Another nice day and off to Penicuik for the first match in the East of Scotland league round robin play-offs. The contest is between the three conference winners, Penicuik, Broxburn and Bonnyrigg. Each team will have one home and one away match with the top point scorer in the series gaining promotion, subject to SFA licence, to the Lowland League for next season. In the event of a drawn match a penalty shoot out will be held with the winners of tie being awarded an extra point. Left the house around 13.00 and caught a 47 bus in Lothian Road about ten minutes later. Arrived at the ground around 14.10. At first I was standing under the cover waiting for the team sheet to be put up on the entrance hut. I hate not knowing who is playing and usually take a photo of the team sheet at matches where I am unsure of the players on the pitch. After I had taken my photo I wandered round to the grassy sunny side of the park and met Jim. He will be attending all three play-off matches but I wi

Friday and after a busy day I headed to Ainslie Park for tonights Lowland league Cup tie between Spartans and Kelty Hearts. The Lowland League Cup is an end of season filler and is contested by all team within the Lowland League. Last year Spartans, as champions, withdrew from the League Cup to concentrate on the end of season play-offs which can lead to promotion to the SPFL and this years champions, East Kilbride, have followed suit. It should be a close game tonight with Kelty having finished third in the league while Spartans finished one place below. Left the house at 18.30 and walked to the West End to catch a bus down the road. Caught a 37 but thought I was going to be early so got of at the foot of Orchard Brae and walked the rest of the way arriving around 17.20. Headed to cafe/bar after I got in for a coffee and met Jim there. We had a chat about various football matters. Jim had been to the last game at Workington's Borough Park on Monday but was disappointed with th

Another trip out to Bonnyrigg for this King Cup second round tie. Had been child-minding in the afternoon and by time I got home I did not have time to have something to eat before heading out for this 18.30 kick-off as Bonnyrigg do not, as yet, have floodlights. Caught a 31 bus at Haymarket and, despite a hold-up due to roadworks  at the Murray's, arrived just after 18.00 at the ground. I got off the bus at the first stop after the Bonnyrigg Toll traffic lights and walked the short distance to the ground. I had forgotten I was not on a 31 to Bonnyrigg which stops just outside the ground rather than the Poltonhall bus which turns right at the lights and does not go directly to the ground. Paid my £6 entry and £2 for a programme and then headed for the sack bar. Got a coffee and a pie for £2.50 which was far tastier than the Tynecastle equivalents which would cost £4.80. Bonnyrigg are still in the Challenge Cup, League Cup, Football Nations Qualifying Cup in addition to the Kin

Easter Monday and a beautiful day which was perfect for an evening at the football. Headed out to Penicuik for this EoS League Cup second round tie. Bonnyrigg had clinched the League Conference B a few weeks ago and Penicuik were crowned Conference A champions on Saturday. In addition to being a cuptie this game also acted as a taster for the play-off round robin between the Conference champions, Broxburn having clinched Conference C. The winners of this will be promoted to the Lowland League, licensing requirements permitting. Caught a 47 bus in Lothian Road and arrived at Penicuik around 19.00. Paid my £6 admission and £1.50 for  programme. While not the normal Penicuik programme the issue contained a report of the Conference clinching game on Saturday, photo's of the celebrations and an update on other East of Scotland League games played at the weekend. Considering the Easter weekend was between the two sets of fixtures this was  great effort by the Penicuik programme team.

After a poor game at Tynecastle I decided to head for Ainslie Park in the hope of seeing a decent game of football. Spartans offer half-price season tickets to season-ticket holders at Hearts, Hibs and Edinburgh City. By going to todays game I am making the most of my £35 investment in a Spartans season ticket. I left Tynecastle on the final whistle and walked down to Haymarket then along to the West End to catch a bus to Ainslie Park. I caught a 37 bus outside Mathers Bar in Queensferry Road to Crewe Toll and walked along Ferry Road and down the hill to Ainslie Park. Arrived around 14.30 and headed for the cafe/bar for a Diet Coke and a sausage roll before kickoff. Had a good chat with the two girls behind the bar about the Hearts game. One, who had been married at on the Tynecastle pitch, was sympathetic while the other, a Hibs fan, was not. As I sat down with my snack I met Ally, another ex-work colleague. His son, Aaron Scott, now plays for Spartans after spells in both Hearts

Yet another early kickoff as game is live in TV. Kickoff was 12.00 so I had a couple of bacon rolls with a glass of orange juice before leaving for Tynecastle at around 11.05. Walked down the road and arrived at 11.20. There was a small queue at the ticket office so I thought I would pick up my ticket for the Hibs game while I was there. Things looked over more promising  when the security guard alongside the queue said that those queueing to pick up tickets should form a new queue at window 5. I joined that queue which was for those collecting tickets for todays game and next weeks Derby at Easter Road. This was not a good idea as I found out that the tickets for Easter Road had not yet been printed. Those, like me, who were collecting tickets for that game gave their names to the girl behind the counter who took details to the girl in the back of the office printing the tickets. Orders for those waiting were being prioritised and we were told wait would be around two minutes. Ten

Another trip out to Bonnyrigg for the east of Scotland League Cup second round tie. As Bonnyrigg do not yet have floodlights the kick-off was brought forward to 18.15 to cater for extra time and penalty kicks, if required, to settle the tie. As a consequence of the early kick-off I set out early and caught a 31 bus out to Bonnyrigg. The bus arrived early and I got off a couple of stops before the ground and walked the remaining distance, arriving at 17.50. Admission was the standard £6 and £2 for the programme. When I entered the ground I met an old work colleague and friend Gwyn. Gwyn's son Andy plays for Haddington and he had come along to give him support. We had a great time chatting and catching on news and were later joined by another still working colleague and friend Steve. There must have been a lot of RBS ears burning last night ! Bonnyrigg still have a number of games to play given their success this season. If they win tonight they will play Penicuik next Monda

Cup semi-final day for Hearts today and had to be up early as I was catching Megabus through to Glasgow. Only costing £1 return, which was a booking fee, due to my bus concession card. After a breakfast of two bacon rolls and a coffee headed out to walk to St Andrew Square bus station around 8.15. I managed to read the John Robertson interview in the Scotsman sports section before I left. I had a horrible thought that Hearts could go out of the cup to a team managed by Robbo, the top goalscorer in their history. Give Megabus their due as they were on the ball regarding the football today. There were two buses leaving at 8.55 today, one an express bus to Glasgow with no stops which I caught and the second normal service which stops at a number of location in both Edinburgh and Glasgow on the journey. Arrived at Buchanan Street Bus Station and walked down the hill to Central Station. After paying £2.20 for a return ticket caught a train to Mount Florida arriving at about 10.45. Turnst

Another match out at Bonnyrigg. Met Malcolm at Haymarket and we took a 31 bus out to Bonnyrigg. We arrived at the ground at 18.10 for an 18.30 kickoff so popped into the pub on the corner near the ground for a quick drink. Not exactly the most salubrious pub I have ever been in and with no alcohol-free beer available I settled for a Diet Coke. Wandered to the ground and paid our £6 admission and £2 for a programme. Bonnyrigg have only recently started issuing programmes and it is produced by Jamie McQueen, who also does the Edinburgh United programme. The programme is a good reading with an article on the opposition and also pen pictures of their players which is unusual in lower league football. Tonights issue even included comment and photos from Saturdays game against Stirling University which Bonnyrigg won on penalties to move into the South Challenge Cup final against East Kilbride.We met Jim in the ground and settled down against a barrier on the sunny, grassy area of the grou

After the Derby result on Saturday I needed a pick-me-up so headed out to the Oriam for this Reserve League match. I caught a 35 bus which was due to arrive at the Oriam around 13.35 in time for the 14.00 kickoff. However it arrived about 13.20 so rather than go straight in I decide to go for a walk to keep warm. Malcolm had also said he was going to come along and as I started walking Anne dropped him off. We walked for about ten minutes and then headed towards the park. The only gate open was the players entrance as the normal spectators gate was still locked. We took our seats in the small stand near the entrance. On looking around there were a number of football personalities in the crowd. In addition to Hearts normal reserve team coaching duo of Andy Kirk and John Rankin further club representation was there in the shape of Craig Levein, Gary Locke, Jon Daly and Jake Mulraney. Additionally I spotted John McGinn and Paul Smith of Raith Rovers, Brian Rice of Hamilton and former

I always look forward to Derby games and this was no exception although due to television coverage the game was kicking off at the early time of 12.30. I left the house at 11.35 thinking the kick-off was 12.15 and arrived at Tynecastle around 11.50. Unfortunately it is next weeks semi-final against Inverness that starts at 12.15 so I had a longer wait until kick-off. Thankfully however the rain did not reach my seat in the main stand. The seat next to me remained empty and I do not know where Eric was, probably in hospitality. Craig was there with his wife Claire and their children Harmoni and Harper and I could see them in their seats in the front row of Section G. Hearts made a number of changes with Michael Smith returning after injury while Uche Ikpeazu passed the concussion protocols after being stretched off against Aberdeen last week and came back in at centre-forward after missing the midweek game at Ibrox. There was a surpise at left back with Bobby Burns making his f

Final of the Reserve Cup and surprisingly held at Tynecastle and not a neutral venue. Kick-off was at 19.00 so I  left the house at 18.30 and walked down to Tynecastle. Arrived around 18.45 and surprisingly had to queue to get in. I had bought my ticket in advance but turnstile could not read the barcode. I walked along to a security guard outside a doorway to the stand and he let me in after showing my ticket which saved me having to wait in a queue for a replacement. After the match attendance was announced as 1728 but actual attendance was higher as I was not the only one who had difficulty with the barcode scanners. I had bought Malcolm a ticket and he arrived just before kickoff. Like me his ticket could not be read by the scanner at the turnstile but he had been sent to join the queue at the ticket office for a replacement. While team sheets were issued for this match by the time I arrived they had all gone. Hearts fielded a young side with only Callumn Morrison and Ryan