17th August 2019 Penicuik Athletic v Hill of Beath Hawthorn 1-2
With Hearts having played last night I decided to head to Penicuik today for the re-arranged East of Scotland Premier Division game between the local side and Hill of Beath Hawthorn. With the withdrawal of the 15 bus service at weekends I am only able to catch a 47 bus to Penicuik locally. I walked to Lothian Road to catch a 47 but a 300 arrived and I took this to Newington which gave me a choice of a 37 or a 47 to Penicuik. This was to no avail as the 47 arrived first. There was a long delay just after entering Penicuik due to temporary lights as a result of roadworks which took some time to negotiate. Despite the delay I arrived at the ground around 14.20 for the 14.30 kick-off. I paid my £6 admission and £2 for programme. The programme remains one of the best in the lower leagues despite having a number of adverts which can make it seem like a version of a Pencuik Yellow Pages. This weeks issue included a souvenir colour team-sheet of last weeks Scottish Cup tie between Easthouses Lily and Penicuik, Penicuik's first Scottish Cup match for eighty years and the opposition's first ever.
Penicuik had lost last seasons top goal-scorer Wayne McIntosh who wanted to spend more time with is family and is now playing in the Edinburgh Amateur Leagues. They have brought in Paul Tansey from Newtongrange and Sean Stewart from Vale of Leithen to replace him. Both had been regular scorers with their previous clubs although not as prolific as McIntosh. In addition Pencuik have signed goalkeeper Kevin Swain (formerly Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale), fullbacks Liam O'Donnell (Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale) and Andy Forbes (returning to Penicuik after being released by Berwick Rangers) and midfielder/forward Joe Viola (Whitehall Welfare) to strengthen the squad. Hill of Beath finished second to Penicuik in the League last season with Penicuik unable to obtain a victory in three games, including a local cup tie. With little change in the Beath squad today promises to be a close match.
Penicuik started well and after four minutes Sam Jones chipped a good pass over the defence into the path of Tansey. The striker however hit his shot past the post from the edge of the penalty box. After this early scare Beath came more into the game and went ahead after seventeen minutes. After some inter-passing around the Penicuik penalty area the ball was sent out wide on the left and a low cross was turned into the net at the near post. From where I was standing at the other end of the ground it looked as if the ball had been diverted into his own net by Penicuik centre-half Greg Page but on reviewing on Penicuik TV it was clear that Bath forward Regan Lumsden had got the final touch. Ten minutes later Joe Kirby scored a second for the Fifers. A long ball from Shaun Leishman was brilliantly controlled by Kirby's first touch as the ball came over his shoulder on the right hand side of the Penicuik penalty box. His first touch took Penicuik full-back Ryan Baptie out the game and allowed the winger to drift into the centre of the box. As the Penicuik centre-halves rushed across to challenge Kirby shot past Swain from around fifteen yards out for a 2-0 lead. Penicuik were now pressing to get back into the game and Stewart was lucky to stay on the field. He chased a pass down the touchline as Darrin Wright came a cross to clear. Stewart slid in and attempted to win the ball but his foot was high and caught Wright just below the knee on the touchline. The referee gave the striker a yellow card as Wright received attention although as a dangerous challenge there was a case for a red card in this incident. Penicuiks best chance came just before the interval when Craig Stevenson and Baptie stood over a free-kick twenty-five yards from goal. Baptie took the kick and his attempt was just wide of the goal.
After five minutes of the second half a Stevenson shot deflected of a defender and forced James Donaldson in the Beath goal to dive to push the ball away for a corner. Penicuik made a couple of early substitutions in the half bringing on Forbes and Viola for O'Donnell and McCrory Irving. I was surprised with the ''A' team' of striker Aaron Somerville and winger Arran Ponton on the bench that these two players were not used given the match situation. Further attempts from Tansey, Baptie and Jones were unable to pull a goal back. The best attempt came when Stewart chased a through ball. His attempted chip from just outside the penalty area was well saved by Donaldson as he rushed from his goal to block the striker. Things began to look worse for the home side after eighty minutes when Page was sent off. Penicuik were awarded a free-kick near the halfway and Page was talking back to the referee as he prepared to take the kick. I don't know what he said but the referee was obviously not happy and showed the centre-half a straight red card. As he left the field the feeling was that the chance of a fightback had now gone. However following their winning a corner from the free-kick Tansey was pushed on the edge of the six-yard box and the referee awarded a penalty. Stevenson took the kick and fired the ball into the right hand corner of the net as the keeper dived the other way. Despite this goal Penicuik were unable to force an equaliser and Beath took the three points back to Fife.
After the game I caught a 37 bus back into town. Afer taking what seemed like an eternity to get through the roadworks I got back to South Clerk Street around 17.30 and then walked home along the Meadows.
Teams
Penicuik: Swain, O'Donnell, Baptie, Williams, Page, Connolly, McCrory-Irving, Jones, Stewart, Stevenson, Tansey
Subs: Forbes, Viola, Caddow
Hill of Beath: Donaldson, Leishman, Kellichan, Wright, Dair, Harrower, Kirby, Reid, Watt, Elder, Lumsden.
Subs: Watt
Penicuik had lost last seasons top goal-scorer Wayne McIntosh who wanted to spend more time with is family and is now playing in the Edinburgh Amateur Leagues. They have brought in Paul Tansey from Newtongrange and Sean Stewart from Vale of Leithen to replace him. Both had been regular scorers with their previous clubs although not as prolific as McIntosh. In addition Pencuik have signed goalkeeper Kevin Swain (formerly Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale), fullbacks Liam O'Donnell (Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale) and Andy Forbes (returning to Penicuik after being released by Berwick Rangers) and midfielder/forward Joe Viola (Whitehall Welfare) to strengthen the squad. Hill of Beath finished second to Penicuik in the League last season with Penicuik unable to obtain a victory in three games, including a local cup tie. With little change in the Beath squad today promises to be a close match.
Penicuik started well and after four minutes Sam Jones chipped a good pass over the defence into the path of Tansey. The striker however hit his shot past the post from the edge of the penalty box. After this early scare Beath came more into the game and went ahead after seventeen minutes. After some inter-passing around the Penicuik penalty area the ball was sent out wide on the left and a low cross was turned into the net at the near post. From where I was standing at the other end of the ground it looked as if the ball had been diverted into his own net by Penicuik centre-half Greg Page but on reviewing on Penicuik TV it was clear that Bath forward Regan Lumsden had got the final touch. Ten minutes later Joe Kirby scored a second for the Fifers. A long ball from Shaun Leishman was brilliantly controlled by Kirby's first touch as the ball came over his shoulder on the right hand side of the Penicuik penalty box. His first touch took Penicuik full-back Ryan Baptie out the game and allowed the winger to drift into the centre of the box. As the Penicuik centre-halves rushed across to challenge Kirby shot past Swain from around fifteen yards out for a 2-0 lead. Penicuik were now pressing to get back into the game and Stewart was lucky to stay on the field. He chased a pass down the touchline as Darrin Wright came a cross to clear. Stewart slid in and attempted to win the ball but his foot was high and caught Wright just below the knee on the touchline. The referee gave the striker a yellow card as Wright received attention although as a dangerous challenge there was a case for a red card in this incident. Penicuiks best chance came just before the interval when Craig Stevenson and Baptie stood over a free-kick twenty-five yards from goal. Baptie took the kick and his attempt was just wide of the goal.
After five minutes of the second half a Stevenson shot deflected of a defender and forced James Donaldson in the Beath goal to dive to push the ball away for a corner. Penicuik made a couple of early substitutions in the half bringing on Forbes and Viola for O'Donnell and McCrory Irving. I was surprised with the ''A' team' of striker Aaron Somerville and winger Arran Ponton on the bench that these two players were not used given the match situation. Further attempts from Tansey, Baptie and Jones were unable to pull a goal back. The best attempt came when Stewart chased a through ball. His attempted chip from just outside the penalty area was well saved by Donaldson as he rushed from his goal to block the striker. Things began to look worse for the home side after eighty minutes when Page was sent off. Penicuik were awarded a free-kick near the halfway and Page was talking back to the referee as he prepared to take the kick. I don't know what he said but the referee was obviously not happy and showed the centre-half a straight red card. As he left the field the feeling was that the chance of a fightback had now gone. However following their winning a corner from the free-kick Tansey was pushed on the edge of the six-yard box and the referee awarded a penalty. Stevenson took the kick and fired the ball into the right hand corner of the net as the keeper dived the other way. Despite this goal Penicuik were unable to force an equaliser and Beath took the three points back to Fife.
After the game I caught a 37 bus back into town. Afer taking what seemed like an eternity to get through the roadworks I got back to South Clerk Street around 17.30 and then walked home along the Meadows.
Teams
Penicuik: Swain, O'Donnell, Baptie, Williams, Page, Connolly, McCrory-Irving, Jones, Stewart, Stevenson, Tansey
Subs: Forbes, Viola, Caddow
Hill of Beath: Donaldson, Leishman, Kellichan, Wright, Dair, Harrower, Kirby, Reid, Watt, Elder, Lumsden.
Subs: Watt
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