25th October 2019 The Spartans v East Stirling 1-3

Another Friday night is football night today. With Spartans allowing Edinburgh City to ground share while Meadowbank is being refurbished there are a number of fixture clashes which the clubs being in different leagues. With City being in the SPFL their fixtures have priority for the Saturday so Spartans switch to a Friday night. I am not sure why tonights game is on a Friday as City do not have a game tomorrow as there are!Scottish Cup replays taking place but I am glad to have the chance to watch a match. As usual I walked to Ainslie Park but did not use the railway path instead I walked down along various streets as the railway path is dimly light at night. Arrived at Ainslie Park at 19.15 and after entering the ground and purchasing a programme headed up to the cafe/bar for a coffee and a sausage roll. Went out to the ground around ten minutes from kick-off and received a text from Alex saying that he and Jim were in the bar having a coffee. Headed back upstairs and found they were sitting at the table behind were I had been sitting but we had not seen each other! I had a ticket for last weeks postponed Penicuik v Stenhousemuir Scottish Cup tie. As the game was now being played tomorrow I could not use it as I am going to watch Hearts at Livingston. I had texted Jim early in the week and he was wanting to go to Penicuik so I gave him the ticket. I later found out that Stenhousemuir were due to have played Edinburgh City tomorrow and this was why the Spartans match had been rearranged for Friday night. We then headed downstairs to the stand and took our seats for the match.

I had seen Spartans lose to Queens Park in the Scottish Cup on Saturday and they had made a number of changes to their starting line-up. into the side came Adam Corbett, free from suspension, Leroy Makovora, on loan from Hearts, Jordan Caddow, who had been cup-tied, and Nicky Reid, who was a substitute on Saturday. Aaron Murrell and Scott Maxwell dropped to the bench. Blair Atkinson was out with a hamstring problem and Mikey Allan dropped out of the matochday squad. East Stirling (Shire) dropped out of the SPFL about four seasons ago but in the close season  they have signed a number of good players with a view to reigning an SPFL place. Included in their starting eleven were two former Spartans. Eddie Malone, who last season had played for Forfar in the SPFL, and Jamie Dishington ,who signed for Shire once his Spartans contract ended. Spartans are due a development fee for Dishington as he had come through their academy but the clubs cannot agree the compensation due and the matter will now be decided by an SFA tribunal. Shire also included player/assistant manager and record goal-scorer  Andy Rodgers in their side. 

The game started with Shire having most of the possession but Spartans looked dangerous on the break with the pace of Reid and Makovora stretching the Shire defence. This paid off when Spartans took the lead in around fifteen minutes. Reid collected the ball on the halfway line facing his own goal and took out two Shire players with an excellent turn before racing off towards the goal. He was tripped just outside the 'D' of the penalty box and Spartans were awarded a free-kick. Aaron Scott and Dean Hoskins were lining up to take the kick as Shire set up their defensive wall. Hoskins was standing round ten yards from the wall and looked as if he was going to run and and fire the wall towards goal but Scott took the kick. He curled the ball round the ball but it looked an easy save for Jamie Barclay in goal. He however fumbled the ball and the ball dropped over the line to give Spartans the lead. Shire equalised after thirty minutes after a free kick was floated into the box towards the far post. Blair Carswell looked to come out to collect the ball but then stopped and the ball was headed back across goal where Rodgers tapped the ball over the line. Shortly afterwards Makavora chased a through ball as Barclay rushed from his goal to clear. The keeper ended up hammering the ball out from a throw-in from almost on the touchline as Makavora closed in. The half time whistle blew with the score at 1-1 and the booking count Spartans 1 Shire 3.

The second half brought the booking count level at 3-3 after Alan Brown and Hoskins were both shown a yellow card. Makovora was then shown a yellow card after the referee awarded a free kick to Shire as the forward jumped with a Shire defender. The defender ended up on the deck and there did not to be any intent from Makavora to foul his man but the referee saw otherwise. Shire went ahead after sixty-thee minutes when after a concentrated spell of Spartans pressure Shire broke through Mark Millar. He hit a beautiful through ball for Dishington to run clear on the right hand side. He then cut into the penalty area and shot across the diving Carswell into the far corner of the net. Give the scorer his due, he did not celebrate his goal against his former club and was content to accept the congratulations of his team mates. Spartans then made a triple substitution bringing on Murrell, Maxwell and Gregor Woods for Brown, Hoskins and Caddow as they looked to get back into the match. As the game moved towards a close Murrell had a chance from a through ball from McFarland but pulled his shot past the far post. In injury time Shire's Nicky Low broke from the halfway line as the Spartans defence were posted missing. He raced into the penalty area and side stepped Carswell before placing the ball into the corner of the empty net to clinch the match for Shire at 3-1. As the player left the field Makovora was shown a second yellow card and then a red to complete a miserable evening for the home side. I have to confess that we missed the sending off as we were making our way out of the ground as the players were leaving the pitch.

After the match I walked up to Ferry Road to catch a bus home. As t was still chilly I waked along to the previous stop to keep warm and caught a 27 arriving back at 22.20 and yes the dog had been taken for his last walk, for once !

Teams

Spartans: Carswell, Davidson, Brown, Bolecheweckyj, Corbett, Scott, Makovora, McFarland, Caddow, Hoskins, Reid.

Subs: Woods, Maxwell, Murrell

East Stirling: Barclay, Orr, Dyer, Tapping, Malone, Horne, Dishington, Low, Flynn, Millar, Rodgers.

Subs: Murray, Duncan, MacDonald.