Le Tout P'ti FC

Clyde FC. Losing with grace and dignity since 1877.

Campbeltown Pupils 2 Easterhouse FA 0. Not a classic, but as Rabbie Burns said: a win is a win for a’ that.

Regular readers of the Whisky for Breakfast thread will know that I made good on the above promise. I’m here, to watch the much coveted 78th v 77th tie in Tier 10. I’m ready to do minute by minute commentary for Open All Microphones… My first ever house, when I was as baby, about a million years back, was in Baillieston just the other side of the M8 from Easterhouse. So this tie becomes a sort of win-win for me. Up the 77.5ths!

Campbeltown. No car. Few hours to kill before the football. What to do?

Made it to the Isle of Gigha today. It was a mixture of superb and underwhelming. Only had time to explore the southern end (Achamore Gardens etc), so scope to revisit to complete the northern half of the island. Bit disappointed to see some blockage of an established right of way at Cuddyport Beach. Haven’t seen that for a while. Evening mini-cruise to and from Islay. Had some Calmacaroni for tea, and waved to a pod of dolphins. Can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday evening!

Newtongrange Star 0 West Calder United 1. One of those stodgy cup ties where you start checking your phone after ten minutes to try to find out whether there was a risk of Extra Time. I’ll wake up tomorrow and probably struggle to recall any details about this game. There was one exceptional save by the West Calder goalie which prove to be one of the very few chances for Star. Even the Star goalie coming up for some late corners never broke out into much in the way of excitement. West Calder rumble through to the next round.

It’s going to become a familiar refrain - nice setup, nice pies, lovely view, shame about the defence… They just have to knuckle down and take their beatings for a while. Eventually they’ll get some points on the board. As I left I saw a couple of kids cycle past wearing their “Hotspur Summer Camp” T-shirts. How good is that to see? With the camp and the youth teams, plus the community events they hold, they are putting their roots deeply into the community now, to see what grows out of that in 5-10 years time.

God bless you translate button!

Linton Hotspur 0 Pumpherston 5 HT. A relentlessly one-sided blue and white hooped tide as the home team took the game to the visitors… Until the Pumpherston keeper saved that 1st minute penalty, before Pumpherston stole upfield to score five breakaway goals. A dismal affair! Crowd is about 100, most of whom must have a longer journey home than me, for once. Huzzah! Half tempted to head home and make a start on a new book and crack open a dram to salvage a bit of the night, but also half tempted to stay here for the macabre interest of whether Pumpherston can hit 10. I suspect so, so I’m here until the grim finale! FT 0-7.

Trip South today to Sanquhar to make a rare visit to the mysterious and exotic South of Scotland League. Nithsdale Wanderers v Lochar Thistle, via the Crawick Multiverse. An unusual combination, but in a multiverse anything is feasible I would suppose. I’ve noticed that I stand at the very border between the South and the West leagues. Kello Rovers are a mere three miles away. The trip down on the funfair style B740 from Abington was a delight for my nerves. Might be the narrowest dual carriageway of them all, and I’m well used to country roads. Jeezo. Decent game so far. Wanderers leading 2-0 at HT, which seems to offer an upset given they finished at opposite ends of the table last season. Lorimer Park is austere. Two dugouts and a couple of ropes strung up inside the four lane athletics track. Wee clubhouse which seems to have more punters inside than watching the game. Crowd is about 40. The last pie went to the chap in front of me in the queue, and some would allege he only gained that place ahead of me in a somewhat underhand manner (i.e. he pushed past me like a Morningside auntie at the Jenners linen sale). But other than hoping he chokes on his delicious looking pie, I don’t bear a grudge. Only £4 to get in, so I have no complaints. Good day out!

Cumnock 2 Pollok 2. Quite an entertaining game at Townhead Park. Four goals, two red cards, onion pie for tea. Quite a new looking Cumnock team, who played brilliantly once down to 10. Enjoyable night.

Whitehill Welfare 2 Blackburn United 1. Game ended with a 97th minute winner. A Blackburn defender sclaffed a clearance inside his own box and, as the other Blackburn defenders paused to continue their debate about the merits of the latest pyramid restructuring proposal, Whitehill snuck in to poke the ball goalwards, the ball proceeding to trundle in despite the goalie’s best endeavours. I love a 97th minute winner. Even more dramatic than the courtroom scenes in Oppenheimer.

Your match has made the news here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66352632

Tam, you’re not going to like this. Are you sitting down? Gillespie’s the Butcher is the pie supplier to that franchise team in Livingston. Via their shop in Forth rather than the one in West Linton. The Linton Hotspur pie is provided by the Pyet Deli in town. It really is a very good pie! I’ll have to go back to more games there now.

At the Linton Hotspur v West Calder Utd game. The park is looking very smart indeed. Edit - 0-3 at HT. The pie was superb. Home defence is not the best. Could be a long afternoon for them.

There is a corner of Penicuik park which those of a Talbot persuasion might be interested in. If this picture hasn’t rendered too clearly, there is a wee bio of the deceased on the left, and a poem on the right. Big Talbot crest in the centre. Commemorates a local councillor whose family hail from Auchinleck. His father worked in the Barony with my Papa.

A big thread of random matches in the West.

There’s a #31 bus from the High St at 5:05pm which will get you to Waverley with ten minutes to spare. If that feels a bit tight for your timings, these guys will get you there in 20 minutes: https://aerialabwcabs.co.uk Not sure about Uber, I’ve never tried to use it from there.

Linton Hotspur 1 Leith Athletic 7.

Nefarious methods used to keep Bonnyrigg at bay today.

At Peffermill, in the formerly chocolate ginger scented shadow of the Simmers biscuit factory, for the opening day league encounter between Edinburgh University and Civil Service Strollers. Edinburgh took the lead in the… Ach sod that. It’s the home baking report we’re all here for. The key choice today was between a scone with cream and jam, or a truffle. Pies and sausage rolls also available for the savoury minded. I chose the truffle and was told, and I quote, “that’s the best thing you will ever eat”. A high bar, as I’ve eaten a cheese and ham toastie from the Bruichladdich Mini Market after a three hour walk along Kilnallan Point in the freezing rain, and let me tell you that little heated pocket of joy went down well that day. The truffle was indeed decent, if not life changing. A snip for 50p, and I don’t regret my choice. Some strange goings on down the far end. There is the gang of the these days ubiquitous Ultras, with their wee drum - on which none of their summer holiday has been wasted on practice - and their very limited repertoire of chants, which even they tired of after a couple of minutes. Setting them apart is the Irish flag. Not sure if they are being ultra fanatical about the team deriving from the British Government clerical division, or the team deriving from the Russell Group ancient university. Neither institution strikes me as a hotbed of the Irish diaspora, but who am I to question their motives. Nil trains have passed thus far, but we have one half to go, so there remains time. FT: Students 3 Strollers 4. (No trains.)

Preparations in West Linton are gearing up. Somebody has bought some wee stickers to adorn the new Football Stadium road signs. I can tell you for a fact that you won’t be getting lost if you come to a game here. Had you missed the big football stadium looking thing, very visible from the main road as you entered the village, the wee stickers will surely see you right.

One more for the road before I begin my journey Holm.

JOG FC

Holm FC. At the side of a Churchill Barrier and a Harry Kane penalty kick away from the Italian Chapel. Glorious. Match was me vs the wee man. Always bring a ball in your car boot!