30th July 2019 The Spartans v BSC Glasgow 1-2
Heading to the Ainslie Park tonight for Spartans first Lowland League fixture of the season. Saturdays opener at Stirling University having been postponed due to a water-logged pitch. l left the house at 18.30 and headed to the North Leith Railway path to walk to the ground. Weather was fine for most of the walk until I almost reached the bridge over Telford Road where the heavens opened. On most of the walk there are opportunities to get of the path and catch a bus if weather changes but this last section does not give this chance. Walked through the downpour and arrived at the Park around 19.15. Spoke to the guy on the turnstiles as I showed him my season ticket and his view was that there would not be many attending tonight (official attendance was 139). After paying my £2 for a programme I headed to the cafe/bar for a coffee and a sausage roll to warm me up. Came out after fifteen minutes and met Malcolm in the stand. We headed back to the bar for a couple of cokes before the kickoff and thankfully the rain had stopped once we went back to the stand. We took seats in the second row from the back in case the rain started again.
Spartans had Blair Atkinson missing through injury although Jack Smith a good striker who had been out for a lot of games last season was on the bench. Gregor Woods, on loan from Hibs, made his first competitive start while new signing Max Ashmore, previously with Stirling Albion and then a spell in the USA, was on the bench. BSC are based at Broomhill Sports Club in Glasgow although they play their home games at Alloa's Indodrill Stadium, some thirty odd miles form Glasgow. Despite the handicap of playing away from their home city, BSC finished runners up in the Lowland League last season and also won the Lowland League Cup. They have retained the bulk of last seasons squad and have strengthened it by adding Ricky Miller (from Gala Fairydean), Michael Anderson (East Kilbride) and Simon White (East Stirling).
The first opportunity of the game fell to Spartans after a cross from Gregor Woods on the right was fumbled by Stephen Barr in the BSC goal. His attempted clearance flew out of the goal area and was eventually cleared after one of his defenders back-headed the ball to the keeper. After that scare BSC had most of the attacking but were unable to trouble Blair Carswell in the Spartans goal. Blair Tolme and Michael Bolochoweckyj (Bolo) were particularly impressive despite Bolo appearing to pull/strain a leg muscle after landing badly when heading the ball clear. As halftime approached Spartans came back into the game and Dean Hoskins capitalised on a loose pass in midfield to drive into the box. His shot was blocked and bounced out to Nicky Reid on the left who fed Aaron Murrell just inside the penalty box on the left but his shot was easily saved by Barr.
BSC went ahead three minutes after the break with a goal which was not without controversy. Bolo went down holding his face after a challenge with Martin Grehan around twenty-five yards from goal. The ball broke to Jamie Hamilton, twenty-five yards out on the right hand side about fifteen yards infield. His first time shot was unstoppable as it flew past Carswelll for BSC to take the lead. Spartans protested to the referee that he should have stopped the game immediately given Bolo had a head knock but the protests were waved away. After play restarted and following treatment for Bolo, the centre-half had words with the referee but only managed to receive a yellow card in return. Spartans mood was not improved when Murrell was tackled from behind and fell in the penalty box. To the amazement of the crowd the referee awarded a direct free-kick just outside the box which was battered into the defensive wall by Hoskins. Bolo was then replaced by Murray Hand to prevent him receiving a second yellow card for continuing his ‘discussions’ with the referee. His father was sitting behind him and when some-one said that Bolo had to be substituted to prevent a red card for dissent his fathers response was that he had been like that since he was ten year old. With minutes remaining BSC went two ahead when a combination of Scott Maxwell and Carswell failed to clear a through ball on the edge of the penalty area. BSC’s Tom Orr nodded the ball past them and followed up to score despite a valiant attempt by Adam Corbett to get back to clear. As the game moved into injury time Spartans were finally awarded penalty when substitute Jack Smith was fouled by his namesake Ross. Hoskins battered the ball into the top left hand corner for a consolation goal. In the dying seconds there was another penalty claim when Tolmie went down in the box but all that was given was a yellow card to the defender for diving.
After the game Malcolm and I walked along to Crewe Toll roundabout and caught a 47 bus. Malcolm got off at Lothian Road to catch another bus to Longstone while I got off at the top of Lothian Road and walked home. Despite not being back till 10.15 I still had to take Rufus for his last walk of the day.
Teams
The Spartans: Carswell, Corbett, Hoskins, Tolmie, Bolochoweckyj, Woods, Scott, McFarland, Murrelll, Maxwell, Reid.
Subs: Baxter, Smith, Hand
BSC Glasgow: Barr, McCormack, Mills, Marshall, Smith, McNab, Hamilton, Hughes, Orr, Grehan, Lindsay.
Subs: Collins, White, Anderson.
The first opportunity of the game fell to Spartans after a cross from Gregor Woods on the right was fumbled by Stephen Barr in the BSC goal. His attempted clearance flew out of the goal area and was eventually cleared after one of his defenders back-headed the ball to the keeper. After that scare BSC had most of the attacking but were unable to trouble Blair Carswell in the Spartans goal. Blair Tolme and Michael Bolochoweckyj (Bolo) were particularly impressive despite Bolo appearing to pull/strain a leg muscle after landing badly when heading the ball clear. As halftime approached Spartans came back into the game and Dean Hoskins capitalised on a loose pass in midfield to drive into the box. His shot was blocked and bounced out to Nicky Reid on the left who fed Aaron Murrell just inside the penalty box on the left but his shot was easily saved by Barr.
BSC went ahead three minutes after the break with a goal which was not without controversy. Bolo went down holding his face after a challenge with Martin Grehan around twenty-five yards from goal. The ball broke to Jamie Hamilton, twenty-five yards out on the right hand side about fifteen yards infield. His first time shot was unstoppable as it flew past Carswelll for BSC to take the lead. Spartans protested to the referee that he should have stopped the game immediately given Bolo had a head knock but the protests were waved away. After play restarted and following treatment for Bolo, the centre-half had words with the referee but only managed to receive a yellow card in return. Spartans mood was not improved when Murrell was tackled from behind and fell in the penalty box. To the amazement of the crowd the referee awarded a direct free-kick just outside the box which was battered into the defensive wall by Hoskins. Bolo was then replaced by Murray Hand to prevent him receiving a second yellow card for continuing his ‘discussions’ with the referee. His father was sitting behind him and when some-one said that Bolo had to be substituted to prevent a red card for dissent his fathers response was that he had been like that since he was ten year old. With minutes remaining BSC went two ahead when a combination of Scott Maxwell and Carswell failed to clear a through ball on the edge of the penalty area. BSC’s Tom Orr nodded the ball past them and followed up to score despite a valiant attempt by Adam Corbett to get back to clear. As the game moved into injury time Spartans were finally awarded penalty when substitute Jack Smith was fouled by his namesake Ross. Hoskins battered the ball into the top left hand corner for a consolation goal. In the dying seconds there was another penalty claim when Tolmie went down in the box but all that was given was a yellow card to the defender for diving.
After the game Malcolm and I walked along to Crewe Toll roundabout and caught a 47 bus. Malcolm got off at Lothian Road to catch another bus to Longstone while I got off at the top of Lothian Road and walked home. Despite not being back till 10.15 I still had to take Rufus for his last walk of the day.
Teams
The Spartans: Carswell, Corbett, Hoskins, Tolmie, Bolochoweckyj, Woods, Scott, McFarland, Murrelll, Maxwell, Reid.
Subs: Baxter, Smith, Hand
BSC Glasgow: Barr, McCormack, Mills, Marshall, Smith, McNab, Hamilton, Hughes, Orr, Grehan, Lindsay.
Subs: Collins, White, Anderson.
Comments
Post a Comment