Stenhousemuir v Alloa
Sunday 2nd January
Scottish Division 2
After a period of two weeks without a game the matches are coming thick and fast now and we're off to our second game in two days today with a trip to watch Stenhousemuir play Alloa Athletic.
If we're lucky we'll be joined by my dad's mate Malcolm and his friend Peter at the game. Malcolm's my honorary Uncle seeing as he's a friend of my dads from way back. He's also a life long Stenhousemuir fan.
I meet my dad at his house at 1.20pm for the drive over to the Ochilview and we get to Stenhousemuir about ten past two. It is absolutely freezing outside so we stay in the car until twenty minutes to kick off before venturing outside into the cold.
After my dad poses for the pre-match photo, we make our way into the ground and decide to sit in the Norway Stand. It's named in recognition of the Norwegian branch of the Stenhousemuir Supporters Club - formed in 1992 by three blokes in Oslo.
After finding our seat I leave my dad to go hunt out a programme, a half time draw ticket and a pie before the game starts. The queue pre-match for the pie stand is already massive, hopefully a good sign as yesterdays effort at Tynecastle was a bit of a let down.
As I reach the front I get a tap on the shoulder and hear a voice asking 'where are you and your dad sitting then?'. I turn around to see Malcolm has made it to the game after all. I return to my seat with two pies for me and my dad and his face lights up to see his mate join us. As for the pie he reckons it's a seven out of ten, too crusty for him. I'd have given it slightly higher marks but he's in charge of the pie rating.
It's Davie Irons first game in charge of Stenhousemuir, he was only given the job on the 30th December. He's not had much time to get to know his players but he'll be hoping for a good performance from them today to lift them away from the wrong end of the table.
It's Alloa however who are first to test the oppositions keeper as a cross is floated into the box and Noble hits it side footed towards goal. The home keeper, Brown, does brilliantly to turn it on to the post and although the ball rebounds to an Alloa player, he can only manage to put it past the post.
Up the other end of the park, a great ball from Stevie Murray releases Paul Quinn and he's through on goal one on one with the keeper. He takes a shot first time and Robertson did well to save it with his legs.
Twelve minutes in and a moment of indecision from the Stenhousemuir keeper gave us the first goal. Brown waited and waited for the ball to reach the box so he could pick it up and Noble nicked in front of him and took the ball round him and tapped it in to the empty net. Looking back I bet the keeper wishes he blasted the ball into the stand.
Three minutes later and Alloa are two up. McGowan is given far too much time to waltz down the left wing before cutting in onto his right foot and smacking a low drive into the bottom right hand corner. Things aren't looking good for Irons first match in charge and the fans sitting around us are more than a little critical of their teams performance so far.
A little later Alloa's Michael Dunlop reacts to a Quinn challenge on one of his teammates by getting right up in the face of Quinn and they have to be separated by the referee. The home fans try and wind up Dunlop by asking if he's left his handbag on the sidelines. The games got a bit of an edge to it now as there are a few tasty challenges flying in.
Bryan Prunty has the chance to kill the game of just before half time but his shot hits the inside of the keepers leg and goes behind.
Throughout the first forty five minutes we've had some old boy behind us commentating on the home teams performance. My dad reckons the Stenhousemuir board could have saved themselves a bit of money and got this boy into manage the team as he's got more than enough to say about things.
At half time I find out that yet again I don't have the winning ticket for the half time draw and that buying a second pie at Stenhousemuir is not a great idea. The second effort is nasty, so nasty in fact I don't bother to finish mine and so bad my dad knocks half a point of his original rating. The home made Lentil soup on the other hand is bloody brilliant.
Both teams come storming out in the second half and its the home side who have the first effort. Grant Anderson has a good run down the wing and his shoot from a tight angle is saved well by Robertson.
It seems as though those in charge at Ochilview can't have paid the electricity bill recently as the lights in the main stand keep flickering on and off. My dad reckons this may be a ploy to get the game abandoned.
A corner for the home team and the home fans give the cheer for Stevie Murray to use his height. I think this may be a sarcastic chant as Murray's only about 5ft 3 tall. My dad says this was the usual chant when Murray played at Kilmarnock earlier in his career. He'd probably been the only decent player on show for the home side so far and he's got a great left foot on him.
Remember the Alloa player Dunlop I mentioned earlier, well he crumpled to the floor after a soft challenge and a woman in the crowd shouts 'Come on Shrek, up you get'.
Alloa score their third goal with ten minutes to go and again the home keeper is at fault as he's beaten at the front by a fierce shot from David Gormley.
Sat a few rows in front of us are a group of young boys here with their Stenhousemuir supporting fathers. One of them leans over and asks his dad 'Can we go now?'. His dad responds with a 'have faith, there's still ten minutes to go'. Wishful thinking I'd have to say as his team have offered so little going forward in the previous eighty minutes.
Three minutes from time and they do at least get a consolation goal as Murray beats two on the left wing before sending a deep cross to the back post, it's met on the half volley by Anderson and he smashes it into the Alloa net.
Straight from the restart the home side win a corner and from this Gary Thom heads in at the back post. The unbelievable comeback may just be on.
The referee puts an end to things just as Alloa restart by blowing the whistle for full time. It's the right result in the end as apart from the last three minutes Stenny have offered little going forward and Alloa played the better football throughout the game.
The Statistics
Ticket: Adult £11, Concession £6
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 459
Pie: £1.30
Pie Marks: 6.5 / 10
Man of the Match: Dad, Malcolm & Peter - Stevie Murray (Stenhousemuir). Me - Stuart Noble (Alloa Athletic)
Final Score: Stenhousemuir 2 v Alloa Athletic 3
Mileage: 49 miles
Fascinating Fact of the Day: The first floodlight game in Scotland was played at Ochilview in November 1951 when Stenhousemuir played Hibernian
Next Game: Falkirk Stadium (Falkirk)
Sunday 2nd January
Scottish Division 2
After a period of two weeks without a game the matches are coming thick and fast now and we're off to our second game in two days today with a trip to watch Stenhousemuir play Alloa Athletic.
If we're lucky we'll be joined by my dad's mate Malcolm and his friend Peter at the game. Malcolm's my honorary Uncle seeing as he's a friend of my dads from way back. He's also a life long Stenhousemuir fan.
I meet my dad at his house at 1.20pm for the drive over to the Ochilview and we get to Stenhousemuir about ten past two. It is absolutely freezing outside so we stay in the car until twenty minutes to kick off before venturing outside into the cold.
After my dad poses for the pre-match photo, we make our way into the ground and decide to sit in the Norway Stand. It's named in recognition of the Norwegian branch of the Stenhousemuir Supporters Club - formed in 1992 by three blokes in Oslo.
After finding our seat I leave my dad to go hunt out a programme, a half time draw ticket and a pie before the game starts. The queue pre-match for the pie stand is already massive, hopefully a good sign as yesterdays effort at Tynecastle was a bit of a let down.
As I reach the front I get a tap on the shoulder and hear a voice asking 'where are you and your dad sitting then?'. I turn around to see Malcolm has made it to the game after all. I return to my seat with two pies for me and my dad and his face lights up to see his mate join us. As for the pie he reckons it's a seven out of ten, too crusty for him. I'd have given it slightly higher marks but he's in charge of the pie rating.
It's Davie Irons first game in charge of Stenhousemuir, he was only given the job on the 30th December. He's not had much time to get to know his players but he'll be hoping for a good performance from them today to lift them away from the wrong end of the table.
It's Alloa however who are first to test the oppositions keeper as a cross is floated into the box and Noble hits it side footed towards goal. The home keeper, Brown, does brilliantly to turn it on to the post and although the ball rebounds to an Alloa player, he can only manage to put it past the post.
Up the other end of the park, a great ball from Stevie Murray releases Paul Quinn and he's through on goal one on one with the keeper. He takes a shot first time and Robertson did well to save it with his legs.
Twelve minutes in and a moment of indecision from the Stenhousemuir keeper gave us the first goal. Brown waited and waited for the ball to reach the box so he could pick it up and Noble nicked in front of him and took the ball round him and tapped it in to the empty net. Looking back I bet the keeper wishes he blasted the ball into the stand.
Three minutes later and Alloa are two up. McGowan is given far too much time to waltz down the left wing before cutting in onto his right foot and smacking a low drive into the bottom right hand corner. Things aren't looking good for Irons first match in charge and the fans sitting around us are more than a little critical of their teams performance so far.
A little later Alloa's Michael Dunlop reacts to a Quinn challenge on one of his teammates by getting right up in the face of Quinn and they have to be separated by the referee. The home fans try and wind up Dunlop by asking if he's left his handbag on the sidelines. The games got a bit of an edge to it now as there are a few tasty challenges flying in.
Bryan Prunty has the chance to kill the game of just before half time but his shot hits the inside of the keepers leg and goes behind.
Throughout the first forty five minutes we've had some old boy behind us commentating on the home teams performance. My dad reckons the Stenhousemuir board could have saved themselves a bit of money and got this boy into manage the team as he's got more than enough to say about things.
At half time I find out that yet again I don't have the winning ticket for the half time draw and that buying a second pie at Stenhousemuir is not a great idea. The second effort is nasty, so nasty in fact I don't bother to finish mine and so bad my dad knocks half a point of his original rating. The home made Lentil soup on the other hand is bloody brilliant.
Both teams come storming out in the second half and its the home side who have the first effort. Grant Anderson has a good run down the wing and his shoot from a tight angle is saved well by Robertson.
It seems as though those in charge at Ochilview can't have paid the electricity bill recently as the lights in the main stand keep flickering on and off. My dad reckons this may be a ploy to get the game abandoned.
A corner for the home team and the home fans give the cheer for Stevie Murray to use his height. I think this may be a sarcastic chant as Murray's only about 5ft 3 tall. My dad says this was the usual chant when Murray played at Kilmarnock earlier in his career. He'd probably been the only decent player on show for the home side so far and he's got a great left foot on him.
Remember the Alloa player Dunlop I mentioned earlier, well he crumpled to the floor after a soft challenge and a woman in the crowd shouts 'Come on Shrek, up you get'.
Alloa score their third goal with ten minutes to go and again the home keeper is at fault as he's beaten at the front by a fierce shot from David Gormley.
Sat a few rows in front of us are a group of young boys here with their Stenhousemuir supporting fathers. One of them leans over and asks his dad 'Can we go now?'. His dad responds with a 'have faith, there's still ten minutes to go'. Wishful thinking I'd have to say as his team have offered so little going forward in the previous eighty minutes.
Three minutes from time and they do at least get a consolation goal as Murray beats two on the left wing before sending a deep cross to the back post, it's met on the half volley by Anderson and he smashes it into the Alloa net.
Straight from the restart the home side win a corner and from this Gary Thom heads in at the back post. The unbelievable comeback may just be on.
The referee puts an end to things just as Alloa restart by blowing the whistle for full time. It's the right result in the end as apart from the last three minutes Stenny have offered little going forward and Alloa played the better football throughout the game.
The Statistics
Ticket: Adult £11, Concession £6
Programme: £1.50
Attendance: 459
Pie: £1.30
Pie Marks: 6.5 / 10
Man of the Match: Dad, Malcolm & Peter - Stevie Murray (Stenhousemuir). Me - Stuart Noble (Alloa Athletic)
Final Score: Stenhousemuir 2 v Alloa Athletic 3
Mileage: 49 miles
Fascinating Fact of the Day: The first floodlight game in Scotland was played at Ochilview in November 1951 when Stenhousemuir played Hibernian
Next Game: Falkirk Stadium (Falkirk)
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