5th September 2023 Penicuik Athletic 1 Crossgates Primrose 3

 

A chancre for a midweek match again today. With a full EoS and Lowland League programme I had a number of options. I finally decided to head out to Penicuik to watch their EoS match against Crossgates Primrose. The 47 bus to Penicuik was due at Lauriston around18.05 I left home around 17.45. I was glad I left early as I saw the bus stopped at the lights at Lothian Road as I was crossing the road around 18.00. I got across the road in time to catch the bus. With a 19.30 kickoff the bus arrived in Penicuik around 19.00 so I got off at Tesco and walked to Montgomery Park from there. I paid my £5 admission and bought a £2 programme. Got to congratulate Penicuik as the programme include some detail on their Scottish Cup tie against Rutherglain Glencairn on Saturday along with details on other Scottish Cup-ties played at the weekend. When a number of ‘senior’ clubs are discontinuing issuing programmes it is good to see clubs making an effort to prepare a programme under limited timescales. 

Penicuik had what is probably their strongest side named today. Liam Gray who has been recently signed from Broxburn started in midfield. Cammy Dawson who is now in his second spell with Penicuik started on the bench. Crossgates included two former Penicuik players in their starting line-up with Greg MacDonald and Alex  Chinwaglu. Former Spartans keeper Miko Komocki started in goal. 

The game started with Crossgates looking the better side and they took the lead after twenty minutes. Archie Campbell broke down the left and then cut inside Josh Laing into the penalty box. into the penalty box. He then shot across goal into the far corner giving Kyle Leiper no chance of making a save. Seven minutes later Campbell added a second This time he picked the ball up in central midfield and ran forward. From just outside the penalty box he shot past Leiper into the left corner of the ne. Penicuik were not really making many chances and suffered an injury blow after thirty-eight minutes when Darrel Young limped of to be replace by U20 player Ethan Hope. 

I was speaking to John at halftime, a former work colleague, and his new was that Penicuik would never score. I had to agree with despite Ben McManus and strikers Cammy Dawson and Josh Philp coming on as substitutes. There just seemed to be a lack of creativity in midfield and Crossgates were controlled the match. Finally in eighty-six minutes penicuik pulled a goal back from a penalty. Ben Wardlaw was fouled in the box and stepped to take the penalty himself. He shot low into the left hand corner of the next with keeper Komocki diving the wrong way. Crossgates however scored a third minutes into injury time. Komocki's long clearance was mis-controlled by Paul Thomson allowing Crossgates sub Gavin Dow to gather the ball and race forward to shoot past Leiper to clinch the match. 

On the final whistle I left the ground to catch a bus back into Edinburgh. The next bus was not due for fifteen minutes so I walked to Tesco and caught it their. I was back at Surgeons Hall around 22.15 and caught a bus home from Lauriston Place arrived home around 22.30 after a good match but a disappointing result form those, like me, with Penicuik sympathies. 

Teams

Penicuik Athletic: Leiper, Laing, Forbes, Young, Thomson, Gray, Wardlaw, Roue, Coogans, Somerville, Taylor-McKenzie

Subs: Hope, McManus, Dawson, Philp

Crossgates Primrose; Komocki, Reid, Anderson, Ritchie, Campbell, Anderson, MacDonald, Chinwaglu, Cross, Jeffries, McDonald.

Subs: Lawrie, Henderson, Dow.