Spain Park, NRJFA Championship, 13/1/23
Me still 263, Wee Man still 135
Banks o’ Dee Junior Football Club
Founded – 2022
Nicknames – The Dee
Honours – None
Random Fact – The team were formed to keep a Junior presence for Banks o’ Dee after their promotion the the HFL. However unlike other colts who bypassed 100s of teams making a mockery of the pyramid, The Dee started in the bottom rung taking one of two places available as one of two teams of four eligible to enter (along with Lossie Utd).
A familiar old haunt for us but not the usual hosts. So familiar for Wee Man, it goes even with Pittodrie as most visited to date. I was interested to see how many would show up to this. I was surprised to see such a healthy crowd when we walked in and we were early too, early enough to have a fair old game of the inevitable tyre game that has become customary on a Spain Park visit. I may have remained unbeaten in that over the night, however the little dude got a bigger win and guessed the correct score, meaning he is now in the lead for the season. But the score actually seems bizarre given what happened on the park. It was not a four niller. I would say the Bankies deserved the win but not to the extent they did. The game started with a bang and within the first minute the visitors were in the lead. A quick turnover saw a cross from the right met by Chris Davidson who struck home from a few yards. It looked far too easy. The Dee were caught cold. If that didn’t hurt then the fact that before the time had hit double figures Sunnybank had grabbed a second through Mikey Taylor. There was a definite similarity to the first barring being crossed from the left this time. Eighty one minutes to go and the young Dee side were already facing an uphill struggle. But to be fair they gave it a go and continued to try and play football throughout but only tested Myles in the Sunnybank goal once in the game. On saying that his opposite number Neish made one save of note in the ninety. Picking the ball out of his net was the most work he did. Staying on the subject of keepers I am positive there was a stonewall penalty denied for the home side when Myles came to punch a corner but got it all wrong and smashed the Dee forward square on the canister before wiping out his own defender. As clear a foul as you would see but the referee ignored it. Then once the two injured parties were back on their feet after a lengthy stoppage, the Dee should have had another penalty when Louis McGarrity was on the end of a red and white elbow. I missed who it was as I was looking at McGarrity hitting the deck as the crack the connection made actually had me concerned. Again a stonewaller. Then to make matters worse the referee gave the most innocuous of fouls straight away for a shoulder on shoulder challenge. Punching and elbowing fine, shoulder to shoulder bad, is that how the game works now? Back to McGarrity, the Dee man was off the park for a full 10 minutes to stem the blood from his nose before returning just as the half was in its death throws. Banks o’ Dee had their biggest chance of the match on 45 when Scott Milne broke into the box, the shot was on but his delay led to him running out of pitch, however he got the cross in at the last second. At this point it looked like 1 v 2 but his strike partner Rothnie seemed to get a head of the ball and his unorthodox effort went over the bar from around three yards.
HT 0 v 2
More tyre game came at the break this time coming out at a pulsating 5 v 5 draw. Before hand I said we would get a pie and a coffee before playing as there might not be any left after. No no, I was in the wrong and the pie was secondary and I was told to play. Then when going for a pie at the start of the second half, there were no steak left for Wee Man and he gave me a row. Bloody kids. The second half was much and such the same but without the early goal. It took Sunnybank around 15 minutes before they grabbed their third. This time Adam Reid was the man on hand when he cut inside a placed a decent finish across Neish. The game was looking dead an buried at this point. The Dee had a huge chance when Osprey broke into he box and fired low into Myles’ left hand corner but the keeper saved and the rebound seemed to have a game of pinball in the box before being cleared. Neish made his only save of the game soon after when he was stretched to prevent a decent effort from Ciaran Bloomer. The Dee had one final big chance when Milne found him bearing down on goal but took to long and too many touches and failed to get an effort away. This being a common theme throughout the night as discussed a few times with the Rothie Rovers men Kev and Grant who were in out company during the match. The Dee seemed to overplay things at times when there were simpler options available. On saying that there was definitely a bit of respect to the home side as they did stick at their game plan of trying to play football. It seems to be the ethos of the team. But on the night it came to nothing and experience beat it. Sunnybank were not finished on three and with time almost up a decent passage of play culminated in substitute Kieran Munro finding himself clean through rounding Neish and tapping into an empty net finishing off a good nights work for league leaders. The score may seem like Sunnybank steam rolled Banks o’ Dee but this was not the case. It will take a gargantuan collapse to not see the Bankies in the Superleague next season one would think. A return eleven years in the making for this one time giant of the Northern Junior game.
Entrance – Me £6, Wee Man £3
Attendance – 180 (Rough Head Count)
Pie – £3, Pie, Coffee, Kit Kat
Pint – N/A
Score Predictions – Me 0 v 2, Wee Man 0 v 4
Season Score Prediction Totals – Me 1 v 2 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 