20th May 2019 Camelon Juniors v The Spartans 0-2
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be interesting to see who plays in the East of Scotland Cup going forward given both Hearts and Hibs have long since withdrawn from the tournament.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 year so it was some time ago. I recollected that the ground was just off the High Street and walked about twenty yards from the bus stop to find the entrance to the ground a short distance down a lane. Paid my £6 entrance and £1 for a programme. In the ground I met Jim and we originally decided to watch the game from the fence of the uncovered touchline. However the rain started to get heavier as kick-off approached and we moved across the park to the covered side of the ground.
The Spartans side included both Mikey Herd and Aaron Scott who missed last weeks' game against East Stirling. They replaced Alan Brown who was on the bench and Blair Tolmie who was not included in the match day squad. I can only assume Tolmie was injured or otherwise unavailable as he has been a regular and consistent member of the Spartans team this season. Camelon caused a minor shock by leaving forty-two goal top scorer Keiron Anderson on the bench.
The game started in a haze. This was not due to a fog suddenly descending on Tranent but a group of Camelon fans setting of a pyrotechnic device which sent red smoke blowing through the covered area. This group continued to be a nuisance throughout the game and quickly picked on Gary Cennerazzo and Herds haircuts for abusive comments. Maybe haircut is a misnomer for Cennerazzo who has no hair on the top of his head. The group, who were swigging Buckfast and straight vodka, set off another device spreading blue smoke later in the half. At an SPFL game they would have been warned and possibly ejected or charged by the police but here there were no stewards or police to take action. Alan Sneddon had an early shot comfortably saved by Blair Carswell in the Spartans goal and both sides are playing good football but little penetration was in evidence. Spartans had a chance midway through the half when Scott Maxwell, operating at left back, sent a low cross into the penalty box towards David Greenhill. Greenhill slid in to try and divert the ball into the net but the pace of the cross meant the ball eluded his outstretched foot. As half-time approached Spartans had an opportunity to take the lead from a free kick twenty-five yards out on the right hand side of thief the penalty box. Both Maxwell and Greenhill shaped to take the kick but Greenhill then made a run into the box on the right. Maxwell tried to find him with a pass which was intercepted and cleared by a defender. The clearance however went straight back to Maxwell who was fouled as he attempted to control the ball. For the second attempted at the kick Maxwell slammed the ball into the defensive while who, from where we were standing, appeared to have a left a large gap at the left of the goal.
For the second half we moved back to the uncovered side of the pitch. Initially we were standing between the two dugouts. Half the population of Camelon appeared to be inhabiting their dugout and the bodies in the technical area were obscuring our view so we moved to the fence near the goal Camelon were attacking. The Camelon fans who had been from under the cover had also moved and were now standing behind the goal. Twice during the second half the game was interrupted for smoke bombs to be cleared from the pitch, thrown from these fans behind the goal.
Early in the half Spartans' Jack Smith went down injured and was replaced by sixteen year-old Nicky Reid. At that time both Jim and I felt the tie was heading towards a nil-nil draw and subsequent extra time and penalty kicks. Reid however made a difference and went close with a shot after he received a passing from Blair Atkinson in the penalty box. The shot just scraped past the post with keeper Dean Shaw well beaten. Spartans went ahead after sixty-five minutes when Reid had a run into the penalty box and his attempted shot/pass deflected of a defender to Greenhill on the right hand side at the edge of the penalty area. The midfielder hit the ball on the half-volley across Shaw and into the far corner of the net. Camelon had an immediate chance to equalise when, from a left wing corner, Jordan Herron rose highest in a bunch of players in the centre of the penalty area. His header however was also high and flew over the bar. With fifteen minutes left Spartans went two ahead. A corner on the right came out to Herd who passed forward to Maxwell who had taken the kick. His powerful shot from inside the penalty area was parried up into the air by the diving Shaw. The ball flew to Adam Corbett about eight yards out who had a free header into the empty net. Shaw's anguish got the better of him with ten minutes left when, following an assistant referee's flag, the referee red-carded him. There was no obvious foul and I later found out the offence was foul and abusive language towards the linesman. I was a little confused when the referee restarted play with a free kick to Spartans on the edge of the Camelon penalty area given the ball was in play on the halfway line when the game was stopped. I checked the rulebook and found that if foul and abusive language was directed towards an official an indirect free-kick should be awarded where the offence occurred to restart play. It was not a wasted day as I learned something new. Camelon had been looking to make a third substitution when the keeper was card. Luckily it had not yet been made and they were therefore able to take off an outfield player with under-20s keeper Jordan Livingstone coming on between the posts. On the final whistle the players celebrated on the field while waiting for the presentation of the cup. The photo below taken from the Spartans Twitter feed shows the team celebrating.
On the final whistle Jim rushed away as he wanted to get home to watch the Italian play-off matches on TV. I was staying to watch the presentation but checked my phone and saw a bus back into town was due in three minutes. I left to catch it passing the Cameron mob who were now in the Main Street verbally abusing some young locals. I caught the 26 and headed back into town. I did not realise how long this bus took and did not arrive hone until 17.15 after catching the bus at 16.10.
The Spartans side included both Mikey Herd and Aaron Scott who missed last weeks' game against East Stirling. They replaced Alan Brown who was on the bench and Blair Tolmie who was not included in the match day squad. I can only assume Tolmie was injured or otherwise unavailable as he has been a regular and consistent member of the Spartans team this season. Camelon caused a minor shock by leaving forty-two goal top scorer Keiron Anderson on the bench.
The game started in a haze. This was not due to a fog suddenly descending on Tranent but a group of Camelon fans setting of a pyrotechnic device which sent red smoke blowing through the covered area. This group continued to be a nuisance throughout the game and quickly picked on Gary Cennerazzo and Herds haircuts for abusive comments. Maybe haircut is a misnomer for Cennerazzo who has no hair on the top of his head. The group, who were swigging Buckfast and straight vodka, set off another device spreading blue smoke later in the half. At an SPFL game they would have been warned and possibly ejected or charged by the police but here there were no stewards or police to take action. Alan Sneddon had an early shot comfortably saved by Blair Carswell in the Spartans goal and both sides are playing good football but little penetration was in evidence. Spartans had a chance midway through the half when Scott Maxwell, operating at left back, sent a low cross into the penalty box towards David Greenhill. Greenhill slid in to try and divert the ball into the net but the pace of the cross meant the ball eluded his outstretched foot. As half-time approached Spartans had an opportunity to take the lead from a free kick twenty-five yards out on the right hand side of thief the penalty box. Both Maxwell and Greenhill shaped to take the kick but Greenhill then made a run into the box on the right. Maxwell tried to find him with a pass which was intercepted and cleared by a defender. The clearance however went straight back to Maxwell who was fouled as he attempted to control the ball. For the second attempted at the kick Maxwell slammed the ball into the defensive while who, from where we were standing, appeared to have a left a large gap at the left of the goal.
For the second half we moved back to the uncovered side of the pitch. Initially we were standing between the two dugouts. Half the population of Camelon appeared to be inhabiting their dugout and the bodies in the technical area were obscuring our view so we moved to the fence near the goal Camelon were attacking. The Camelon fans who had been from under the cover had also moved and were now standing behind the goal. Twice during the second half the game was interrupted for smoke bombs to be cleared from the pitch, thrown from these fans behind the goal.
Early in the half Spartans' Jack Smith went down injured and was replaced by sixteen year-old Nicky Reid. At that time both Jim and I felt the tie was heading towards a nil-nil draw and subsequent extra time and penalty kicks. Reid however made a difference and went close with a shot after he received a passing from Blair Atkinson in the penalty box. The shot just scraped past the post with keeper Dean Shaw well beaten. Spartans went ahead after sixty-five minutes when Reid had a run into the penalty box and his attempted shot/pass deflected of a defender to Greenhill on the right hand side at the edge of the penalty area. The midfielder hit the ball on the half-volley across Shaw and into the far corner of the net. Camelon had an immediate chance to equalise when, from a left wing corner, Jordan Herron rose highest in a bunch of players in the centre of the penalty area. His header however was also high and flew over the bar. With fifteen minutes left Spartans went two ahead. A corner on the right came out to Herd who passed forward to Maxwell who had taken the kick. His powerful shot from inside the penalty area was parried up into the air by the diving Shaw. The ball flew to Adam Corbett about eight yards out who had a free header into the empty net. Shaw's anguish got the better of him with ten minutes left when, following an assistant referee's flag, the referee red-carded him. There was no obvious foul and I later found out the offence was foul and abusive language towards the linesman. I was a little confused when the referee restarted play with a free kick to Spartans on the edge of the Camelon penalty area given the ball was in play on the halfway line when the game was stopped. I checked the rulebook and found that if foul and abusive language was directed towards an official an indirect free-kick should be awarded where the offence occurred to restart play. It was not a wasted day as I learned something new. Camelon had been looking to make a third substitution when the keeper was card. Luckily it had not yet been made and they were therefore able to take off an outfield player with under-20s keeper Jordan Livingstone coming on between the posts. On the final whistle the players celebrated on the field while waiting for the presentation of the cup. The photo below taken from the Spartans Twitter feed shows the team celebrating.
On the final whistle Jim rushed away as he wanted to get home to watch the Italian play-off matches on TV. I was staying to watch the presentation but checked my phone and saw a bus back into town was due in three minutes. I left to catch it passing the Cameron mob who were now in the Main Street verbally abusing some young locals. I caught the 26 and headed back into town. I did not realise how long this bus took and did not arrive hone until 17.15 after catching the bus at 16.10.
Teams
Camelon Juniors: Shaw, Deans, McKenzie, Morrison, Lockie, Kay, McMullan, Heron, Sneddon, Docherty, Kane.
Subs:Cameron, Anderson, Livingstone.
The Spartans: Carswell, Cennerazzo, Maxwell, McFarland, Corbett, Greenhill, Atkinson, Scott, Smith, Dishington, Herd.
Subs: Reid, Brown, Stevens
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