8th February 2020 Civil Service Strollers 0 Stirling University O Stirling won 4-2 on penalties

 

After the disappointment of Saturday I was looking forward to getting to a match tonight. On Saturday I had boughta ticket online for Penicuik Athletic v Blackburn Utd and caught a bus out to arrive around 14.15 for 14.30 kickoff. I had checked Twitter in case game was off but no news until I checked as bus arrived on outskirts of Penicuik to find it was off due to heavy rain. Got off that bus and crossed road to get one back into Edinburgh. I thought I might make it for Spartans FC match kicking off at 15.00 and the bus was scheduled to reach Crewe Toll at 14.53. I had forgotten about rugby traffic and the bad weather as the 47 bus did not reach Fountainbridge until 14.45 so I gave up got off and went home. I settled down to watch the rugby and Scotland winning the Calcutta Cup improved my day somewhat. 

Tonight I was going to watch Civil Service Strollers v Stirling University in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. I purchased my ticket in the Fanbase app and walked to Tollcross to catch a bus to the ground. I had a choice of a 16 or a 27. The 27 route is quicker so I caught one at 18.45. I got of the bus in Muirhouse Drive and walked the short distance down Marine Drive to the ground, the ground is behind World of Soccer and it  is a bit of a hike round various pathways to get access. At the gates I showed my ticket for scanning. Andrew was on the gate and we both hoped the match would be better than two weeks ago when CSS had faced Armadale in the previous cup tie at the ground. On entry to the ground I walked round to the small stand and met Alan. He had been at Spartans on Saturday and told me I had missed a good game. I then wandered back towards the entrance and met Jim. We took up a position on the fence opposite the stand, near the dugouts, to watch the first half. 

CSS under manager Gary Jardine are probably punching above their weight in the Lowland League. However the manager has been around the Edinburgh football scene for a number of years and is conscious of talented players throughout the city and surrounding region. he signed Joao Balde who moved to His in the recent transfer window but has been loaned back to CSS for the rest of the season. In addition he has loanees Jayden Fairley (Hibs) and Taylor Stevens (St. Johnstone) in his squad. I have only seen Stirling University four times but they have yet to be defeated when I have been in attendance with three wins and a draw. The side is managed by Chris Geddes who played for the club for a number of years. The manager scored a hat-trick the first time I watched his side in a 3-1 win at Edinburgh University in 2017. At that time the team manager was Shelley Kerr who went on to manage the Scotland women's side after being the first woman in Scotland to manage a side in a professional league. While a few non-students play in the first team the majority of players are attending the university. This makes team selection difficult with players only available during their time at the university. However Geddes has built a good squad who are currently thirteenth in the twenty club Lowland League. 

There was a strong wind blowing and CSS kicked-off attacking the goal at the ground entrance with the wind at their backs. Ross Young had a early chance as he chased a long ball towards the right of the penalty box. He attempted to lob the ball over the approaching Stirling keeper Ben Fry. Fry was able to collect the ball and clear the danger. Around the half hour mark Steven broke from the halfway line for CSS. He tried a shot fro outside the penalty box which Fry dived to save. As the keeper pushed the ball away a gust of wind caught it and Fry had to scramble to grab the ball before it crossed the goal line. Stirling were playing on the break and Ben Davidson had a shot when he turned in the CSS penalty box. Mac Whyte in the CSS goal gathered the ball comfortably. 

With the wind in their four Stirling were soon on the attack in the second half. Marcus Lavery broke down the left but his shot was parried by Whyte with Robbie McGale hitting the rebound over the bar. Lavery had the ball in the net ten minutes into the half when his low cross from the left found the far corner of the net. The Stirling joy soon evaporated as the linesman’s flag was raised. The goal was ruled off for Buronbek Mirzasalimov standing in an offside position in front of McArthur and blocking his view of the ball. To say the Stirling bench were unhappy with the decision would be an understatement. With about ten minutes to go Stirling forced a corner. The CSS defence failed to clear the ball and James Berry’s shot from around fifteen yards hit the far post before being cleared.

Th match went into extra time with the wind still causing problems as a clearance by CSS keeper Whyte was caught by the wind and went right through to Fry in the Stirling goal. Extra time was notable for the number of fouls by both sides and the referee showed a number of yellow cards. In the last minute of extra time CSS were awarded a free-kick twenty-five yards from goal. Inside of hotting the ball was played into the right hand side of the penalty for Balde to collect. The forward mis-timed his run and another offside flag stopped the move. The match was then to be decided by penalties. CSS took the first penalty and both sides scored with their first two attempts. Fry then dived to right to stop the third CSS penalty with Stirling scoring to go 3-2 ahead. CSS then had their fourth kicked saved by the legs of Fry and Stirling scored to give them a 4-2 victory. I did not record the names of the penalty kick takers as I thought I would pick them up on social media later but this information was not available. 

After the final whistle Jim gave me a lift to Crewe Toll. As I crossed the road I saw a 19 bus coming up from Granton. I ran to the stop and caught it to the West End. As I crossed Princes Street I saw a 30 at the stop in Princes Street. I hurried to the stop in Lothian Road and caught it arriving home at 22.55. While not a classic the match was an improvement on my previous trip to watch CSS with both sides helping to make it an entertaining 0-0 draw. 

Teams

Civil Service Strollers: Whyte, Irving, Clarke, McDonnell, Irving, Fairley, Young, Clapperton, Nalde, Steven, Valentine.

Subs: Faye, Cunningham, Cole

Stirling University: Fry, McGale, Taylor, Lavery, Burrows, Dean, Davidson, Stokes, Mirzasalimov, Penker, Berry.

Subs: McGill, Jarvis, Dezeoten, Rae