CULTER FC (Crombie Park)

SCOTTISH JUNIOR FA NORTH REGION PREMIER DIVISION, CULTER 3-2 ROTHIE ROVERS, ATTENDANCE: 104 (h/c)

I headed up to north east Scotland for a couple of midweek matches, the first being in the suburbs of Aberdeen as current North Region champions Culter FC hosted Rothie Rovers at Crombie Park.

Culter FC are based in the village of Peterculter, which is about 8 miles from Aberdeen city centre. The history of the football club can be traced back to 1891 when the local newspaper, the Bon Accord, reported that Culter played out a 2-2 draw with Stanley on New Year's Day 1891.

Culter were founder members of the Aberdeen Amateur FA in 1947/48 and in May 1948 the pitch at Crombie Park was opened. The club won its first major honour in 1971, the North of Scotland cup and were a top amateur team in the decade that followed, winning 25 titles.

Culter ended 40 years as an amateur club by joining the junior ranks in 1987/88 and won promotion in it's debut season. Culter won four back-to-back Superleague championships from 2004 to 2007 and, as 2007 champions, they became one of the first four junior clubs, and first from the North Region, to be entered into the Scottish Cup. They beat Hawick Royal Albert and Vale of Leithen before losing to Huntly.

It was the Scottish Cup that provided Culter with arguably the biggest day in their history when, in 2011 after winning the Superleague for the 5th time, they ended up playing the mighty Partick Thistle at Crombie Park and, in front of a capacity crowd, held the then first division side to a 1-1 draw. They lost the replay 4-0 at Firhill. The club won another Superleague in 2013 and once again in 2023.

The game tonight was a bit of a slow burner but Champions Culter soon grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and found themselves 2-0 up thanks to goals from Cammie Fraser (34) and Jack Henderson (45).

A penalty kick from Stuart Hodge (73) looked to get Rothie back into the game but any hopes of a comeback seemed extinguished when Hodge (78) put through his own goal. However another Hodge penalty (87) from Rothie made it 3-2 but this time the visitors went for it, especially with 7 minutes of added time.

Culter, from being in cruise control, were now hanging on and Rothie can consider themselves very unfortunate not to come away with a draw at least. I guess Culter proved the mark of champions by digging in to win when not completely at their best.