Le Tout P'ti FC

The 1,000 barrier has been burst for all competitions.

Average for league games 948.

Be afraid, be very afraid indeed. Linton Hotspur 10 Barca 1. Even Dundee United would take a result like that over Barca.

That was outstanding. A comfortable 3-0. Delighted to see Kieran score a double. He’s verging on a deity in these parts, and he’s a very nice man to boot. The opposition fans no doubt see him as a big cumbersome unit who makes a nuisance of himself. I’ve seen him coach a group of P1 kids and they absolutely loved his training. It’s great to see him play with a broad grin on his face. Huge crowd in today (2,000+), and hopefully this season is setting the foundation for a push upwards next season. I’ll be cheering on Albion Rovers for the play off.

Final push on Saturday. A win to secure 8th, a point to stay up in 9th. Either of which must count as a success for Year 1. A loss means Albion Rovers may be spared, and few could begrudge them that as they clearly had the better of the Rose over the course of the four meetings this season. Their 4-0 win at NDP was I think the biggest defeat of the season. The last visit of Elgin to NDP in November may, however, have marked the lowest ebb in an, at times, very long season. Elgin led 3-0 at HT after a defensive horror show, and at that point I think we all had the Rose condemned. Recent performances have been much more encouraging. The huge victory at Cliftonhill was hard fought and ultimately deserved on the day. (I still giggle sometimes at that daft offside decision against Kieran as the clock was being run down!) So overall a year of ups and downs. I will have made it along to 12 games by the season end, more than I’d perhaps imagined I would, but as Mantis said it is very handy having league games on the doorstep. Ps. yes, the pitch has a slope.

Looking forward to Linton Hotspur v Hawick Royal Albert being described as a Borders derby. Hawick is 46 miles away! (Every other team in that league is closer to West Linton than Hawick. The closest league team being Edinburgh College, at a mere 18 miles distant, and the closest EOSFL team being Penicuik at nine miles.) Had a walk past the ground this morning. Looks like they are putting up fencing to enclose the pitch. Couple of diggers down there as well, so something else is afoot. Excellent collection of spring lambs in the field next door, but currently no horses in the paddock, and no pigs next door either. The wintering geese have now left for the season, but they will be back and they use that field like a runway! (NB. The animals in the adjacent fields always outnumber the crowd at the game!)

Good grief. You go away from P&B for a few weeks and come back to find the team from your village has joined the EOSFL! I’m in no way ITK about them and will be as intrigued as you will be about where they will eventually settle in the pyramid! As a few others have commented, the ground is in top condition for joining the league at that level. There is a covered stand seating about 50, and uncovered standing / railed off from the pitch on either side thereof. Plus a small covered enclosure being built on the other side of the pitch (between the dugouts). Take say Ormiston, who have a very tidy ground. Linton Hotspur would I’d suggest mark a small improvement on that ground today, before any new works are completed. Some kind of building works are indeed taking place now behind the goal adjacent to the clubhouse. I expect the remainder of the pitch will need to be railed off and they might be doing something to expand the car parking behind the goals, judging by where the works taking place are. I’ll take a better look next time I wander past. The clubhouse itself is excellent. Changing rooms available for both teams and referees, showers and toilets. Kitchen area with pies (bring a change of clothes for gravy soaking) and best of all an honesty bar for cans of chilled T (they are not licensed so cannot sell booze). Plus a telly and a pool table. Playing surface is superb and very well maintained. A number of games will no doubt fall due to West Linton being amongst the coldest places on earth, but that besides I’d be surprised if a game is lost due to water logging. The one thing that will need a lot of work is the playing squad. I’ve seen the team a half dozen times or so since lockdown, and they’ve been solidly thrashed every time. Maybe I’ve picked bad games to watch, but I’d put them well behind the likes of Edinburgh College or West Calder from teams in that league I’ve recently seen. As regards where the facilities come from, my understanding is that the new primary school and some houses were built on their former pitch. The new ground is built on land which I believe was donated by a local farmer. So I’ve been told in the past. What is very evident is that the community aspect of the team is building every passing month. I regularly see a big turnout for the kids section and that’s ultimately what I suspect will be of most importance to the club. Crowds for games I’ve seen have hovered somewhere around 50 on average. Not tremendously well supported today, but then an EOSFL league team here could feasibly draw support from the nearby towns and villages of Carlops, Dolphinton, Biggar, Elsrickle and Broughton, so there’s a reasonable catchment area before you reach the neighbouring football teams in Penicuik, Peebles or Carluke. Before I go too far into my “Bonnyrigg where do I get parked” mode, the amenities of the village outwith the club for an away day fan are easily summarised. One pub in the centre, the Gordon Arms, and a co-op! That’s your lot. Local celebrities include me, and John Hartson lives just along the road. Not much else to add other than to wish them well. And to hope they draw Campbeltown Pupils away in a cup and let me have a seat on their bus!

No random matches for me last week. I was away scouting new clubs for the West of Scotland League. When this lot play Campbeltown Pupils, I can assure you I will be there home and away.

Port Ellen distillery is coming along. Just think, in only 10-12 years from now there might finally be a Port Ellen on the market that I can buy without remortgaging. There is also a rum distillery directly behind it which has newly opened since my last visit. Not sure how the other two “under construction” distilleries are coming along but I’ll hazard a guess that the one out by Bowmore isn’t.

Back on Islay.

Newtongrange Star 2 Stoneyburn 0 HT. South Challenge Cup, third round. Game started in style. Two goals, two shots off the bar, missed penalty. All before I could finish my steak and haggis pie! Has calmed down a touch since but has been very entertaining. EDIT - finished 5-3 Newtongrange AET. Defences were well on top.

Irvine Meadow XI 0 Cumnock 1. West of Scotland Cup, 1st Round. Always a pleasure to see the team wearing blue shirts, white shorts, and black socks with red trim get gubbed.

Cumnock 2 Pollok 2. Premier League. If we put aside the fact that Cumnock is not particularly random for me at this stage, given I’ve now seen them four times in little more than a month (and I’m going back to see them at Irvine Meadow on Saturday), this was an absolute belter of a game. Cumnock took the lead twice, Pollok’s second equaliser was ridiculously good, making their goals against Annan look like tap-ins. He absolutely leathered the ball, pleasingly clipping off the crossbar on the way in. Just a sensationally good goal. There was a camera there, would like to see it again. Both teams had chances to win that game. Really enjoyable game. And reader, I did get my bobble hat tonight, the last one they had in stock too. Result!

Search the band name on twitter on the afternoon of the gig and somebody will invariably post the stage times. Usually the band and/or the venue will post them up. Rough timings for a typical gig might be something like support 7:30-8:00 and main act 8:30-9:45. Varies a little from gig to gig, day of the week etc, but 10pm is usually a pretty good estimate of the curfew for the larger venues. Make sure you nip into the Laurieston Bar for a pre gig pint of Jarl! Enjoy the show.

Just received the worst news that Mimi Parker has passed away from ovarian cancer. I was at Low’s show at the Tramway in 2019, and it will rank as the high watermark for a gig memory in the 25 years I’ve been going to see gigs. A spellbinding night. May she rest in peace. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/30/low-review-tramway-glasgow

3-0 Elgin HT. Bongo look totally bereft of any confidence. Compounded by a howler of a goalie error for the second goal.

Did you get an onion pie? Made my night that did. Regretting not buying a bobble hat, they were very smart.

Cumnock 4 Dalry Thistle 0. West of Scotland Cup, Preliminary Round. After a drive through 1950s Lanarkshire, this was a comfortable win for Cumnock. Dalry didn't give up and had some nice moments in the second half. Highlight of the game was Cumnock winning a penalty at 4-0. Player was offside but ref played on. Keeper hacked the attacker down, was sent off, and the outfield player who went into goal saved the penalty. Love seeing an outfield player in goals!

I've only just noticed there's no floodlights. There used to be floodlights at Lesser?

Thank you, Daniel Gray. You have now taught me that Bovril was invented in Roslin. Now home in my mind of Dollie the Sheep, the Knights Templar and the Da Vinci code at Rosslyn Chapel, David Gray 90' +2, Brian from my school and bloody bovril. Without John Lawson Johnston and his inventive ways with beefy juice, this very website would bear a different name. This is footballing history right here near the Roslin Post Office. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/oct/20/snack-bars-galore-the-wonder-of-football-food#Echobox=1666262647

Stirling deserving of their win this afternoon. Stirling's goals coming either side of Bonnyrigg scoring (with their only shot on goal, after a well worked move). Crowd around me were doing their nut at Bonnyrigg constantly losing possession with balls lumped forward, when they seemed to have much more success when playing the ball to feet. Felt at times like Stirling could have pulled away, but Bonnyrigg did well to stay in the game. The next two games - Elgin (5th in table) at NDP, away to Forfar (8th) - look very significant indeed. Forthbank remains a cracking ground. Ageing quite well, accessible easily, friendly staff, good food. Plenty to like about it.

Accounts are not overdue yet. The club have applied to extended their accounts filing deadline to 31 December 2022, doubtless using the widely available three month Covid filing extension still offered upon application by Companies House. Very widely adopted by businesses, so I wouldn't call this underhand or a filing delay, as such, albeit not particularly best practice either.

Nitten Star 0 Hill of Beath Hawthorn 1. Fair outcome in a good Scottish Cup tie. Enjoyable day out.

Cumnock 1 Dumbarton 3. A match played in atrocious weather. Well done to the Dumbarton fans who endured that 90 minute long torrential downpour over on the bing. Cumnock played well at times but Dumbarton pulled away in the end.

Edinburgh South 4 Arniston Rangers 1. The rainbow leads to Paties Road. Good game so far. Every goal coming from a defensive calamity, and the Germans reduced to 10-men following an attempted murder over by the benches. Second half featured a crowd pleasing goal from the half way line.