalty box. Keeper Christie got a hand to his shot but was unable to stop the ball hitting the net at the far post. By this time both benches were extremely vocal and I felt sorry for the Spartans players as manager Dougie Samuel, coach Derek Riddell and goalkeeping coach Steve Ellison were all shouting instructions to the players. Barry Ferguson on the Kelty bench was also urging his players forward but to little avail. The closest Kelty came to an equaliser was when Carswell got down to save a shot which had been deflected towards goal by one of his own defenders. Kelty made unsuccessful appeals for a free-kick for a passback but there was no chance of the referee giving a decision in their favour. The result moved Spartans up to fourth in the Lowland League table. Civli Service Service Strollers win the following day moved Spartans down to fifth but only two points behind with a game in hand.
After the game I walked along to the Crewe Toll roundabout and caught a bus into town then a 30 home. I arrived home around 10.15 after an excellent nights entertainment.
The game started on a bitterly cold and windy night and although Kelty had the bulk of the early possession they created little in the way of chances. The touches of former Hearts and Blackpool midfielder Stephen Husband showed he had played at a higher level. Having played with Hearts in the Vladmir Romanov era and Blackpool under the Oyston regime he must have some interesting stories to tell. The first chance can around the thirty minute mark when Kelty's Chris Dodd had a run down the left wing. His low cross found Brian Ritchie just outside the six yard box but the ball appeared to become stuck in his feet. His resultant shot therefore trickled into the arms of Spartans keeper Blair Carswell for an easy save. As the rain began to come down Spartans came more into the match with Cennerazzo looking particularly effective over-lapping on the left. After one run he fired a cross into the penalty box only for the incoming Jack Smith to poke the ball past the post. Shortly after Atkinson had a go but his shot was blocked by keeper Scott Christie, who also got down to save the follow-up from the rebound. Smith went close just before the halftime whistle with a header which again went past the post.
Kelty went ahead after fifty-one minutes when a corner was partly cleared by the Spartans defence. The second ball into the box was knocked out as far as the edge of the eighteen yard box where Kelty centre-half, and former Spartans player, Errol Douglas hit a low shot back into the net. I felt that Douglas did not hit his shot cleanly and this may have deceived Carswell in goal. The lead however only last five minutes as Aaron Scott drove in the Kelty box on the left and found Maxwell twelve yards from goal who shot low into the corner of the net. Surprisingly after the goal Maxwell was replaced by Jack Stevens as Spartans switched to a 4-3-3 formation with Stevens, Smith and Atkinson up front. Five minutes later Stephen MacDonald came on as a direct replacement for Smith. The changes worked as after seventy-eight minutes a long ball from Scott found Atkinson on the left hand side of the pitch. He cut inside full-back Leighton and into the penalty box. Keeper Christie got a hand to his shot but was unable to stop the ball hitting the net at the far post. By this time both benches were extremely vocal and I felt sorry for the Spartans players as manager Dougie Samuel, coach Derek Riddell and goalkeeping coach Steve Ellison were all shouting instructions to the players. Barry Ferguson on the Kelty bench was also urging his players forward but to little avail. The closest Kelty came to an equaliser was when Carswell got down to save a shot which had been deflected towards goal by one of his own defenders. Kelty made unsuccessful appeals for a free-kick for a passback but there was no chance of the referee giving a decision in their favour. The result moved Spartans up to fourth in the Lowland League table. Civli Service Service Strollers win the following day moved Spartans down to fifth but only two points behind with a game in hand.
After the game I walked along to the Crewe Toll roundabout and caught a bus into town then a 30 home. I arrived home around 10.15 after an excellent nights entertainment.
The Spartans: Carswell, Dishington, Maxwell, Tolmie, Corbett, Atkinson, Smith, McFarland, Scott, Cennerazzo, Herd
Subs: Stevens, MacDonald
Kelty Hearts: Christie, Leighton, McBride, Carstairs, Douglas, Husband, Match, Greig, Cargill, Ritchie, Dodd.
Subs: MacAuley, Dalziel
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