ROT WEISS ESSEN (Stadion Essen)

REGIONALLIGA WEST, ROT WEISS ESSEN 1-2 ALEMANNIA AACHEN, ATTENDANCE: 10,580

It was over to Germany once again for a weekend involving three games. First up was a Friday night game under the lights at Essen.

The day started early with a 7.00am flight to Dusseldorf where, after making my way to the main station, I met up with a mate of mine, where we enjoyed a couple of alt-biers before catching a regional train for the 30 minute journey to Essen.

The journey involved changing at Duisburg, so it would have been churlish not to go and seek out the fabulous Finkenkrug bar with its fine selection of beers on tap.

Stadion Essen is about 5km from the main station but the train from Duisburg stops at Essen-Bergeborbeck, which is a 10 minute walk from the ground.

The ground was opened in 2012 and is approximately 100 metres from where the ground it replaced, the Georg Melches Stadion, once stood. The ground is another fine example of a modern football stadium. The original stadium was the first floodlit ground in Germany and there remains a solitary floodlight from the old ground to serve as a reminder to this proud fact.

Founded in 1907 as SV Vogelheim, out of the merger of two smaller clubs in SC Preussen and Deutsche Eichehe, the club became Rot Weiss Essen in 1923.

The club reached the one of the top flight leagues (Gauliga Niederrhein) in 1938 but the club's golden era was the 1950s when Essen won the DFB Pokal in 1953, before going on to win the German championship in 1955. This meant they were the first German club to qualify for the then newly created European Cup, where they were eliminated by Scottish champions Hibernian.

Rot Weiss Essen now find themselves plying their trade in the fourth tier of German football after a catalogue of financial problems. They were demoted to the fifth tier in 2010 after insolvency but had previously been demoted from 2.Bundesliga in 1984, 1991 and 1994 because of financial problems.

Tonight Rot Weiss Essen were hosting Alemannia Aachen, who themselves were not without problems in the recent past.

After an even opening half, it was Philip Gödde (52) who gave Aachen then lead when he was on hand to roll the ball home after an initial shot was saved by Niclas Heimann.

Benjamin Baier (55) scored a screamer to equalise for Essen. The ball broke loose to him on the edge of the box and the skipper took one touch before unleashing a dipping shot into the net. A superb strike.

Both teams went searching for a winner and it was Aachen who grabbed the victory with two minutes remaining.

Joy-Lance Mikels broke into into the box and was tripped. Penalty. Jerome Propheter stepped up to score. Essen did have a late chance but Gino Windmüller dragged his shot wide.

HAWICK ROYAL ALBERT (Albert Park)

LOWLAND LEAGUE, HAWICK ROYAL ALBERT 2-4 EAST STIRLINGSHIRE, ATTENDANCE: 287

From Musselburgh it was a trip down the winding, but very scenic, A68 to the borders town of Hawick. Built around the River Teviot which flows through the town, Hawick is more famous for it's Rugby (legendary commentator Bill McLaren was born, and died, in Hawick) but I was here for purely for the round ball game.

Hawick's Albert Park is adjacent to the Rugby ground and has a large old wooden seated stand, with the other three sides of ground grass banked. The stand was constructed using steel remnants left over from a fire at the Wilson & Glenny wool factory in 1959.

 photo courtesy of Lee Vaughan 

At the top of the stand there is the social club, which was absolutely rammed this evening, and the snack bar were selling absolutely superb Haggis pies. I know I shouldn't have, but...

Hawick Royal Albert were founded in 1947, after separating from Hawick Railway FC, and get their name from Larkhall based Royal Albert FC, Larkhall being the home of Hawick RA co-founder William Bunton.

The club have spent most of their history in the East of Scotland League but in 2016 they were one of the successful applicants for promotion to the expanded Lowland League, though they are currently near the foot of the table.

Hawick's opponents tonight were East Stirlingshire, who dropped into the Lowland League last year after losing the relegation play-off final to Edinburgh City. The Shire are up near the top of table but still well adrift of runaway leaders East Kilbride. A victory tonight will, mathematically anyway, keep the title race alive for another week.

It was a tremendous game to watch as both teams went on the attack from the off. Given the respective league positions of the teams, a Shire walkover was expected but it was The Royalists who took the lead after 13 minutes. A free kick was parried into the path of Hamish Hunter, who was on the spot to turn the ball home.

Andy Rodgers headed home East Stirlingshire level after 33 minutes, and it was scenes behind the goal as the dozen or so Shire fans celebrated. Shire had chances to take the lead but it was all square at the break.

After 58 minutes Kris Mitchell latched onto a through ball and just about generated enough power to prod the ball home to restore Hawick's lead. Shire applied the pressure but they couldn't find a way past Andy Jack in the Hawick goal, who pulled off a string of fine stops. However in the 76th minute substitute Jamie Glasgow finally found the net when he headed home an equaliser.

Shire finally got themselves in front for the first time with 10 minutes remaining when Hawick failed to clear their lines after a corner and the ball eventually found it's way to Rodgers whose shot nestled in the bottom corner of the net for his second of the night.

There was then an amusing moment when Hawick goalkeeper Jack went from hero to villain. Clearly feeling there was a foul in the build up to the goal, he was shown a yellow card for protesting to the referee and continued to vent his spleen, so was promptly shown a second yellow. He then had an almighty wobble as he walked off the pitch which involved kicking the post, hurling his shirt to floor and tossing his gloves away.

This obviously handed the initiative to Shire but it wasn't until stoppage time that they finally secured the points when Paul Sludden fired home their fourth goal.

A fine evenings entertainment and, as this was a "groundhop" game there were plenty of familiar faces amongst the crowd, so it was also good to have a catch up and a chat with those who had travelled from far and wide to be here. Until next time!!

MUSSELBURGH ATHLETIC (Olivebank Stadium)

SJFA EAST REGION SUPERLEAGUE, MUSSELBURGH ATHLETIC 1-2 BROXBURN ATHLETIC, ATTENDANCE: 263 (h/c)

Once again it was another Saturday north of the border. The big attraction was the chance to get to a couple of games in one day as there was another game taking place later in the evening.

After consultation with the other members of my travelling party we opted for Musselburgh Athletic v Broxburn Athletic as our aperitif. Musselburgh is 6 miles east of Edinburgh so for the second time in a week it was a journey up the A702.

After the events of earlier in the month when rain scuppered our planned game in Scotland, there was no danger today as the sun was beating down and East Lothian was bathed in glorious sunshine.

Founded in 1934, Musselburgh play at the Olivebank Stadium which has a a large covered enclosure on one side and concrete terracing on the other. There is a grass bank behind one of the goals but this is not in use for spectators but a few, including myself, did walk around to take a few snaps. The snack bar was doing a roaring trade in stovies but had gone by the time I got served so I had to make do with a pie, not that I didn't mind that!

At the start of play Musselburgh were 12th (out of 16) whilst Broxburn were in 6th position. The home side could probably do with picking up a few more points between now and the end of the season but it was the visitors who consolidated their position, coming from behind to win 2-1. The game was a typical end of season affair but was entertaining enough.

Declan O'Kane gave Musselburgh the lead after 17 minutes when he found space in the area to guide the ball into the corner of the net. Despite a few efforts from Broxburn, the home side held on to be leading at the break.

The second half began with the visitors on the attack and on 47 minutes they were level. Alexander Nimmo headed home and, despite the valiant efforts of goalkeeper Kieron Renton to claw the ball away, the officials agreed the ball had crossed the line.

Broxburn went ahead on 52 minutes when Kieran Anderson smashed home a free kick into the top corner from 25 yards. A superb strike. Musselburgh had late chances to snatch a point but Broxburn held on to secure the victory.

After leaving Musselburgh, it was a journey down to the Borders where Hawick Royal Albert were entertaining East Stirlingshire in a Lowland League clash, which kicked off at 7pm in the evening.

East of Scotland Qualifying Cup Final (Oriam, Riccarton)

FOOTBALL NATION QUALIFYING CUP FINAL, SPARTANS 2-1 LOTHIAN THISTLE HUTCHISON VALE, ATTENDANCE: 300 (est)

I was drawn to an historic occasion today as Scotland hosted a first ever senior cup final indoors. The Final of the 2017 Football Nation Qualifying Cup took place under the roof at the Oriam.

Oriam, which is Gaelic for gold, is Scotland's brand new national performance centre for sport, based at Heriot-Watt University's Riccarton campus in Edinburgh. The Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Rugby Union both use it as their new training facility.

The idea for the centre was first proposed in Henry McLeish's report into Scottish football and this venue was built in the mould of St George's Park, England's development centre at Burton-upon-Trent. Costing around £33m to build it is hoped that "a more technically proficient type of footballer" comes through to play for the Scottish national side.

The pitch is fully synthetic and the dimensions are supposedly same as Hampden Park. The arena is fully air conditioned and it was actually quite chilly watching the game. There are 500 seats for spectators, which are down one side of the pitch but they are raised above playing level so you are looking down on the action. It is a decent view from the seats. However, considering it was a major cup final, the atmosphere was very sterile. It all felt very strange indeed. 

The East of Scotland Qualifying Cup dates back to 1897/98 when Raith Rovers won the inaugural competition and it was set up as an eliminator competition to the East of Scotland cup, where the winners of the Qualifying cup had a chance to pit their wits against Scottish league sides such as Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian.

Over the years the so called big teams have withdrawn and now the winners of the Qualifying cup are playing for right to play either Edinburgh City or Berwick Rangers. Indeed, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale have already beaten Berwick Rangers in the semi-final of East of Scotland Cup before they have actually played the qualifying final!

East of Scotland League, and 2015 winners, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale were taking on Lowland League, and seven times winners, Spartans. Both teams are doing well in their respective leagues so a tight encounter was anticipated.

Arguably Spartans held a slight advantage as they play all of their home games on a synthetic surface but it was Lothian Thistle who dominated the first half proceedings. They took the lead after 9 minutes when John Sherlock's cross sailed over everyone and into the back of the Spartans net.

This come moments after Chris Townsley had crashed an effort against the Lothian crossbar and not long after they almost equalised but the woodwork again rescued Lothian as Alan Brown's effort came back off the post. Lothian had chances to extend their lead in the opening half and would come to rue those missed opportunities.

The Spartans must have had a half time roasting as they looked a yard faster in the second period. After 52 minutes they were level when Jack Beesley's cross was turned home by Scott Maxwell. As he scored, Maxwell collided with Lothian 'keeper Kevin Swain and there were some worrying moments as he lay there motionless before eventually getting to his feet.

He had fully recovered and by the 64th minute he was crossing the ball for Ross Allum to fire home what proved to be the winner. Lothian Thistle had late chances to force extra time but Spartans held on to take the cup back to Ainslie Park.

A worthwhile trip to the Scottish capital but I am not sure I would want to watch football in this type of environment on a more regular basis.

ARDEER THISTLE (Ardeer Stadium)

WEST REGION AYRSHIRE DISTRICT LEAGUE, ARDEER THISTLE 4-2 WHITLETTS VICTORIA, ATTENDANCE: 79 (h/c)

Another surprise today
was the availability of
a programme. An
excellent read and
clearly a labour of love.

Today was a long planned trip north of the border, with an intended stopover in Penrith en route home, in order to have a wee drink with a motley crew of fellow groundhoppers.

Penrith has been our rest stop every time we return from Scotland and it has been a long standing joke that, due to the large number of pubs in the town, we should book a hotel and have a night on the ale.

When, last year, one of our party was diagnosed with cancer it was decided that once he was back on his feet after surgery then the time would finally be right to have that night out in the town.

It was also right that it was his call for which game would be the afternoons entertainment. However, the atrocious wet weather that had battered the country overnight Friday into Saturday certainly threw a spanner into the selection process.

Prior to setting off, the unanimous choice of game was Maryhill v Linlithgow in the Scottish Junior Cup, but that bit the dust (for the third week in a row incidentally) so an alternative had to be sought. As we crossed the border into Scotland we still had no firm idea of where we were heading.

Reading tweets from various clubs in the area it seemed that the Ayrshire coast had avoided the worst of the deluge so, after consultation between the various hoppers heading up the motorway, it was decided that Ardeer Thistle was the destination of choice.

Once a town in it's own right, Ardeer now forms part of the town of Stevenston and was famous for the manufacturing of explosives. Established in 1871 by Alfred Noble, he of the Noble prize, the British Dynamite Factory employed 13,000 people at its peak but has long since closed.

The company became part of ICI in the 1920's and the Ardeer Stadium was the company's recreation ground and was home to the now defunct Ardeer Recreation FC. In the 1970's Ardeer Thistle moved into the vacant ground and it has been their home ever since.

Formed in 1900, this is Thistle's second home in the town. They moved here because their original Ardchoille Park home suffered from vandalism, effectively leaving them homeless.

The Ardeer Stadium is another fine example of a Scottish Junior ground with a small piece of cover and vast open terracing. I have said it many times, you just don't get grounds like this south of the border as the health and safety brigade would probably have a fit!

The club compete in the West Region Ayrshire District League, which is the third level of this regional set up.

Today Ardeer were hosting Whitletts Victoria just two weeks after they last played each other at Dam Park, where Ardeer won 3-2. Whitletts are in the hunt for promotion, lying in second place at the start of play, whilst Ardeer are ensconced in mid-table. A victory was probably of greater significance for the visitors.

Both teams went for it from the off with chances at either end but the first goal didn't arrive until the 36th minute, triggering a spell of 5 goals in 18 minutes.

A Ryan Morrow penalty (pictured left) gave Ardeer the lead before he doubled their advantage just a minute later with a fine strike from outside the box.

In the 41st minute Whitletts were awarded a penalty of their own and Tony Balfour duly converted (pictured right).

Right on half time though the Whitletts defence failed to clear the ball and, as it fell loose in box, Lee Munro smashed it home.

The game was effectively over in the 54th minute when David Henry headed home a superb cross to score Ardeer's fourth. The pace of the game dipped after this though Ardeer had chances to extend their lead.

Whitletts did reduce the deficit in the 84th minute when Niall Kennedy fired home the rebound after his initial penalty was saved by Paul McGann (pictured right).

In stoppage time, Whitletts' Munya Mbanje was sent off for retaliating to a bad tackle and, in the melee that followed,  Ardeer's previously substituted Jack Robertson was also 'sent off' for running onto the pitch and appearing to aim a punch at a Vic's player. An unsavoury ending to a very fine match.

The players observe a minutes silence prior to kick off for
former Ardeer physio Sammy McKee, who passed away recently.