Last match of the season for me today as off on holiday on Wednesday. This was the final of the South Challenge Cup and being held at Meggetland. The ground which is used by both Tynecastle and Boroughmuir Rugby Club is a short walk along the canal for me. The left home just after 13.00 and arrived at the ground at 13.30. Paid my £6 admission and £2 for a programme and met Jim in the main stand. As the weather was sunny, albeit windy, we decided to move across to the grassy terracing opposite the main stand for the first half. This was a match between the champions of the East of Scotland League, Bonnyrigg, and the Lowland League Champions, East Kilbride. Having won the championship play-offs in the East of Scotland League Bonnyrigg should have been promoted to the Lowland League for next season. It is a requirement now that teams in the Lowland League should have an SFA licence and Bonnyrigg's licence application has been rejected by the SFA. Bonnyrigg met all the licence r

Cup Final day today. Woke up at 6.00am and on checking online came across a disturbing newspaper headline - "  ScotRail services cancelled between Edinburgh and Glasgow due to burst water main". Thankfully on reading the article I found it applied to trains last night and the problem had now been sorted so my travel plans were unchanged. Had a late breakfast of a couple of bacon rolls and left the house at 10.30 to walk to Waverley Station. Arrived at the station and caught a train to Queen Street Station in Glasgow. It was not an express and I had an interesting journey stopping at Haymarket, Edinburgh Park, Linlithgow, Falkirk Grahamstown, Polmont, Cumbernauld, Gartcosh, Springburn and anywhere else I have forgotten before arriving at Queen Street. Walked to Central Station and caught a train to Mount Florida. Walked down the hill and arrived at Hampden about 14.00. Paid an massive £6 for a programme and entered the ground. Again overpaid at £5.20 for a pie and a coffee

Tomorrow is the big day with the Scottish Cup Final, however I decided to go to Tranent tonight as the starter before the main course tomorrow. This was a first for both Tranent and Crossgates with both being in their first Senior cup semi-final since moving up from the ranks of Junior football. The King Cup is traditionally the last tournament of the season in East of Scotland football and the winners of tonights game will meet Linlithgow or Bonnyrigg in the final next Saturday. If Crossgates win it could be a floral final with the Rose (Bonnyrigg or Linlithgow) against the Primrose (Crossgates). Left the house at around 17.15 and caught a 113 bus out to Tranent at the West End. A little tip for readers, if you are going to Tranent by public transport take a 104 rather than a 113. The 113 takes a circuitous route through Edinburgh before going to both Musselburgh and Wallyford prior to Tranent. Arrived at Tranent at 18.40 and paid my £6 admission. No programmes or team sheets bu

Another final and this time the final of the East Qualifying Cup. The two finalist qualify for the East of Scotland Cup. This is contested against the two East of Scotland SPFL lower league sides. For this season the SPPFL sides will be Edinburgh City and Berwick Rangers, albeit the final stages  will not now take place until the start of next season. With Berwick having lost their SPFL place yesterday after losing their playoff against Cove Rangers 5-0 on aggregate it will be interesting to see who plays in the East of Scotland Cup going forward given both Hearts and Hibs have long since withdrawn from the tournament. The final was being held at Tranent Juniors ground, Foresters Park. I left the house after an early lunch and caught a 104 bus in Princes Street to get out to Tranent. I arrived at around 13.30 and got of the bus on Tranent High Street. The last time I had been to Forester Park was to watch my son, Craig, play in an U11 cup final. He is going to be thirty-three this y

Quarter finals of the King Cup today. This is normally the last tournament of the season in East of Scotland football. With the final due on 2nd June the semi-finals are now been scheduled for 24th May in an effort to bring the competition to a conclusion. Decided to head out to Newtongrange for their tie against Tranent. Two reasons for my choice: 1) I had not been at a game in Newtongrange this season. 2) Former Hearts star Ian Black, a Scottish Cup winner in 2012, now plays for Tranent. After lunch I walked out to Newington to catch a bus out to Newtongrange. I caught a 33 and after a circuitous journey I arrived close to the ground at 14.05 for the 14.30 kick-off. I paid £6 admission and £1 for a programme in my first visit to New Victoria Park for three years. In the ground I met my old work colleague Gwyn. Gwyn is a coach at Tynecastle Boys club and he introduced me to Ian Black snr. the father of the Tranent player. The father also had a Hearts connection as he played i

First leg of the Championship play-off Final. In an all League One tie Raith had beaten Forfar in the semi final while Queens, who finished second bottom in the Champoinship, defeated League One Montrose. We had been child-minding in the afternoon and did not arrive home until 17.30. However managed to rush down a meal and get down to Haymarket Station to catch the 18.46 train to Kirkcaldy. The train only stops at Edinburgh Gateway and Inverkeithing before arriving at Kirkcaldy at 19.19. A fifteen minute stroll and I arrived at the ground. While in the queue to get in I met an old neighbour, Douglas, who now resides in Troon. He is a Queen of the South (QoS) fan and was hoping they could retain their place in the Championship by winning the play-off final. After paying £14 admission I took my seat just as the teams were coming onto the field. Raith Rovers played their club song, Geordie Munro, which i remember learning at primary school. With lines like, "oh no no no Geordie M

Final of the East of Scotland League Cup today. The tournament started with group stages back in July and the final is now being played at the neutral Penicuik Park. We had things to do in the morning but I checked bus timetables and a 47 was due at Tollcross just after 12.30 which would get me to Penicuik for the 14.00 kick-off. Arrived at bus stop around 12.15 to find bus was not due to arrive for twenty-five minutes. Decided to start walking and cut through to Newington which gave me a choice of a 37 or the 47. The 37 arrived first so I got on, a bad mistake. When we got to Straiton a young child banged his face against the seat in front. Blood was pouring from his lip and the driver asked his mother if she wanted him to call an ambulance, which would delay us reaching Penicuik. She said no as they only had a couple of stops before they would be home. Biggest mistake I made however was forgetting a 37 went through Loanhead then back onto the Penicuik road before coming off again t

S emi-final day in the Lowland League Cup. Ok, the tournament may be an end of season filler but this should be a good match between two of the top sides in the Lowland league. Left the house after lunch just after 13.30. As usual I walked to the ground but today changed my route. I joined the old North Edinburgh Railway Line, now a pedestrian walkway,  at Haymarket. The walkway goes though Wester Coates, Ravelston, Craigleith, Drylaw and then over the Crewe Toll roundabout before arriving at Ainslie Park. The walkway continues to Leith and Granton but I turned off at the ground. I was able to use my Spartans season ticket for this cup match and after purchasing a programme and raffle ticket headed to the cafe/bar. I purchased a Diet Coke and a sausage roll and then grabbed a seat to eat my snack and read the programme. Wandered out to the pitch-side about 14.45 and took a position between the two  dugouts to watch the first half. Spartans were missing Michael Herd, Willie Brem

First leg of the League Two play-offs so decided to head to Ainslie Park to watch Edinburgh City against Clyde. It should be a good match as Clyde finished second in the league and City third. The winners of this tie will face the winners of Annan v Stenhousemuir to decide who plays in League One next season. The only downside is that Clyde go into the game on a good run of form while City have dropped away over the last couple of months after a good start to the season. Malcolm had been going to come along to this game but I got a text saying he was unwell and could not attend. As Jim was off to Ayr v Inverness and Alex is still in Germany I was on my own tonight. Left the house at 18.30 and walked down to Ainslie Park. Generally Hearts season ticket holders get half-price admission to City matches but this concession did not apply to the play-offs so I had to fork out £14 to get in. After purchasing the good value programme for £2.50 I headed to the refreshment kiosk. The guy in f

A bit late in posting this as my Hearts programme, which I get on subscription, did not arrive until Tuesday lunchtime after the game on Saturday. Admittedly no postal delivery on the Monday Bank Holiday did not help. This was the last home match of the season. After this there are away games at Aberdeen and Celtic and then the Scottish Cup final against Celtic at Hampden on 25th May. Despite the counter attraction of the last of the East of Scotland league play-off matches at Broxburn, Hearts have been my team since I was a child and I could not miss this game, especially as it was a home game. After lunch I settled down to watch Bournemouth v Spurs on Sky although as I took the dog out for a walk at halftime I missed the second Spurs sending off. As the game headed towards a close I decided to head off to Tynecastle and missed Bournemouth's injury time winner as well! Walked to Tynecastle and arrived around 14.30. After getting into the ground I bought a coffee and headed towa

Off to Bonnyrigg for the second of the East if Scotland League play-off matches. Malcolm is feeling better now so we caught a 31 bus at Haymarket to head out to Bonnyrigg. Arrived in Bonnyrigg at 18.20 for the 18.45 kick-off and we were surprised, as we turn the corner towards the ground, to see a queue for admission. We got in after a short wait and were disappointed that no programmes were available. This was not due to them selling out but a club decision not to issue for this fixture. I was surprised at this  as with the match being part of the new play-off system I would have thought demand would have been high. We headed towards the sunny side of of the ground, albeit weather was not that warm, and met up with Jim and Keith.  Penicuik made one change from Saturday with Steven Notman replacing Aaron Somerville. The lack of a second striker to support Wayne McIntosh was puzzling and put pressure on the midfield players to get forward in support. Bonnyrigg also made changes u

After a day house sitting around while plumbers installed a new bathroom in my oldest sons flat I felt I needed to get out in the fresh air. I decided to head to Olivebank in Musselburgh for this East of Scotland League Cup tie. Given the qualifying stages were played in August it seemed a bit strange that we were only now getting to the business end of the competition. Caught a 26 bus at Haymarket and arrived in Musselburgh at 18.25 for the 18.45 kickoff. The ground is only a short walk from the High Street and I paid £6 admission as I picked up a copy of the free match programme. The ground has had a lot of work done to it since I was first there around almost twenty-five years ago to watch my middle son, Craig, play in a juvenile up final. There is now a fresh clean toilet block and also a refurbished dressing room area with public access to an indoor cafe. This was the first time this season I had seen both Musselburgh and Camelon and I would admit to knowing next to nothing