This week business took
me to Glasgow and a 2 night stopover gave me a chance to visit my 3rd
Scottish ground in a little over 5 weeks,the initial plan was Partick
Thistle v Raith Rovers as this was the ground nearest the hotel but
this ran into a slight hitch.
Despite 2 emails, a
Tweet a Facebook message and a Voicemail asking if photography from
the terraces I had no response whatsoever from the club and so plan B
had to go into operation.
So a quick scouting of
the fixtures showed that Stenhousemuir were playing the Division 2
champions Queen of the South and that Ochilview Park was only half an
hour away,a quick Tweet checking on photography was responded to in
the positive within 20 minutes so off I went.
Ochilview Park is
located in a residential area and I suppose the residents get a bit
hacked off on match days when people like me park outside their
houses but I made sure I was not causing an obstruction,very public
spirited. Waiting for the gates to open I heard another English
accent and got chatting to a really nice guy who adopted QOTS many
years ago and is a regular traveller up from Oldham in Lancashire to
support them,now that's dedication,it was remiss of me not to ask his
name but I did take a photo of this hardy soul
Leaving him tio his coffee I went to get one of my own and noticed that they also sold Scotch Pies an alternative to the Pork Pie and something I am very partial to,well it was a good choice because the Pie at Stenhousemuir was one of the best I have ever tasted
Anyhow the match which
really was supposed to be a fairly straightforward one for Champions
and double cup winners QOTDS against a Stenhousemuir side safely
ensconced in mid table and with only an outside chance of making the
playoffs but nobody appeared to have told the Warriors.
From the start they
were at QOTS harrying and tackling like they were the champions and
not their opponents and it was no surprise when they took the lead
after 26 minutes,as ever your correspondent failed to get the goal
but at least the Warriors scorer came towards the camera rather than
away as my own team do on a regular basis.
The match was end to end
after this and QOTS equalised with a quite sublime free kick on the
stroke of half time,its not over exaggerating to say that few keepers
on the planet would have got near the ball as it arrowed into the top
corner,this time I got the QOTS fans celebrating
The second half was
similarly entertaining and Stenhousemuir got a deserved winner after
72 minutes and despite QOTS pressure held on for a fine win in a
highly entertaining match.
I must say that after
watching 3 Scottish matches in the past few weeks I am highly
impressed with the quality of play and the entertainment value and
would castigate the people of Scotland for not getting off their
backsides and supporting their local team,an attendance of just over
500 for this game was not what a richly enjoyable match was deserving
of.
One slight downside
having been treated so well at Albion Rovers and Livingstone was the
attitude of the stewards,a private company I believe not
Stenhousemuirs own.
During the second half
I and an elderly couple were standing behind the wall on the left of
the main stand as you look at it when a steward came along and told
the couple to move back as they were causing an obstruction which
they palpably were not,the lady asked why I was not told to move as
well and was told “He's taking photographs”,whatever that had to
do with the price of fish.
About 10 minutes later
another Steward approached me and asked what paper I was working
for,when I said I was just a fan taking photographs he told me to
stop as I should have a hi vis vest on (Well in my experience
pitchside yes on the terraces no) I said I had approached the club
for permission and they had said yes at witch he said ok and walked
away,had he pursued it I would have had to admit it was by Twitter.
My point is that
Scottish football appears to be in a turmoil at present and behaviour
like this does nothing to encourage people to come along and support
the game.
Overall though a very
pleasant evening and I look forward to watching more Scottish matches
in the future
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