FootyWanderer84

As the country has been absolutely battered by some truly horrible weather, I continued to make the most of my spare time to get around to as many games as I could, starting with witnessing history at Ochilview.

I had made a first visit to Stenhousemuir’s home for a game in November, so this wasn’t a new ground to tick off for me. But as they hosted East Fife, themselves resurgent under new manager Dick Campbell, they stood on the brink of a first ever League Championship win, as 3 points would secure the Cinch League Two title, with the Warriors having lead the way for some time now.

Despite their lead in the league, Stenny had been shy of goals in recent weeks, drawing their previous 4 games, mostly goalless. Hopefully today they would cross the finish line in a blaze of glory!

The weather though was atrocious, with the winds battering the country promising to have a big effect on the game, with 2 sides of the ground exposed. With a drive of about 40 minutes, it’s not too difficult to get to Ochilview, with parking just on the main roads making it an easily accessible ground to get to., with my ticket already purchased on the Fanbase app for the Norway Stand.

The fact that a club in Larbert have a stand named The Norway Stand afteir their Norwegian support is a story worth reading, and one i’ll try to tell next time I speak of a trip to see Stenny here.

Before the game started, I was going to pick up a pin badge, but they had sold out in the small club merchandise stall they have. However, I did get the chance to meet some well known Groundhoppers, meeting Dean and Reece, whose Dad and Son Footy Adventures Facebook page is one i’ve followed for a while, before then meeting Sam North inside the ground. Sam’s YouTube channel was a great discovery for me, after it being suggested to me by Graeme. His Footy Adventures channel (with 192k subscribers he is rather popular!) has been an inspiration to me, encouraging me to go out and explore football more at many different levels, so getting to have a brief chat with him was a great bonus.

Sitting in the stand for the game, having enjoyed a steak pie, it was good to see a good sized crowd for the game, with a decent travelling support from East Fife sharing the terrace behind the goal with the home fans.

The wind though made good football even more difficult though, and both teams struggled to make any real headway, resulting in very few clear cut chances at either end.

As the game wore on, I got sucked into keeping an eye on the other scores in the division, while Stenny needed the 3 points to clinch the title, 1 would be enough to seal it if Peterhead failed to win, and they were struggling against Bonnyrigg Rose. As it got to 90 minutes, Peterhead had pulled it back to 2-2, while at the opposite end of the table, a potentially huge winner had been scored by Clyde against Stranraer at the bottom of the table!

The final whistle went, ending the game goalless, and the wait for the lengthly injury time to be played out at Bonnyrigg was eventually rewarded as cheers broke out around the ground, and the title had been confirmed! There were scenes of delight and emotion as the celebrations quickly spilled on to the pitch, which was great to see such genuine joy. As a neutral, it wasn’t my party to join in with, so I went no further than the side of the park. Before leaving the ground to head to work, I did see Dawn though, whose joy was certainly not that of a neutral!!

There was a rather big game on the Sunday, however as a non season ticket holder I had been unable to get myself a ticket for the Old Firm game. Deeply frustrating, but I know the position I am in, missing a purchase history for a chunk of time leaves me short on points, so I have an anxious wait for the next few weeks before the Season Ticket renewal window ends and I see if I have accrued enough points to be offered on of my own. With the demand for tickets, i’m not entirely confident of getting one this summer. My fingers are crossed though!

Not being able to make the trip to Ibrox, I instead made the trip to Broadwood a little later in the day. With the women’s team on the international break, today’s game was the Lowland League Cup final, as Tranent faced off against Lowland League Champions elect East Kilbride.

Once again, conditions were atrocious with the wind making for a tough game to watch. East Kilbride started better, and took the lead through a stunning strike, which cannoned off the bar and bounced just over the line, which was well spotted by the officials, despite the loud protests from the Tranent side. Thankfully it stood though, as it was a terrific strike for the favourites.

Tranent weren’t behind for too long though, as they pulled a goal back at a corner, which was how the teams went in at the break. More of the same in the second half followed, as both teams continued trying to play long through the wind, and unsurprisingly struggling. Given the overall quality on display, what followed was not on the cards, as the East Kilbride captain scored an absolute beauty from distance, which looked like it might have won it.

However, a short set piece routine from Tranent saw the ball back with former Premier League star Kallum Higginbotham, who curled in a superb equaliser. Coming late on, I wasn’t alone in being unsure if it would be extra time or penalties, and we shouldn’t have had to find out, as with the last attack, Tranent pounced on a mistake in the East Kilbride defence, sending their striker clean through on goal, only to blaze over the bar from just inside the box. The definition of a golden opportunity, and it had been spurned.

The outcome was straight to penalties, which quickly became somewhat farcical, as the wind continued to blow the ball off the spot. Clearly unsettling some players, it took until the 14th or 16th penalty before the game was decided, and it was Tranent who had upset the odds and lifted the cup!

On leaving the game, I saw the benefit of hanging around so long here after the women’s games, as the car park was taking an age to clear. So, after a call to check how things were at work and how soon I needed to get in there, I left the car and walked over to Broadwood Farm and enjoyed a full carvery before walking back to the car to head to work, by a distance my best decision of the day!

After spending the weekend watching the success of teams as a neutral, Tuesday came around and it was time for me to be somewhat less neutral, as I drove up to Kirkcaldy with my Uncle to support Airdrie away at Raith Rovers, as Airdrie looked to consolidate a place in the playoffs, chasing an unlikely second successive promotion.

The game also saw me complete the Championship, as Stark’s Park was the last ground for me to see a game in, having only passed it in the car or on the train previously. Always a ground i’ve wanted to see for myself, I was finally ticking this off. And while Raith may be in the Championship currently as the battle for promotion, i’ll credit them with Premier League quality steak pies, lovely!

At the start of January I had watched Airdrie beat Raith at home, so this was the chance to watch them do it away, and they started well. So well in fact that they went in 2-0 up at half time, thanks to a brace of stunning goals from captain Adam Frizzell. Well worth checking out.

Second half saw 3 changes at half time from the hosts, as they looked to go more direct and agitate their way to a fightback, and naturally they had a dominant spell in the game, as they scored a beauty of their own, before hitting the bar. But Airdrie seized that good fortune, and soon saw a break up the park seal the 3 points with another well taken goal. Much to the delight of the woman sitting behind me who was going mental, turns out the goal was scored by her boy!

A 3-1 win away made for a second consecutive winning away Tuesday with Airdrie, and an exciting end to the season may yet be on the horizon. But I was certainly glad to get back home after this with a much shorter drive than last week coming from Arbroath, and the rain stayed off which was a blessing!

Wednesday I was back to work, but a raft of earlier kick offs offered promise of making a game before work. Many games were kicking off earlier to make use of the lighter nights, though the continued weather blew these intentions apart, as game after game was called off.

Fortunately though, Harthill Royal managed to get their game on, and this was a good choice, as it’s one of the closest grounds that appears for me when searching for games on Futbology, so good to get round to ticking this one off. The rain though was horrendous, and I don’t think those who look after the pitch were terribly happy about the game going ahead, as the game definitely took a toll on the pitch.

Once again I met Dean and Reece, who had seen their plans for a game to attend washed away elsewhere, and they introduced me to Roy, so I spent the game chatting to these guys as we watched a competitive game play out, as Harthill drew 2-2 with Fauldhouse in the East Of Scotland Division 3 contest. Even witnessing a heated clash that got most of the players on the park involved after a heavy challenge, a few players excaped without punishment, largely owing to having no assistant referees at this level to help control the match!

A red did follow soon after though, as Harthill lost their large CB after a heavy challenge high up the park which earned him a second yellow. This was probably telling, as the equaliser came from an area where he should have been to clear his lines.

The 18:30 kick off helped massively though, as I was soaked by the time I got back to the car, so I had time to get home and changed before work, but game number 51 of the year was now in the bag.

I’ll end this blog the way I started it, with a 0-0 draw that gave me the title for this blog! Having to be in work for 6pm on a Saturday limits where I can go to watch a game, but thankfully it’s my last Saturday at work for the next 5 weeks, so I can enjoy the last few weeks of the season. But for today, Alloa was my choice, as I ticked off my 8th ground in the Cinch League One.

Unfortunately, although the views from the terrace are lovely as you look beyond the ground to the hills, the game itself was less than memorable, as conditions continued to be afflicted by the strong winds and bursts of torrential rain. Did manage some pics of blue skies too though, i’ll eventually get round to adding them to my Instagram!

There is a small cabin at the ground, which houses a small club shop, which sells a collection of scarves, old programmes and old shirts from various years, which is something good to see. All I picked up though was a pin badge, to add to my growing pile that i’ll have to come up with a solution to display before it gets out of hand. The other half of this cabin is taken up by the food kiosk, which offers a good selection, including rolls and sausage and bacon, and the lentil soup, which I had been told about beforehand. I’m glad that the recommendation was spot on!

This blog is already long enough though i’m sure. A 3rd and 4th goalless draw of the year for me, hopefully the last for quite some time. I have a flurry of games ahead in April, so i’ll continue to rack up the miles and tick off new venues as I go. 2 closer to the 42, and some historic moments witnessed this past week, lets hope the weather starts to clear soon, I think we all need it!