KH4

You can't fault Higginbothams effort, he approaches games with an almost maniacal energy about him and he's very vocal. I can't remember any instances where he's gone missing and hasn't been involved in a game. He'll be an important player this season, especially with losing Easton. I heard next Saturdays opposing manager Dick Campbell banging on about Arbroath being the best part time club in the country after the United game. He might be right, but it'll be interesting to see how well Kelty compete.

That was an excellent result today, with some encouraging performances. Alfredo lacked a wee bit of composure with his first few touches of the ball when he first came on but he quickly found his feet and he took his goal exceptionally well. Forster was well involved in the game as well, it was good to see players coming off the bench and having an impact. A few possible picks for MOTM for me with Higginbotham just edging it. Maybe a couple of additions at the back and we'll be there or thereabouts.

Interesting discussion, its clear that some things need to change with the pyramid system, both in terms of how it operates and how its percieved. A lot of people see it as a black hole, and at the moment i can understand that outlook. Theres been a siesmic shift in football below League Two level in particular the lowland region, and the pieces are still falling into place. The LLs original incarnation was essentially a south of scotland premier league full of teams a level above St Cuthberts, plus a couple of University teams and familiar names like Whitehill Welfare and Spartans among others. Dalbeatie Star, Vale of Leithen, Gala, Threave, Selkirk, Gretna, Preston, Stirling and Edinburgh Uni, Edinburgh City, Spartans, Whitehill and East Kilbride was the inaugural line up. In a short space of time, the Lowland League has come on leaps and bounds through a mix of promotiom from EOS and relegation from League Two, and if we're not at the point where theres parity of esteem with the Highland League they arent far off it. Two things need to happen, the structures below the lowland league need to become established with real opportunities for the best teams to progress, and the lowland league needs to quickly reflect the reality of non league football and that process needs to be accelerated. Once people can look at the lowland league and say with certainty that its a fair, competitive league featuring the best clubs, i dont expect therell be much difference between League Two and the Lowland league in terms of finance and prestige. We cant wait years for this to happen though, and the debacle with the B Teams wont help. Theyd be as well ripping the whole thing up and starting from scratch if theyre putting sporting merit aside. If Celtic and Rangers B teams can be invited, why cant Linlithgow and Talbot. Both clubs would bring far more to the league than the Old Firm B teams, and there are many others beside them.

The guys clearly hurting. He's had this recurring nightmare about Kelty getting into the league. A haunting image of grubby banknotes with Steven Gerrards face on them being dropped over New Central Park from a blue helicopter whilst Rivaldo and Winston Bogarge scoop up handfulls of cash. Its almost certainly had him waking up in a cold sweat most mornings. Today hes woken up and realised that its actually happened and hes understandably upset. Tragic.

That was a rough 90 minutes. Brechin done well considering they were playing with 10 men for so long. Its only when Brechin opened up a bit later in the game that Kelty looked like they might get a goal. Really pleased Kelty managed to win all 4 play off games. A pre season and maybe some strength in depth up front and i reckon we'll make a decent go of it next year. Kelty making the SPFL was never a foregone conclusion. The playoffs are a tough hurdle to clear if you actually win the league, and winning the league is only going to get tougher. I am going to miss the lowland league. Some decent clubs and interesting grounds to visit, ive thoroughly enjoyed the past few years.

Looking forward to the game but im a bit nervous. I think that Brechin exceeded expectations for a lot of people, but they did play 11 competitive games of football over march and april whilst i think im right in saying Kelty werent training. Anyone thats trained for any kind of sport could tell you that missing months of training will impact performance even if youre doing your best to keep fit at home or in the gym. Agree with the comments about Kelty in the final third, I felt that Kelty recycled the ball a bit too much and id have prefered we risked losing possesion with some foward play at times rather than sending it back to defence to go again. That said, on the occasions we did recycle the ball it was typically because there werent enough good options in the box or there wasnt enough movement. Philp dropping into defence maybe hindered our ability to get up the park as the runs he was making up the middle were effective. Reid and Hooper were both excellent at the back and took care of problems before they got going on Tuesday and Brechin are definitely outmatched in this particular area. This really could go either way today, Kelty are definitely favourites in terms of quality and aggregate score but its extremely tight.