NEILSTON FC (Brig O'Lea Stadium)

WEST OF SCOTLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, NEILSTON 1-2 ASHFIELD, ATTENDANCE: c100

This weekend I headed north for another fix of Scottish football. On a glorious sunny afternoon in Scotland I found myself in Renfrewshire, in the village of Neilston.

Like most villages in the area, Neilston grew with the industrial revolution and the building of cotton mills but as industry died out over the decades, the village morphed into a commuter village given it's proximity to both Glasgow and Paisley.

The football club was formed in 1945, after the demise of Neilston Victoria, adopting the name Neilston Juniors Football Club (the 'Juniors' being dropped in 2020 when the club left junior football to join the newly formed West of Scotland League).

The club play at Brig O'Lea, a ground that will be celebrating it's 125th anniversary in 2024. Despite being battered by the wet weather this season the pitch was in perfect condition, the club chairman proudly telling me that it is very rare games are called off due to wet weather. In fact he said, snow is usually the reason for call offs given the club's location in the Levern Valley.

The pitch is a far cry from the supposed origins of the clubs nickname 'The Farmers Boys' which was largely due to the state of the pitch back in the day, along with the style of football adopted by the team. The term was reclaimed by the club over time and is now used most positively these days.

There is a large enclosure on one side of the pitch and the changing rooms and clubhouse on the other side. There are plans in place to upgrade the facilities at the club, which should be completed in the near future.

On the pitch, this season has been one of struggle for Neilston and the club are on the brink of relegation to Division Two of the West of Scotland League and this defeat this afternoon means they only now have a mathematical, rather than a realistic, chance of avoiding the drop.

Ashfield dominated the game from off and it was no surprise when they took the lead early on, Craig Quinn curling an effort into the top corner. Despite all the possession and numerous chances created, Ashfield couldn't add to their tally and it remained 1-0 at the break. A decent scoreline for Neilston in the circumstances.

The second Ashfield goal finally arrived around the hour mark, Bobby Barr converting from the penalty spot. Game over? Well not quite. Del McNab headed home for The Farmers Boys to half the deficit and indeed, in the last 15 minutes of the game Neilston should have come away with a point at the very least, but they squandered their opportunities for snatching that equaliser which, I was told, has been the story of Neilston's season.

A great afternoon at a more than welcoming club. I would impore anyone to put a visit to the Brig O'Lea on your "must do" list.

BRECHIN VICTORIA (Victoria Park)

SCOTTISH JUNIOR FA EAST REGION MIDLANDS LEAGUE, BRECHIN VICTORIA 3-2 DUNDEE VIOLET, ATTENDANCE: 64 (h/c)

I headed up to north east Scotland for a couple of midweek matches, the second being in Angus as Brechin Victoria hosted Dundee Violet at Victoria Park.

Founded in 1917, Brechin Victoria are part of the Scottish Junior FA and were inaugural members of the Midlands League when it was established in 2021.

Tonight was an entertaining encounter but the visitors from Dundee will be wondering how this one got away. They were far the better team but somehow found themselves 2-0 down, Kieran Longmuir (18) and Mitchell Smith (35) scoring for The Vics. Classic counter attacking play at it's best.

Violet did get it back to 2-2 courtesy to two penalty kicks, both converted by A.Lonrente (37) and A.Kelly (67) respectively before Brechin went on to grab a winner when Murray Smith (78) prodded home after being left unmarked in the six yard box from a corner. It's a funny old game.

For me that was the second night in succession that the homesters had won 3-2 despite the visitors scoring two penalties (click here).

Speaking to The Vics chairman pre-match and it seems there is a possibility they may be going off to groundshare at Glebe Park once the new 4G pitch is installed. Ironically Brechin City played on the adjacent Nursery Park before moving to Glebe Park in 1923.

Should the move materialise, I'd definitely put this wonderful wee ground on your "to do" list before it does happen...

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.

Scottish Groundhop 2021

After a delay of 18 months, for the obvious reasons, the Scottish groundhop originally scheduled for March 2020 finally took place over this weekend. I was lucky as four of the six grounds I needed to visit were all on the Saturday, meaning I could do a day trip rather than stop over. It was an early start to arrive in time for my first game of this extravaganza...

11:15am East of Scotland League, Conference A

King's Park 

Dalkeith Thistle 8-2 Tweedmouth Rangers

Att: 309

The visitors were actually winning at half time before a red card for an off-the-ball incident saw Tweedmouth down to 10 men. The collapse was unreal as they proceeded to conceded 7 goals, with Dalkeith hitting the woodwork on numerous occasions which could have made the scoreline even more embarrassing. The steak pie on sale at the ground was tremendous.

Goals:

Dalkeith Thistle: Ryan Weston (32, 61) Darren McTernon (50) Darren Leslie (58pen) Greig Callaghan (66) Own Goal (70) Danny McFadden (76) Jack Burrows (90)

Tweedmouth Rangers: Michael Robinson (6 & 35) plus red card (46)

2pm Lowland League 

New Dundas Park

Bonnyrigg Rose 2-1 Dalbeattie Star

Att: 517

Bonnyrigg looked the stronger outfit throughout but couldn't convert their chances. Dalbeattie looked short of ideas in the final third but could have nicked a point right at the death. I must give a special mention to the doner pies that were on sale. They were superb!

Goals:

Bonnyrigg Rose: Lewis Turner (17) Kerr Young (59)

Dalbeattie Star: Lewis Todd (46)

5pm East of Scotland League, Conference B

Newbattle Complex 

Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare 2-5 Glenrothes

Att: 208

A good game. Visitors much the better team in the opening exchanges but after racing into a two goal they were pegged back by the homesters. A late flurry of goals though ensured victory for Glenrothes, including a hat-trick from Graeme Walker. I completed my own hat-trick with a Chicken Balmoral pie which was an absolute winner!

Goals:

Easthouses Lily: Lewis Sives (60 & 63)

Glenrothes: Graeme Walker (7, 56 & 90) Reece Brown (79) Lea Schiavone (90)

7:45pm East of Scotland League

New Victoria Park

Newtongrange Star 2-2 Tranent Juniors

Att: 401

Bottom vs Top but Nitten thoroughly deserved their point after twice taking the lead. A tremendous encounter concluded a fabulous day of football. Great to catch up with people but my tight schedule meant it was all too brief. I was home just before 3am but it was well worth it. The next Scottish Hop is scheduled for March 2022. I cannae wait!

Goals:

Newtongrange Star: Chris Robertson (27 & 37)

Tranent Juniors: Sean Wringe (31) Craig Stevenson (62 pen)

The aforementioned doner
kebab pie. Delicious!