Warming Up

Apologies - long football-related post!

Most of the Wigtown & Bladnoch team warming up before the game against Mid Annadale. Two years ago my plan to watch a game was foiled by the weather and last year they were away when we came to stay. As the referee warmed up close to the touchline he asked if I was a groundhopper - perhaps he knows all the regulars by name. It wasn't a big crowd. By kick off there were still more people on the pitch than watching. Just £4 to get in and £1 for a raffle ticket so gate receipts unlikely to have been into three figures. 

Which is not surprising given the home team's lowly status, down at the foot of the South of Scotland League, the sixth tier of Scottish men's football. In theory that makes them sixty places below Hibs but they might as well be six hundred as I can't see any world in which they might ever play each other. I could be being harsh as although Wigtown & Bladnoch have been struggling in recent years they apparently did win the league in 2014-15. That was the first year that the South of Scotland League joined the Scottish football pyramid but they couldn't play for the chance to promotion to the Lowland League as they didn't meet the required licensing standards. 

They have competed in the Scottish Cup regularly since 2007 when the cup format changed but they haven't had the best of records lately. Since 2015, when they won their first game and only lost their next 2-3 they have played and lost eight times in the Scottish Cup (don't know why they missed 2017-18 - I assume their license lapsed or maybe the rules changed and they had to reapply when they had done whatever was needed to come up to standard). In those eight games they haven't scored a single goal and conceded sixty-one.

This season they had just one point from thirteen games before kick-off but the visitors were second bottom in the league and a home win would move the home side level with them. Although Wigtown had lost the away fixture 1-5 they did at least score their only away goal there so some grounds for optimism.

After some early sparring, Mid Annandale scored first with a simple tap in for an unmarked attacker in the six-yard box. They scored a second from a good header at a corner but then shortly before half-time Wigtown pulled one back with a penalty. Much delight on the touchline!

The home team started well in the second half and had a few near things before 'Harry' on the other team dribbled his way into the box and laid on their third which seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home team. A fourth followed when the home goalkeeper let the ball slip out of his hands from a free kick and the visitors finished the scoring with a shot from the edge of the box from their captain, nicely picked out from another corner.

As the second half had gone on there was a bit of dialogue between the ref and the locals over exactly when to switch on the floodlights. Although the game started at 2pm it was getting dark and the lights were needed. Presumably they left it as late as possible to keep the bill as small as possible.

Despite another home defeat I enjoyed my afternoon nonetheless and there were flashes of real skill at times that wouldn't have looked out of place at any level.