Saturday's league action was not without it's drama. Falkirk finally got a win under their belt as they beat Hearts 2-1. It was very much a case of the old guard holding the fort while the young 'uns got on with the business of scoring. Jackie McNamara played a cracking game by all accounts, as did goal scorer (and former Hearts player Nell McCann) while Darren Barr, Kevin McBride and scorer of the winning goal Scott Arfield all put in winning displays for the Bairns.
Aberdeen are still looking for their first win at home as they went down 2-1 to Hamilton. An early lead through Gary McDonald was cancelled out thanks to some sloppy defending by Considine and Forster allowing first Davie Graham and then highly-rated youngster James McCarthy to nip in and steal the three points. It looks like being another one of those seasons of crazy highs and absurd lows for Jimmy Calderwood's men, as Aberdeen continue their inconsistent season.
They Dons next face Dundee United in the New Firm derby, a game that has somewhat lost it's shine since the resurgence of the Old Firm, but nevertheless, this is a game that always gets the passion going. United are bottom of the league, the result of their 2-1 defeat away to Hibernian at the weekend. Two goals from Stephen Fletcher proved enough for Mixu's team. Lee Wilkie got the consolation goal for United. Two noteworthy events - the sending off of Hibs débutante Souleymane Bamba just after the restart and the return of former Easter Road favourite Derek Riordan to the green-and-white. Riordan has just returned from Parkhead exile and though he looked as sluggish and unfit as something that's particularly sluggish and unfit, his presence on the pitch boosted the Easter Road side in a game from which they where largely absent. United where perhaps unlucky to lose the game: Ma-Kalambay in the Hibs goal had a good game, while the United strikers couldn't strike a cow's arse with a banjo, missing a few sitters that even Inside Left could have put away.
Kris Boyd continued his run of fine form as he scored twice against his old side as he helped Rangers beat Kilmarnock 2-1 at Ibrox. Alan McGregor was to blame for Killie's goal when he misjudged the bounce of the ball, allowing Frazer Wright to drive home from three yards out. Rangers fought back though and eventually got the three points with two goals in four minutes as Boyd converted a spot kick and then fired home from close range shortly afterwards.
Celtic and Motherwell got ready for their European games in midweek when they faced each other at Fir Park. Celtic powered into an early lead, going into half-time with a four goal advantage, Shaun Maloney, Scott McDonald and two goals from Georgios Samaras getting the goals. John Sutton and David Clarkson restored some pride for Motherwell after the break, but all in all, not the best way to get ready for your first European game since 1995.
The only other team in the SPL not to have won a game, won their game on Saturday. St. Mirren came from behind to beat Inverness Caley Thistle up in Inverness. Caley took the lead through an Adam Rooney penalty before Billy Mehmet restored parity after the break. Despite Caley starting the second half the stronger of the two teams it would be St. Mirren that would have the most to cheer about when Garry Brady connected well with a Stephen McGinn cross and put the ball high into the Caley net.
In the First Division there was a win at long last for St. Johnstone as they overcame Ross County 2-1 up in Dingwall. The games between Dundee and Dunfermline and Morton against Queen of the South all ended goalless, fortunately for Livingston who remain top thanks to those results despite going down 2-1 at home to Airdrie Unied.
In the Second Division there where derby day wins for Brechin who beat Arbroath 3-1 in a game that saw one player sent off following his somewhat vocal protests against referee John McLean's decision to disallow a goal that had - according to the Arbroath players anyway - clearly crossed the line. Stirling Albion emerged the winners in their game against Alloa (3-2) while elsewhere there where wins for Peterhead and Ayr United. The game between Raith Rovers and East Fife ended one goal apiece.
There were more crap refereeing performances in the Third Division in the game between Forfar and Montrose. Referee Garry Hilland made two decisions of such shocking ineptitude: the first, when he overruled his linesman after Forfars Johnny Russell was scythed down in the penalty box, and the second when he red-carded Montrose's Chris McLeod for a tackle that at most would have earned a yellow card. League leaders Stenhousemuir had a comfortable win against East Stirlingshire, while Cowdenbeath, Annan and Dumbarton all recorded victories in their games against Berwick Rangers, Elgin City and Albion Rovers respectively.
European Games
Celtic and Motherwell are all in action this week in Europe. Celtic start the ball rolling when they take on Danish side AaB Aalborg in their opening game in the Champions League. Gordon Strachan has a full strength squad to chose from as he hopes to break the Hoops' jinx of never having won an opening fixture in this competition. Perhaps lucky then that they're playing Aalborg tonight. The Danes are currently ninth in their domestic league, just one place above Nordsjaelland, the team that put out Queen of the South in the Uefa Cup.
Motherwell kick of their European adventure against French side Nancy tomorrow evening. Mark McGhee's team have not exactly been setting the heather alight in the league so far so they should expect a tough game tomorrow night. Nancy - AS Nancy Lorraine, to give them their full title - are well down the table in France at the minute, having only won one of their last seven games so far.
Highland League
The Highland League management committee meets tomorrow evening to review the submissions of the two Aberdeenshire Junior outfits who have applied to join the League. Regulars readers of Inside Left will know that the Highland League intends to move to 16 teams in time for the 2009/10 season and both Formartine United and Turriff United - the two sides that have applied - are strong candidates. Turriff United, currently 11th in the Superleague after drawing their first two games, play their homes games at the 1,000 capacity The Haughs ground. Managed by former Peterhead goalkeeper Jim Will, Turriff have a ground that nearly meets league criteria and have planning permission to put up new floodlights. According to Turriff chairman George Manson, the club also have a better league record than their Pitmedden based rivals. The town of Turriff lies at the point where the Burn of Turriff flows into the River Deveron and is situated roughly midway between the towns of Huntly, Keith, Banff and Inverurie, towns that already have a Highland League presence, making for a potentially interesting local rivalry.
The Highland League currently has an uneven number of teams, so accepting both teams would not present too many logistical issues when making up the league schedules. The league may however chose to wait until a third team submits an application, eventually ending up with an 18-team league. Elgin City, Alness, Golspie Sutherland and Banks O'Dee are among the other teams widely tipped as favourites to considering making an application. (Elaine Garrow)
No comments:
Post a Comment