27th September 2017 The Spartans v Vale of Leithen 3-0


Scottish Cup first round and as Edinburgh City are playing Peterhead in the League on Saturday Spartans opted for a Friday night Cup tie at Ainslie Park. As I had a long walk in the afternoon I opted for catching a bus to Ainslie Park and walked along to Tollcross to catch a 27 and then a short walk to the ground from Ferry Road. My season ticket is not valid for Scottish Cup ties and I duly paid my £7 admission charge. As I was early I opted to go to the cafe/bar for a coffee and a sausage roll. Last year Spartans had reached the third round of the Scottish Cup before losing to St Mirren from the SPL Championship. Hopes are high of getting through to the third round again where the ‘big clubs’ enter the competition. 

Vale of Leithen are based in Innerleithen, around 7 miles from Peebles. Like Spartans they play in the Lowland League and their home games take place at the town's Victoria Park. Vale of Leithen have not had a great start to the season and currently are 14th in the sixteen team league. However they will be up for this game given they have a number of ex-Spartans players in their squad. Jack Hay played for Spartans last season and was, at one stage, scoring goals for fun. He fell out of favour after Spartans signed Ross Allum from Edinburgh City and has retuned to his Borders roots this season. Thankfully he was not playing tonight. In midfield Vale fielded Ainslie Hunter. I am not sure but I think he grew up in Buckstone where I used to stay. There was a boy of that name in my son James’ classes who was a good footballer and after checking on Google his age fits.

The game went as expected with Spartans having the bulk of the pressure. After a few early chances Spartans took the lead after about half an hour. Scott Maxwell sent over a lovely cross from the left which Jamie Dishington headed home from about eight yards. Before half time Vale had a bit of pressure and Andrew Stobie in the Spartans goal made a good save from a long-range shot by Kerr Allan tipping the ball over the bar.

In the second half Spartans scored again after fifteen minutes. From a break Ross Gilpin the  Vale goalie made a good save with the ball breaking to Ian McFarland. His effort was blocked but the ball rolled to Dishington who knocked it into an empty net from around twelve yards. Late in the game Craig Stevenson added a third from a twenty yard free-kick to put Spartans through to round two.

As I was walking up to Ferry Road I saw a 27 bus going along the main road and knew I would have at least twelve minutes to wait for the next one. However I walked along to Crewe Toll and caught a bus to the West End. From there it was a short trip home on a 30.

Teams
The Spartans: Stobie, Nixon, Stevenson, Tolmie, Thonson, Greenhill, Atkinson, McFarland, Allum, Dishington, Maxwell
Substitutes:Guthrie, Brown, Khutsisvili
Vale of Leithen: Gilpin, Mercer, Brady, Allan, Imlah, Stewart, Smith, Hunter, Anderson, Finnie, Stevens.
Substitutes: Stevens, Lewis

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