23rd July 2019 Edinburgh City v East Kilbride. 0-1
After another beautiful day I made a late decision to head out to Ainslie Park. Walked down the old North Edinburgh Railway line path and arrived at the ground at 19.20. Paid my £12 admission and entered the ground where I bought my £2.50 programme. Took up position against the fence near the turnstiles and was joined a few minutes later by Alex and Jim and we spent the time prior to kickoff discussing various football related matters.. We decided to stay where we were to watch the game although the only issue was the setting sun over Ainslie Park. No matter where you stand on the seated side of the park the sun set makes viewing difficulty. It is not so much of a problem at Spartans matches where you can move across to the grassy standing area behind the dugouts. However, due to SPFL rules, the grassy standing areas are closed for City matches.
Given a win here would make City firm favourites to qualify for the Betfred Cup knock-out stages I was surprised at the number of changes they made for tonights game. Out went Craig Thomson, Robbie McIntyre, Marc Laird, Johnny Court and Alec Harris, although the latter two were on the bench. Into the side came Chris Kane, Josh Walker, Jordan Sinclair, Scott Shepherd and Saturdays goal-scorer Danny Handling. City were also boosted by the return of last seasons top scorer Blair Henderson to a place on the bench. East Kilbride also made a few changes and Alex was happy that ex-Queen of the South players Alan Martin, Danny Carmichael and Craig Reid. With City's Calum Antell and Alec Harris also having played for QoS it was almost an old Queen's reunion.
After five minutes City won a free kick outside the box after a foul by Brownlie on Shephed. Walker took the free-kick but his effort drifted past the left hand post. Just after the twenty minute mark after a good passing move City's Sinclair tried a shot from just outside the box but Martin in the EK goal dived to is left to make a fine save at the post. Minutes later Shepherd ran onto through ball in the box but his effort from ten yards was blocked by Martin. Just before halftime EK's full-back Bernard Coll burst into the penalty box but his rising shot from the left was tipped away by Antell in the City goal.
The second half started as the first and Conrad Balatoni came close with a header from a corner which cleared the EK bar. Alec Harris came on a substitute around the hour mark and with almost his first touch won a free-kick after a foul by Scott Stevenson near the left hand touchline. The free-kick, taken by Harris, was however cleared by the EK defence. Balatoni had another good chance when a corner fell at his feet around eight yards from goal. He seemed surprised that the ball had worked through to him and sent stabbed shot wide of the post. We were joined at the fence by John Brownlie, ex-Hibs and Scotland star, and now manager of Berwick Rangers. Despite his Hibs connections he was very chatty and gave some interesting views on the game. He was however quick to point out that EK centre-back David Brownlie was no relation of his. East Kilbride scored after seventy-one minutes after a good move started by Stevenson and carried on by Graham Holmes lead to the ball finding its way to Ruari Paton on the left hand side of the goal around fifteen yards out. He shot past Antell to give EK a possibly undeserved lead. City responded by immediately bringing on striker Henderson to improve their strike force. While he showed a lot of movement I think he was lacking in match practice giving his time out of the team and was unable to fashion an equaliser. City tried hard but were unable to force an equaliser with their best attempt coming from a twenty-five yard shot from centre-half Balatoni which flew high over the crossbar. The final whistle went and I think City's chances of qualifying have now ended. They should win their final qualifying match at Albion Rovers but I do not think six points will be enough to qualify as one of the best second placed teams in the sections.
After the game I walked up to Ferry Road but the next 27 bus was not due for another ten minutes. I walked along to Crewe Toll and caught a 24 arriving home at 10.15, in time to take Rufus for his last walk of the day.
Given a win here would make City firm favourites to qualify for the Betfred Cup knock-out stages I was surprised at the number of changes they made for tonights game. Out went Craig Thomson, Robbie McIntyre, Marc Laird, Johnny Court and Alec Harris, although the latter two were on the bench. Into the side came Chris Kane, Josh Walker, Jordan Sinclair, Scott Shepherd and Saturdays goal-scorer Danny Handling. City were also boosted by the return of last seasons top scorer Blair Henderson to a place on the bench. East Kilbride also made a few changes and Alex was happy that ex-Queen of the South players Alan Martin, Danny Carmichael and Craig Reid. With City's Calum Antell and Alec Harris also having played for QoS it was almost an old Queen's reunion.
After five minutes City won a free kick outside the box after a foul by Brownlie on Shephed. Walker took the free-kick but his effort drifted past the left hand post. Just after the twenty minute mark after a good passing move City's Sinclair tried a shot from just outside the box but Martin in the EK goal dived to is left to make a fine save at the post. Minutes later Shepherd ran onto through ball in the box but his effort from ten yards was blocked by Martin. Just before halftime EK's full-back Bernard Coll burst into the penalty box but his rising shot from the left was tipped away by Antell in the City goal.
The second half started as the first and Conrad Balatoni came close with a header from a corner which cleared the EK bar. Alec Harris came on a substitute around the hour mark and with almost his first touch won a free-kick after a foul by Scott Stevenson near the left hand touchline. The free-kick, taken by Harris, was however cleared by the EK defence. Balatoni had another good chance when a corner fell at his feet around eight yards from goal. He seemed surprised that the ball had worked through to him and sent stabbed shot wide of the post. We were joined at the fence by John Brownlie, ex-Hibs and Scotland star, and now manager of Berwick Rangers. Despite his Hibs connections he was very chatty and gave some interesting views on the game. He was however quick to point out that EK centre-back David Brownlie was no relation of his. East Kilbride scored after seventy-one minutes after a good move started by Stevenson and carried on by Graham Holmes lead to the ball finding its way to Ruari Paton on the left hand side of the goal around fifteen yards out. He shot past Antell to give EK a possibly undeserved lead. City responded by immediately bringing on striker Henderson to improve their strike force. While he showed a lot of movement I think he was lacking in match practice giving his time out of the team and was unable to fashion an equaliser. City tried hard but were unable to force an equaliser with their best attempt coming from a twenty-five yard shot from centre-half Balatoni which flew high over the crossbar. The final whistle went and I think City's chances of qualifying have now ended. They should win their final qualifying match at Albion Rovers but I do not think six points will be enough to qualify as one of the best second placed teams in the sections.
After the game I walked up to Ferry Road but the next 27 bus was not due for another ten minutes. I walked along to Crewe Toll and caught a 24 arriving home at 10.15, in time to take Rufus for his last walk of the day.
Teams
Edinburgh City: Antell, Kane, Crane, Walker, Balatoni, L. Henderson, Smith, Watson, Handling, Sinclair, Shepherd.
Subs: Court, Harris, B. Henderson.
East Kilbride: Martin, Stevenson, Coll, Reid, Brownlie, Cairns, Weir, Holmes, Paton, Carmichael, Kavanagh.
Subs: Cinnamon, Woods, Brady.
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