The_Judge

On Saturday lunchtime I left East Kilbride, a prosperous new town in South Lanarkshire, bathed in warm sunshine and drove the 53 miles to Cowdenbeath, Fife. A once proud but now weary town, cloaked in black cloud and being hammered by driving rain. That weather pattern persisted more or less constantly for the next three hours. I was there to give my support to East Kilbride FC bidding to make history by adding their name to the list of 20 full time, 21 part time and 1 amateur team that make up the current configuration of the SPFL. Cowden' started with pace and hunger and took the lead after only 3 minutes. This earned them the privilege of running down the clock at every opportunity. Much of East Kilbride's success this season has been built on a passing game with pace on both flanks courtesy of Strachan and Winter. Cowdenbeath, under the guidance of Gary Locke, were an adversary of a higher standard than they normally played. Their physical power and speed coupled with the danger they presented in attack clearly ruffled EK and forced them into punting long balls forward. The aerial contest between Victoria and McLaughlin was a mismatch in favour of the defender and he was rarely troubled via that route. As the game wore on EK managed to put some passing moves together at which time they looked their most dangerous. The match came to life after EK equalised and was a really enjoyable end to end battle with every player giving their all. Getting to penalties seemed to be as much as anyone could've asked. I'm disappointed for many of the players who have performed so well week in week out this season...It's been a real squad effort but I'd have to highlight Barry Russell, David Proctor, Kieran Gibbons, Sean Winter and Adam Strachan for their efforts. Cowdenbeath played well and held their nerve and I have no complaints about their victory. Their fans turned out in numbers to support them and I hope they had a great celebration last night. If there was a suggestion box at the ground I'd decry the fact that it wasn't possible to buy a half time pie....only Burgers or Chips!?.....and that they should invest in some additional spare footballs.

SAT, 20 MAY 2017SCOTTISH LEAGUE TWO - PLAY-OFF FINAL - 2ND LEG Cowdenbeath 1 - 1 East Kilbride Mullen (3) Gibbons (64) AET: HT 1-0 FT 1-1 Cowdenbeath win 5-3 on penalties Cowdenbeath manager Gary Locke: "I don't think it's really anything to celebrate. The chairman is a flamboyant character, and when I came to the club, he said, we're in the play-offs, just win them for us. "Credit to the players, they've battled really hard over the two games. East Kilbride were fantastic, I certainly feel if they came up they'd be top-four or top-five team in this league. "So it was a really difficult two games, it gets to be a bit of a lottery when it goes to penalties, but I'm delighted the club's kept their place in the league, because the consequences of going down would've been pretty tough, I'd have thought". East Kilbride manager Martin Lauchlan: "It's devastating - we put so much into the game. We lost a goal early - the worst possible start we could've had. "I think our fitness levels looked terrific. It's so difficult to get to this point, with so many play-off games, and to get here and lose it is tough. "I think they showed in the game they're well capable of playing at this level, but we're bitterly disappointed". Cowdenbeath East Kilbride Possession 46% 54% Shots 14 11 On Target 5 4 Corners 12 9 Fouls 13 9

Oooft...so many good chances

In a fair world maybe. That outcome would tell the league 2 teams that they are safe and unlikely to be relegated with the current system. They'd be in no rush to change to a system that might make relegation more likely where as if it's clear that being relegated is a genuine danger they'll want to mitigate the risk by ensuring there's a decent chance of getting back up.

Congratulations to Arbroath .

Jings...talk about doing things the hard way!! An excellent early goal and a worldy second before a freak own goal. We ended up playing against 9 men but too often nerves took over when a simple pass was required. An excellent away support who passionately backed their team. As I said in a previous post they are a very good side and as Highland league champions I wish them well.

Listened to most of the weeks podcasts...the lowlights were Jackson believing that 'at the moment' Kieran Tierney would struggle with physicality in the EPL against players like YAKUBU?! and that Rangers wage bill had "gone up from 6 or 7 million in the championship to 11 million..it's more than doubled"? Tom English's crime was to criticise the fact that the shortlists for player (and young player) of the year are limited to 4 places and then state he'd struggle to add any other young players to the list of 4. I don't think I could do better than these guys but I expect them to be better. Football journalism doesn't seem like such a difficult gig.

Played there a few times in my younger days. Always a tough match but always a great day out to boot.

As expected Buckie looked a very good side and will probably feel they should have at least kept their lead if not extended it. Was never a penalty for me but I'm just a fan not a referee and Angus did have more than one incident where he had trouble keeping his balance .

Probably for the best that the Buckie logo obscured the 'gesture' from the young lad in the grey top after EK's first goal .

TICKET SALES INFORMATION EAST KILBRIDE FC v BUCKIE THISTLE Lowland / Highland League Play-off, 2nd leg East Kilbride FC v Buckie Thistle Saturday 6th May, 3pm Kick-off at K-Park The sale of the home allocation of tickets for the above stated match will commence at K-Park from 6pm on Friday 28th April. Tickets cannot be reserved and are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. Please not that tickets will be sold on a cash-only basis. This match is not included on the current East Kilbride FC season ticket, but season ticket holders are guaranteed the option to purchase a ticket, and can do so by visiting K-Park. The sale of away tickets for this match will be handled directly by Buckie Thistle.

Matchday 30 - Saturday 22nd April - East Stirlingshire (A) East Stirlingshire 3 - 2 East Kilbride FC Goal scorers for Kilby were Martin McBride & Russell McLean

I've been following the League 2 forum over the second half of the season and in particular the last 6 weeks. The Clyde, Cowdenbeath and now Berwick forums have all followed a similar path as their teams got closer to the bottom of the table.....players are shite/manager is shite/ board are shite. Despite the fact you're still very much in the mix you seem to have a more relaxed attitude to the fact it's a competition and someone has to finish in 10th place without it necessarily being a result of incompetence or inability.

Matchday 29 - Saturday 15th April - The Spartans (H) East Kilbride FC 2 - 0 Spartans Goal scorers for Kilby were Paul Woods and Declan McManus.

Well done Thistle. A genuine good news story for Scottish Football this season .

Oh yeah and apparently John 'Bomber' Brown the former Hamilton, Dundee and Rangers defender won the half time 50/50 draw

South Challenge Cup, semi-final result - Saturday 8th April East Kilbride FC - 3 Lothian Thistle HV - 1 Goal scorers for Kilby were Joao Victoria, Paul Woods & Kieran Gibbons. EK will now face Cumbernauld Colts in the final on Sunday 28th May.

Not having that. Almost all players would rather be the guy on the pitch than the guy off it.

Cheers fellas, it has been a very good season and it says a lot for you that despite us having only lost 2 league games all season it's still not been secured until today. It marks a real high point for us and in terms of the history of the club it's a proud achievement but with the prize of a place in SPFL Division 2 up for grabs it's hard not to think what if...............

Matchday 26 - Tuesday 21st March - Hawick Royal Albert (H) East Kilbride FC 2 - 1 Hawick Royal Albert Goal scorers for Kilby were Sean Winter and Russell McLean. Matchday 27 - Saturday 25th March - Civil Service Strollers (A) Civil Service Strollers 1 - 1 East Kilbride FC Goal scorer for Kilby was Sean Winter. Matchday 28 - Saturday 1st April - Gala (A) Gala 1 - 6 East Kilbride FC Goal scorers for Kilby were Victoria [3], Woods [2] and Howie.

South Challenge Cup Quarter Final result Threave Rovers - 1 East Kilbride FC - 5 Goal scorers for Kilby were Paul Woods (2) Russell McLean (2) and Joao Victoria Another midfielder scoring a double on his debut.

East Kilbride FC sign Paul Woods after his Queen's Park exit. East Kilbride FC have secured the signing of midfielder Paul Woods following his exit from Queen's Park. Yesterday the East Kilbride News revealed how Woods was released by the Hampden outfit after a bust-up with Spiders boss Gus MacPherson in their 3-1 defeat at Brechin last week. Woods stormed off the pitch after being substituted and drove straight home to East Kilbride with his wife and parents. Despite an apology to MacPherson for his outburst, the club decided to part company with him. And now Kilby boss Martin Lauchlan has swooped to snap up the 30-year-old on a deal until the end of the season. Lauchlan told the News: "We wanted someone with the experience of playing in League One and Two as we push for the title and Paul is a player who has excelled at that level with Queen's Park. "I know his time with Queen's Park ended in a disappointing manner for him, but we are delighted he has decided to join us. "He will excite the fans with his skill and ability. "I'm sure he will make a major impact for us going forward." http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/east-kilbride-fc-sign-paul-9981988

Matchday 25 - Saturday 4th March - BSC Glasgow (A) BSC Glasgow 1 - 1 East Kilbride FC Goal scorer for Kilby was Joao Victoria.

Matchday 24 - Saturday 25th February - Stirling University (H) East Kilbride FC 5 - 0 Stirling University Goal scorers for Kilby were Joao Victoria, Russell McLean, BJ Coll,, Sean Winter & Ross McNeil.

You've every right to be delighted with last nights victory....but.....whilst you're playing in the second tier of Scottish football this result just looks like a cup shock.