TonyTaylor

I had been working in Turriff 83-86 and became a Dons regular, pitying the Dundee, Hibs etc fans trudging over the dunes to the Beach End to get an inevitable beating. By 87, I was back in the west watching Accies lose all over the country. That day, we should have scored a second, Gerry Collins falling over his feet, with an open goal. Rangers, mind you, could have scored a hatful. Incidentally, we had our two best footballers, Gerry McCabe and Alex Taylor on the bench that day.

Maybe, but not at the game they never. None of us in the west really rated them until they proved themselves against Hearts in the SC semifinal in 1974.

Brian Rice, incontrovertibly number 1. Gifted creator as player, was the brains behind whatever good football John Hughes’ teams played. Insists on attacking, entertaining play. Has beaten or drawn with Rangers twice in a year, and but for 8 isolated incidents would have done so again. Unlucky against a strong Stranraer team, immediate bounced back against local rivals Albion Rovers with a hat trick by Admin. Wrongfoots opponents by selections indecipherable to the producers of 321. Step forward, Sir Brian...... NURSE !!!!!!!............

Yeah fair play to Saints. Their away support in particular for the rest of the season ( not just Fir Park ) was sensational. Friend of mine travelled all the way from Dumfries to Dens in midweek for Div 1 promotion or Championship, without any way of getting home that night.

To survive this season, with the loss of experienced players, I thought the youngsters would have to come through quickly. Only Hamilton has, Smith is a huge loss, and Mimnaugh threatens to kick on but hasn’t yet done so. So, I’m pleasantly surprised to be in the mix to avoid relegation.

They got in early and stayed the whole game.