Sunday 1 August 2010

Day Three: Stranraer (Stair Park)



Stranraer v Greenock Morton
Saturday 31st July (3pm Kick-off)

So I now you're all dying to know if my dad managed to get his time and distance calculation any closer. Simple answer is no. Left Edinburgh at 10.30am and arrived in rainy Stranraer a good 80 minutes before kick off.

Anyway back to the business at hand; It's the first round of the CIS Cup and the second week in a row we get the opportunity to watch 1st division Morton in action. I wonder if we'll see the return of the red boots?

Before the game's even kicked off my old man's desperate to sample the Stranraer Pie and I must admit it's a tale of two pies. Mine was good, nice and warm with a decent crust. My dad's however could've sunk a battleship with it's rock hard crust and, judging by his language, it might have been a touch on the warm side. Still, at only £1.20 it's not a total disaster - funds left for another chance at half time.

Morton are playing in their away strip and the first thing to notice is the fact they've got two different sponsors - Millions (the chewy tiny sweetie) are the sponsors on their home top and Buchanans Toffee sponsor their away top. I reckon they've got a local dentist to sponsor their 3rd strip. The away top's all red so the centre defender's chosen to offset his with white boots today' denying us the chance for a repeat of the legendary 'Dorothy' heckle.

3rd division Stranraer kick things off and even with the annoying hum of the few Vuvuzela's (God I really hope these things don't take off!!) it doesn't take long for Morton to show us they mean business as the left back romps through a static Stranraer defence, cracking a 30 yard drive of the post along the line and out for a by-kick. The deadlock is finally broken in the 27th minute by Stewart Kean. By half time Morton are two up.

The four bus loads of Morton fans are having a great time, especially those dressed in the fake Gazza boobs and cowboy hats; invading the pitch they provided the half time entertainment with their game of imaginary football. Bloody hilarious they were, so it was disappointing when the local bobby came and kicked them off. Must mention the Stranraer catering team underestimating the popularity of their half time refreshments and running out of pies - marks off the overall experience.

Second half kicks off and Morton are four nil up after 54 minutes. Stranraer then have the cheek to score a consolation and Morton go on to take the proverbial and stick another three past them. When the seventh goal went in after 83 minutes a young fella sat near us shouted "okay Stranraer let's just go for the draw", nice to see fans still showing a bit of humour. Unfortunately for him those sort of come backs only take place in Roy of the Rovers....

The Statistics:
Ticket Price: £12 (£6 Concession)
Programme: £2
Attendance: 470
Pie: £1.20
Pie Marks: Me 7/10 - Dad 5/10
Man of the Match: Stewart Kean
Final Score: Stranraer 1 - Greenock Morton 7
Mileage: 260 miles
Fact of the Day: Closet professional ground to Stranraer is Larne FC in Northern Ireland

Next Ground - Easter Road - Hibernian (5th August)

2 comments:

  1. can i request photos of the haute cuisine from each ground.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Callum, what a fine suggestion. I shall make sure that a photo of the pie will be included. Maybe we'll get a little trophy to present to the team that offers the best pie throughout the season.

    ReplyDelete