The future's bright, the future's green?

Ignore the dull, overly hyped and non-competitive SPL - get with the Scottish Juniors' scene if you are truly a fan of the beautiful game.

Today I was covering a cup tie replay between Broxburn and Culter for the Edinburgh Evening News. FYI: in Scotland the non-league/semi pro teams are called 'Juniors', and it has nothing to do with age.

The game was played on the most fabulous 3G astroturf pitch. This resulted in less mis-placed passes, no one falling over the ruts in the grass, and the field of play didn't resemble a field of tatties.

For northern European nations like Scotland this is the future - no more waterlogged pitches, no more last minute call offs.

This pic shows the home team's striker being disposessed by a perfectly timed tackle by the Culter defender.

This game ended up a 3-3 thriller, with Culter going through after a penalty shoot-out. What great spectator value for £5 (although I got in free, obviously!)