Day Fourteen: Berwick Rangers (Sheilfield Park)

Berwick Rangers v Stranraer

SFL Division 3

Saturday 18th September

After a two week break for me, it's a cross border trip to Berwick-upon-Tweed to 'Ground 14' for the SFL Division 3 clash between Berwick Rangers and Stranraer. This is a first v second clash as both teams have started their league campaign unbeaten. It's some feat for Stranraer as back on the 1st August we witnessed them get humped 7 - 1 at home by Morton in the cup.

It's a unique starting time for me today as this is the only time I'll be picked up before a match, as it makes more sense to drive from my side of town to the ground. So I've been forewarned to be ready for a 12.45pm collection time. Just as well really as I had a bit of a late one the night before and am still brushing my teeth when the doorbell goes.

It's a quick easy exit onto the A1 and a straightforward drive south. Saturday afternoon on BBC Radio Scotland offers us the wonderful Off the Ball with Stuart Cosgrove and Tam Cowan. If you haven't listened before I recommend you give it a shot as it's always hilarious. One particular gem today was the story of a Romanian boy, aged four, who after watching a DVD of Mary Poppins jumped from his parents' fourth floor flat holding an umbrella. Don't worry he's okay just a few bumps and bruises. It's therefore okay to laugh - we did.

With such listening enjoyment, we've made good time and arrive at the ground about 2pm. Today is the first time we have to pay to park at the ground, well there is no other option really but the 50p charge does get us a ticket for the half-time draw and who knows what riches that could bring us.

I've missed my football fix over the last two weeks and results for Aberdeen haven't been that great, so I'm looking forward to a good game as we enter the ground. The pitch itself looks in cracking condition; the stadium not so. First thing we notice is that it's a Fish 'n' Chip van and not a normal pie stand offering up the local delicacies. This is never a good sign. The second thing is that there's a Speedway track running right around the side of the pitch. The Berwick Bandits race here, and if we'd known this we could have stayed for an evening's entertainment as they were racing at 7.30pm.

Before taking a seat in the stand we venture to the chip van for a pie. Initial doubts are confirmed when we're presented with a pie in a tray. Presentation wise mine doesn't look too healthy and I took a napkin it to try and sook up some of the excess grease. We take our 'nourishment' to our seat in the stand and are greeted by the fact that no matter where you sit there will always be a pole restricting our view. The opposite side of the ground is terracing only and I'm too old for that, so we stay where we are put up with it and try and enjoy the pie. Callum, just for you, we take a photo of the said pie for your visual enjoyment. You'll maybe get more out of it than we did. As my dad rightly stated ' far too greasy, the bottom falls apart in your hand and it's bloody roasting'. He was thinking five out of ten but we decided on a four and a half. Poor effort.

In the match programme I read the opening statement from the Berwick Chairman in which he hopes today's attendance is greater than last week's total of 441. Looking around the ground I'm not so sure and to be honest I can count only 11 Stranraer fans. It's a hell of a drive that's true but you'd expect more than that. We can also see a group of stewards on the touchline, nothing strange about that except they're about 50 years old and are wearing jackets stating they're part of the 'Rapid Reaction Team'. This surely false advertising.

The home team are first to threaten in this game, although Gribben and McMullan waste their chances. They're nearly nearly punished after 7 minutes when Stranraer's huge French striker Armand One make's a neat turn in the box and fired in a shot which Peat got down well to gather. The same man went close again with a good header was again well held by the keeper.

The home side went closer still on the quarter hour when Gribben, who's on something of a hot streak scoring two hat-tricks in the last two games, smashes his close range effort of the upright and O'Reilly mis-kicked with an open goal in front of him.

The game then descended into a stramash of long punts and mis-placed passes by both sides before a great through ball by Berwick's McLeod sent Gribben away. He turned the defender inside out and slotted the ball past the despairing dive of the keeper into the corner. It was all Berwick after this and they thought they scored a second about 5 minutes later but the linesman called it back for offside. Even so, if their strikers had been able to keep their heads, or recognised the better option was to pass instead of go it alone, they could have been three up at half time

During the interval we decided against another pie and settled in to wait to see if we've won the half time draw. It's back to work on Monday for me as ticket 03302 is not a winner.

The second half kicks off and the home team are still in control; McMullan forcing the keeper into a good save. I don't see a way back into the game and it stays this way until after a period of play in the Berwick box the far side linesman starts waving his flag furiously to draw the referee's attention. Whatever he saw no one else did, no Stranraer players get involved. The referee points to the spot and gives a penalty, he then walks over to Berwick's Notman and sends him off for a pull back on a striker. Gribben gets booked for booting the ball away in disgust. Agnew makes no mistake from the spot.

Finally the home fans show a bit of passion and let us hear their voices, still no singing though. When the home side make a substitution, a lone voice from the terracing shouts 'take off the linesman!!'.

Stranraer take the lead on 68 minutes, when an Agnew cross is stuck away by Winter. Stranraer have a few more chances to kill the game off and leap frog their opponents to go top of the table

Berwick are getting restless and the challenges are also flying in and the referee gives yellow cards to two more home players. It's ultimately down to the Berwick manager to play his hand throwing on Alan Brazil with ten minutes left. With a few minutes remaining Gribben makes a mazy run into the box, crosses it and there's Brazil two yards out to tap it home and earn his side a draw.

It's the correct result as both teams have had the chance to win it. True it took a intervention from the linesman to give Stranraer a way back.

As we're leaving the stadium announcer informs us that today's attendance was 489. The chairman got his wish, there were 48 more people here than witnessed the last home game. Onwards and upwards....

The Statistics

Ticket: £10 (£5)

Programme: £2

Attendance: 489

Pie: £1.80

Pie Marks: 4.5 /10

Man of the Match: Dad - Armand One (Stranraer) Me - Andy McLean (Berwick Rangers)

Final Score: Berwick Rangers 2 - Stranraer 2

Mileage: 110 miles

Fact of the Day: During the 1988/89 season Berwick Rangers were nearly bankrupt and were locked out of their own ground and forced to play at other grounds.

Next game: McDiarmid Park (Tuesday 21st September)

Day Thirteen: Queen of the South (Palmerston Park)

Queen of the South v East Fife
Alba Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals
Saturday 4th September (3pm Kick-off)

Today we're off to Dumfries for one of the quarter final matches in this season's Alba Challenge Cup. I've been summoned to report at 11.45am for the drive south. It's a yellow card for me however as it's nearer noon by the time I arrive and my dad's already in the car waiting for me.

We set off and my dad's decided to take us via Moffat for the journey to Dumfries. It's a beautiful day and a great road, one you'd like to drive down in a nice sports car, a road with lots of corners and bits that make your stomach go all funny.

We make good time going down the road and find our way to Dumfries by 2pm. For the first time this season, we're not going to park at the ground. Today we're going to meet up with my Brother-in-Law, Alan, and his mate Gary who lives with his wife and daughter in town. Driving through the town I see a public house called the Spread Eagle Inn - don't fancy a drink in there! Gary later tells me it's the only 'Celtic' bar in town, apparently there are four 'Rangers' bars. I didn't get to hear if any of them have a similar catchy name though.

We find the house and park behind my sister's car at the back and face a dilemma. We've got a pack lunch and don't feel it's right to take it in to Gary's home, so my dad reverses a little and we tuck into the food. My sister then calls and asks if we're close? I show my dad who's calling and look to him for advice. He carries on eating, I hold in a giggle and say 'yeah, we're close and we'll be about ten minutes'. Isla goes on to give me detailed instructions as we both keep eating, my dad's laughing by this point. I tell her 'we'll see her soon'. Five minutes later Alan walks out in front of the car just as I'm putting the bag in the back of the car. I think we got away with it.

The four of us then make the short walk to the ground, it's a lovely day and I'm excited to be going to watch the game. After eleven games I've come to realise I look forward to watching teams from the lower divisions more than their SPL counterparts. I think it's the atmosphere you get at these smaller grounds, the banter is more amusing and it's the chance to witness football without all the money, media and expectations.

Once at the ground I get Gary to take us round to the front of the stadium for a quick photo. Alan spots the home teams mascot 'Dougie the Doonhamer' walking by and the opportunity is just too great. I ask Alan & Gary to be in this week's photo and to ask Dougie to join in too, you can see the resulting photo above. Cheers to all three.

Gary asks my dad and I if we want to join him and Alan for a pre-match pint before the game in the club bar. I tell him it's not part of the ritual and we leave them to it. We enter the turnstile and pay, on the way the ticket attendant tells my dad he doesn't look like a senior citizen, my dad thanks her for the compliment. It's a great wee stadium, not only does it boast to having the highest floodlights in Scotland - which I'm sure is nonsense - but it does have the largest terracing in Scotland. I quite like the terracing, but have found that the view from behind the goal doesn't let you enjoy the game as much so we walk round to the stand on the far side.

I take a quick look at the time and see it's pie o'clock. I wander down to the stand and purchase two scotch pies, one for me and one for him. To me it looks not to bad, nae burnt bits and it's not all soggy; a couple of bites in however and it's a different story. As my dad quickly points out 'the pie is way too dry, it's not so good. I'd give this no more than six'. I don't even finish mine.

Alan and Gary join us about ten minutes before kick off. Gary, being the local lad, is full of information about the home side. The best thing he tells us is that the club have a raffle pre-season to decide on who the team sponsor will be for the coming year. As many as 250 local businesses pay £400 each to enter and the first place wins you the honour of getting your business on the strip, everyone else wins a season ticket. That's about £100,000 in the kitty for the Club. I think this is a brilliant business model, one that more smaller teams should get involved in.

It's a first v second division tie today and early on it's a pretty even contest. The home team have the first effort, a weak shot after ten minutes. Two good saves then deny East Fife the lead. Again, it's the small band of away fans that are first to sing, a common feature of the lower divisions, maybe it's because there's so few of them travel to away games.

East Fife's Scott Durie, son of Gordon, is the first in to the referee's book after a wild sliding challenge on a Queens player. East Fife are having too much possession for the four older gents sat in front of us and there's a lot of tutting and raised voices. All is forgiven after 32 minutes when a Weatherston cross fell to Paul Burns who struck it away from eight yards. Both teams had limited chances to alter the score before half time.

Normally we'd head off for a further pie at this point, but after eating such a poor effort pre-match we decide against a second (my apologies to Callum who was looking for photographic evidence of the pie). About two minutes to go, I nip down to buy a drink and as I'm waiting in the queue I hear the whistle for the second half to begin. As I make my way back to my seat, I ask an old gentleman to allow me to pass, just at that moment, the home team score a second. I feel bad as I've obscured this man's vision ands Alan makes me feel worse by pointing this out to all around. Thankfully I'm forgiven. I have to ask my dad if it was a good goal. He tells me it was great shot scored by Burns, that's two for him.

East Fife were still in the game and the keeper saved well from a Linn free kick and Young headed just wide from a later corner. East Fife substitute Ovenstone made an impact after only being on five minutes when he headed into his own net and the game was pretty much over as a contest. Queens made the fact that they are a full-time club show against their part-time opponents and passed the ball around well, McLaren and Holmes especially.

On 78 minutes Burns made sure he went home with the match ball by bundling the ball over the line after Holmes had lobbed the keeper. East Fife continued to try and play football and their player manager Stevie Crawford came on to try and stem the tide.

One of the biggest cheers of the game came when the home keeper smacked the ball out of the park. There was a lone pigeon sat on the top of the grandstand and for a second or two it looked as though it was going to get a smack in the mouth. It obviously had a better view of it than us, as he just watched it sail past.

The final bit of excitement went to Queens though as a Robert Harris free kick from the corner of the box was placed brilliantly in the top corner. It was a peach and pretty close to the best goal we've seen yet. The final whistle followed almost immediately to spare East Fife from further despair. In the end the score flattered the home team but they were the better side in the second half.

On a final note, walking back to the house I heard one East Fife fan chanting 'this place is a shithole', I almost fell over laughing as I reminded him he comes from Methill.

No football now for me until the 18th September, my dad is off however to follow his beloved Kilmarnock next weekend - good luck mate.

The Statistics

Ticket: £13 (£8)

Programme: £2.50

Attendance: 1,781

Pie: £1.50

Pie Marks: 6 out of 10

Man of the Match: Dad - Paul Burns, Alan & Gary - Robert Harris, & Me - Willie McLaren

Final Score: Queen of the South 5 - East Fife 0

Mileage: 161 miles

Fact of the Day: Queens have the largest terracing in Scotland.

Next game: Sheilfield Park (September 18th)

The Pie Report

So we're a quarter of the way through this great adventure already and it's only the 28th August.

After reading comments from Callum requesting photographic evidence of the various clubs' Pies, I've realised that the Pie Report is an important part of the blog. So I've decided to give you a run down, a top to bottom run down if you like, of those on offer so far. Next week I'll try and remember to take a photo of our half-time nourishment for you Callum.

Now these comments are based on my father's comments, so if anyone from any of the grounds is reading this, don't get too upset; unless you work for Hibernian Football Club, ya pie dodging tightwads!!

The Pie Report league table:
1. Aberdeen FC - £1.70

'The best yet'

8/10

2. Motherwell - £1.70

'The crust is almost perfect, temperature is spot on and the meaty based filling is not too salty'

7.5/10

3. Alloa Athletic - £1.00

'It is by far the best value for money pie yet but it's not quite a Motherwell Pie'

7/10

4. Elgin City - £1.30

'It is a good pie but it's not quite a Motherwell pie'

7/10

5. Ross County - £1.70

'The best pie yet'

7/10

6. Dumbarton - £1.35

'A good sized meaty based affair'

7/10

7. Annan Athletic - £1.20

'Marked down for the hard crust'

6/10

8. St.Mirren - £1.70

'A disappointing affair with a soggy bottom'

6/10

9. Stranraer - £1.20

'The crust is rock hard, it could probably sink a battleship'

5/10

10. Peterhead - £1.50

'Tiny, with a soggy bottom'

4.5/10

11. East Fife - £1.50

'Unusual with a Steak Pie crust and excessively salty filling'

4/10

12. Hibernian - £2.40!!

Can't give you a comment on quality as unbelievably at half time on the first game of the season, they ran out of pies at Easter Road.

0/10.

Day Twelve: St.Mirren (St.Mirren Park)

St.Mirren v Hibernian

Sunday 29th August (2.15pm Kick-off)

After the excitement and ultimate disappointment of yesterday's game at Pittodrie, I'll admit to feeling a little jaded this morning when I woke up and realised I was off to watch Hibernian for the third time this season. Which of their teams will turn up today - the lack luster team that fell down to Maribor or the team who played so well in the second half at Motherwell.

It's a noon start for the drive over to Paisley for the 2.15pm kick. We arrive at the newish St.Mirren park, situated a mere 300 yards from their old ground, Love Street, at about 1.15ish. We chill out in the car reading the Sunday Mail - that quality non-old firm biased paper. I normally like to spend time reading the sports section but can't stand the thought of reading about yesterdays game so I don't bother. It's good of my dad then to show me the pictures of his team celebrating their winning goal.

They've got a strange set up at St.Mirren whereby you need to buy a ticket before you get to the turnstiles. It's nice to see that my dad doesn't have to prove his age here. It's only once we're inside the ground that I realise we've forgotten to buy a programme. I approach one of the stewards on duty and ask if I can buy one in the ground, he kindly tells me that the programmes 'haven't been delivered yet but hopefully they'll turn up before kick off'.

We soften the blow by buying a pre-match pie. It's a disappointing affair with a soggy bottom, the worst SPL effort yet. No scratch that, at least they offered something unlike their opponents today.

We go to take our seat in the ground - which only has a capacity of 8,006 by the way and as my dad said 'it looks like it's made of Lego' - and find seat N 18 to be covered in pigeon poo. Some people say it's lucky to get splatted with this but we're taking no chances and sit elsewhere.

Looking round the ground we can see a few large flags up behind one of the goals in the St.Mirren end, one catches our eyes however. There's a Leeds branch of St.Mirren supporters, that's about a 450 mile round trip and pure dedication.

Thankfully the programmes have arrived and I buy one and on flicking through the pages see that there are four mascots at the game today, three for the home team and one for the away team. The youngest of which is only one and a half years old and, according to the programme, her favourite player is Garry Brady. During the warm up they all get introduced to the ground - ain't that sweet.

Whilst some of the Hibs players are still warming up the sprinklers come on and give them a pre-game soaking, seems a tad harsh.

After all this, the games pretty slow to get started but it's Hibs who are first to threaten from a Riordan corner but Sol Bamba's header is high and wide. St.Mirren are next to threaten after ten minutes when after Bamba held back Wardlaw, McAusland tries a speactacular effort from almost on the touchline.

Both sets of fans are in fine voice, but for some bizarre reason they've still got the P.A. system on. Eventually they realise and turn it off. Hibs have most of the chances in the first half and Riordan is unlucky to see his free kick float over the wall and just wide of the post. The ball rubs along the outside of the net and from where the Hibs fans are sitting they think it's gone in and start to celebrate, only to be shouted back down by the laughing home fans. Riordan has two further free kicks that are saved well by the keeper.

Wardlaw was then crunched twice in succession and both times the tackles went unpunished, much to the annoyance of the player, his team mates, the home fans and the Saints manager Danny Lennon, who's given a wee lecture from the fourth official and then the ref when he's still moaning. Minutes later he's even unhappier when Wardlaw gets booked for a wild kick at Bamba, 'revenge' stamped all over his challenge. The home fans are raging and give the ref a burst of 'You don't know what you're doing!'.

The game was still level at half time and we went for another pie. I'll have to cut down on the double pie ratio, it's not like I've got the six-pack stomach you see. We decide on moving seats as there wasn't much banter round about us in the previous half. We should have sat in the opposite stand as it's much more boisterous than the family stand we're currently in. It's a learning curve this trip you see, next time we won't make the same mistake.

The second half starts and it's clear to all there are still a few grudges as a result of first half challenges. Bamba and Wardlaw are the two main culprits, both of them show some good touches throughout the game though. Bamba is otherwise excellent at clearing his lines and has an eye for a good pass. Wardlaw plays the sort of Peter Crouch type of game, he's always flicking the ball on for others or holding the ball under pressure and waiting for team mates.

It's ultimately a challenge between these two that leads to the first goal. Bamba climbs all over the back of Wardlaw as they both go for a high ball on the half way line, yet again he escapes a booking. Brady takes the kick, it's flicked on and it falls to Craig Dargo, who makes no mistake and slots it home for St Mirren.

With half an hour there's still time for Hibs to come back into this. Nish goes close with a shot on the turn from a throw in, and Liam Miller hits the top of the roof with an effort that's not a cross or a shot. The Hibs fans are outraged to see that John Hughes solution to being a goal behind and with ten minutes to go is to sub their favourite player, Derek Roirdan. They then give him a louder burst of 'You don't know what your doing!!', they're braver than me having a pop at Yogi.

The game finishes one nil to the saints and this condemns Hibs to their second defeat of the season but lifts St.Mirren into the top half of the table. As I said previously, this is our third viewing of Hibs this season and at this rate they'll be phoning us and asking to stay away.

The Statistics

Ticket: £20 (£10)

Programme: £2.50

Attendance: 4,480

Pie: £1.70

Pie Marks: 6 out of 10

Man of the Match: Dad - Paul McGowan Me - Gareth Wardlaw

Final Score: St.Mirren 1 - Hibernian 0

Mileage: 84 miles

Fact of the Day: St.Mirren have the newest stadium in Scotland. They played their first game there on the 15th January 2009.

Next game: Palmerston Park (September 4th)

Day Eleven: Aberdeen (Pittodrie Stadium)

Aberdeen v Kilmarnock
Saturday 28th August (3pm Kick-off)

So the grudge match day has arrived, it's time for my team, Aberdeen, to play my dad's team, Kilmarnock. It's a case of top v bottom. Aberdeen's 100% record versus Kilmarnock 0% record in the SPL this season. It's only game 3 of the 2010/11 season mind so there's only the six points between us.

It's a big day for me and Emma too, seeing as this is the first time she will be joining me watching my beloved team. I don't think she's quite as excited as me to be honest, she'd have been happier if my mother had joined her for a shopping experience instead aha ha.

The three of us leave Edinburgh at 11.15am for the journey north to Aberdeen. It's only a 2 1/2hr journey to Aberdeen so we've given ourselves enough time to get there. Nae surprises there then. It's an easy drive although the roads are pretty busy up to and beyond Perth, it's unlikely it's hoards of Killie fans heading to Aberdeen though.

We arrive in the Granite city about 1.45pm and park up on the Esplanade beside the Kings Links Golf Course, this gives Emma her first glimpse at Aberdeen's ground. We sit in the car and have lunch looking out on to the North Sea. Those of you who know Emma will be well aware of her problems when it comes to portion control, this is something which my Dad manages to wind her up on by commenting that the standard of filling in the sandwiches 'is slipping'.

Anyway at 2.15pm we take the short walk to the ground. It's weird to wave goodbye to my dad outside the ground as he's off to sit in the away end with the other Kilmarnock fan. Emma and I take the opportunity to visit the Club shop as I've got birthday money to spend. Takes me ages to decide what to get - should I go for the home strip, away strip or the full body suit. In the end I settle on the traditional home top for me and a 'Stand Free' Aberdeen scarf. Once outside the shop I'm so eager to get the top on that it takes me 5 minutes to realise it's still got the bloody tags on it. What a chump!

We buy our tickets and take the long trek up to the top deck of the Richard Donald Stand. By the time we find our seats we find we're in the second back row of the stadium and we can see the whole of Aberdeen from our seats.

Kilmarnock, as per usual, seem to have brought only two busloads of supporters with them but I must compliment them on their singing voices as it sounds like there's about a thousand of them.

Aberdeen are quickly into their stride when the game starts and are first to threaten when Pawlett shoots straight at the Killie keeper after a nice lay back from Magennis. It takes a quarter of an hour for the away team to have their first effort with Hamill blasting a free-kick over the bar. Shortly after this we have the first substitution of the day when the referee decides the ball's too flat.

A Paul Hartley free kick is deflected in front of the keeper who spills the ball right in front of McArdle, who really should've scored. After seeing a good Aberdeen on Tuesday night I was expecting more from them and it was disappointing to see them revert back to the sort of football they were playing last season with lots of sideways balls and lack of urgency to play it forward.

Kilmarnock on the other hand were playing the ball over the top of the slow Aberdeen defence for their striker Conor Sammon and he almost scored when he broke free in the penalty box and his shot seemed to squirm under the dive of the keeper and McArdle had to clear the ball off the line.

The normally boisterous Aberdeen support are very quiet and even the Killie fans sing the 'Sheep-Shaggers' song fails to rouse them. It's not really turning out to be the great game I was hoping it would be for Emma's first visit. Fingers crossed we get a bit more excitement for the second 45 minutes and the Aberdeen fans find their voices. At half-time I take the time to sample the 'Pittodrie Pie' and it's not a bad effort. I can't however tempt Emma into sampling one of the vegetarian options available.

We take the opportunity to wander right down to the front of the stand to see if we can see my dad sitting in the away section adjacent to us. We can see him but despite some frantic waving, it takes a phone call to his mobile before he can pinpoint our position. Both of us agree that it's been a fairly dull game so far but he does give me his rating for the pie and surprisingly he's awarded it an 8 out of 10. I ask him if he's sure as this will take Aberdeen to the top of the Pie League, his response is 'yes, I realise this but you've got to be honest about these things'.

For the second half we move from up in the gods to the front rows of the upper deck. Aberdeen are again the first to threaten when Mackie beats two defenders in the box and shoots, a deflection takes it wide of the post and out for a corner. This finally rouses the Aberdeen fans from their slumber a fact that doesn't go unnoticed by the Kilmarnock faithful who give us a quick burst of 'We forgot that you were here'.

Kilmarnock come more and more into the game with some slick passing and great movement off the ball, Craig Bryson especially looks like a good player. This prompts the Aberdeen manager to try a double substitution bringing on Vernon and the 18 year old Megginson for Magennis and Maguire - the latter reacts by refusing to shake his managers hand and throwing his shin-pads to the floor like a petulant child.

With quarter of an hour to go Kilmarnock's David Da Silva plays a fantastic ball through to Sammon who finds himself one on one with the keeper, he shoots and Aberdeen's keeper does brilliantly to tip it round the corner. Aberdeen are holding on now and Kilmarnock look like a team at the top of the table and not the bottom. With ten minutes left Hamell lets fly from 30 yards and it looks destined to end up in the top corner only for Howard to fling himself to his right and tip it over the bar. From the resulting corner Mackie clears a Sissoko header off the line.

A quick break from Aberdeen sees Mackie burst into the box and just as he's about to pull the trigger he's bundled off the ball. I join in the thousands of Dons fans behind the goal in screaming for a penalty. The referee gives the right decision and awards a corner to Aberdeen instead. It really would've been a soft penalty.

It looks like the game is going to end up in a draw as the fourth official signals there will only be three minutes injury. Calamitous defending from the Aberdeen keeper however gifts the winner to Hamell with only sixty seconds left. A ball over the top of the Aberdeen defence and it looks like Meginnson will be first to the ball, he hesitates however as Howard comes rushing off his line and in nips Jamie Hamell to take the ball of them both and stroke it into the empty net.

There's no time for Aberdeen to get back into the game and when the referee blows the whistle for full time Aberdeen walk off to a chorus of boo's.

I look over to the Kilmarnock fans and see my dad jumping around like a 17 year old. I can't be happy for him obviously. I'm gutted, not only have we lost and we're no longer top of the table but I've just realised who's giving me a lift back to Edinburgh. True to his word he's waiting for Emma and I outside the ground with a smug grin on his face.

I can't really take this moment from him though as his team were the better side and on the balance of play probably deserved the three points. Revenge will be mine (fingers crossed) on November 27th when we go to Rugby Park for the return fixture.

Emma, who was supposed to be my lucky mascot, is barred from visiting Pittodrie as she's obviously a jinx.

The Statistics
Ticket: £22 (£16) - As a quick side note it was pleasing to hear my dad state that the turnstile operator asked to see his driving so he could prove he was actually an OAP.
Programme: £2.50
Attendance: 11,287
Pie: £1.70
Pie Marks: 8/10 - Top marks so far
Man of the Match: Dad -Ben Gordon Me - Craig Bryson (both Kilmarnock)
Final Score: Aberdeen 0 - Kilmarnock 1
Mileage: 258 miles
Fact of the Day: Pittodrie Stadium was the first stadium to feature a dugout, when in the 1920's Player-Coach Donald Colman wanted a place to take notes and observe his players without sacrificing the shelter provided by the grandstand.

Next Game: St.Mirren Park (August 29th)

Day Ten: Alloa Athletic (Recreation Ground)

Alloa Athletic v Aberdeen

Tuesday 24th August (7.45pm Kick-off)

CIS Insurance Cup: 2nd Round

The day has finally arrived: we're off to see the mighty Aberdeen for the first time this season! It's going to be interesting to see how all the new signings Mark McGhee has made have helped us to the heady heights of SPL leaders.

So far on this adventure it's just been my dad and me, and each time we've sat in with home fans. Well not tonight; not only we will be in with the away supporters, we've also been joined by a friend of mine, Anthony, who like me is a fellow Don. I'll try and be true to the cause though and include all the usual ramblings of mine, my father's and the crowd.

As it's a school day, my dad comes to meet us at work at 4.45pm. Apparently we're leaving this early because of the 'rush-hour traffic' in Edinburgh and the fact 'it can sometimes take 45 mins to get across town'. Not today however as we're on our way past Edinburgh airport at 5.15pm. We arrive in Alloa at 6pm. A full 1 hour and 45 minutes before the game kicks off!! No sandwiches this evening, I couldn't be bothered carrying a cool bag to work so it's the safety of a Morrison's sandwich rather than risk a visit to the local McDonalds.

The Alloa website informed us that the turnstiles would be opening at 6.45pm to deal with the expected large away support. Anthony is eager to ensure we get a prime viewing position so we wander over to the ground at 6.30.

We've got a bit of time so I go to take the obligatory photo of the ground; you know the one just to prove we were there. I'm denied a photo of the main entrance by a jobsworth steward, who takes one look at my Aberdeen scarf and tells "this end is just for home fans". It's left to a young Alloa fan to point out the huge sign that runs along the outside of the stadium as the best photo on offer. Cheers wee man!

By the time the gates open it's after 7pm. It's heartening to see the honesty of the Aberdeen support as a few of them sneak their way into the ground via the Concession gate. Grown men pretending to be older and 18 year olds pretending to be even younger. The ticket price of £15 did seem a bit steep and the concession ticket was only £8 you see. A boy in the queue inside to buy a programme was chatting to his mate saying "She [turnstile operator] tried to tell me I didnae look 16, mare like 18, so i told her 'no, I'm 16 honest'". He then reminds his pal it's his 19th birthday in next month.

As soon as we got through the turnstiles we were greeted by the site of a dozen or so portable toilets. You pay £15 to get in and in return they offer you the chance to watch your team play on a plastic pitch whilst you stand on an uncovered terracing and have the use of exclusive toilet facilities.

We wander towards the tiny makeshift stand after take a quick detour to the pie van where are delighted to find that at £1, the Alloa pie is cheapest yet. It's a pretty decent effort too and your favorite food critic claims 'it is by far the best value for money pie yet, but it's not quite a Motherwell pie'. It does however mean that there are still funds left in the kitty for further nourishment later.

We end up standing behind the goal as I'd have been charged a further £2 to find a seat in the stand. That would have meant paying £17 in total - seems a bit step for a 2nd Division side.

The Alloa fans are first time stretch their vocal chords and we're treated a verse of 'You're only sheep shagging b*stards'. How original! Aberdeen fans have taken this insult to their hearts and clap in appreciation of this fine rendition from the home fans.

The home team started brightly and showed no sign of fear towards their SPL opponents. Despite the fact that their manager Allan Maitland is a die-hard Aberdeen fan, it looks like they are going to try to use Aberdeen's recent shocking performances against lower division sides in cup competitions to their advantage and have a real go tonight.

After 16 minutes the game is effectively over as a horribly short back pass from one of Alloa's defenders is latched onto by Aberdeen's Fraser Fyvie. He's straight through on goal, and takes it round the Alloa keeper Stephen Robertson, who retaliates by bringing him down. It's a surefire penalty and the referee has no real choice but to send him packing. The manager takes off one of his midfielders to bring on his reserve keeper. Aberdeen's Paul Hartley has the chance to score his fourth goal in three games for Aberdeen. He dispatches the ball with ease and we're one up.

Aberdeen spread the ball about with ease, making the most of the extra man. Fyvie and Maguire are seeing a lot of the ball and it's the former who, after beating two defenders, squares the ball for Maguire. With an open goal he should've doubled Aberdeen's lead, instead he boots it well over the bar much to the home fans delight and our horror.

Hartley then tried a cheeky lob off the keeper but it sailed just over the bar. Aberdeen did however score a second shortly afterwards when a Magennis header was saved by the keeper and with no defender able to clear the rebound, McArdle nodded the ball into the empty net.

A perfect first 45 minutes from Aberdeen was denied just on the stroke of half time when the excellent Fyfie seemed to twist his knee on the surface and was carried off. Let's hope it's nothing to serious as this 18 year old is destined to be a future star for Scotland. McGhee was unhappy with the playing surface prior to the game and left out one of his star players Aluko in case of this situation.

At half time we indulged in a second pie, and although the price hadn't changed, the quality had. Mine was a bit cold and my father complained that his was now pretty dry. Still, for a pound I couldn't really grumble. The stadium announcer punished the home fans even further by playing an Abba mega-mix for the full 15 minutes.

Aberdeen's midfield were in complete control in the second half, Yoann Folly and Hartley have finally brought back a bit of bite to our soft midfield. Aberdeen scored their third on the hour mark with a wonderful Maguire half-volley which from 25 yards lobbed the keeper and dipped under the bar. The keeper should have done better to be honest; it was another deceiving performance from Maguire who was full of running but made too many wrong decisions, selfish instead of playing the simple ball.

Zander Diamond was next to fall foul to the pitch and as Aberdeen had used all three subs the two teams entered the last 15 minutes with ten men each. Fair play to Alloa as they had two or three chances to get a consolation goal. The Aberdeen goalie who had been pretty quiet all night was alert to nip the ball of the toe of Stuart Noble with ten minutes left.

Darren Mackie missed a golden chance to add to the total, but had too much time to think about it and hit it straight at the keeper.

I must point out that the normally very vocal Aberdeen support have been very quiet tonight but just at the end we were treated to a solo performance of the dong of the night 'I'd rather shag a sheep than a Wasp'. Bloody brilliant.

The Statistics

Ticket: £15 (£8) An extra £2 each to sit in the stand

Programme: £1.50

Attendance: 1,649

Pie: £1.00

Pie Marks: 7/10

Man of the Match: Dad - Paul Hartley, Anthony - Yoann Folly, Me - Fraser Fyvie (All Aberdeen)

Final Score: Alloa Athletic 0 - Aberdeen 3

Mileage: 82 miles

Fact of the Day: Alloa Athletic were admitted to the Scottish Football League in 1921 and by the end of their first season were Division 2 Champions.

Next game: Aberdeen - Pittodrie Stadium (August 28th)

Meeting Willie Miller

This isn't a football report but I thought I should tell you anyway.

This afternoon I was out 'enjoying' the Edinburgh Festival and I had the pleasure of meeting my all time sporting hero - Mr Willie Miller, the captain of the all-conquering Aberdeen side of the 1980's. I almost walked past him and must thank my brother-in-law for pointing him out.

Honestly, I was like a love struck teenager as I thrust my hand out for him to shake it. All i could muster was a "Willie Miller, you are my hero". My girlfriend, who took the picture above, tells me that she thought I was never going to let go of his hand. I must have kept him there for five minutes talking about what a player he was and how we've made a great start to the season before he wrestled his hand free and re-joined his wife.

Should've told him about my blog and asked for tickets to the Kilmarnock game next weekend.