The Meadows(Ellon United Ground), Aberdeenshire AFA Division 2 East, 5/4/23
Me still 269, Wee Man still 141
Ellon Amateur Football Club
Founded – 2006
Nickname – N/A
Honours – Aberdeen FC Trophy – 2015/16. Association Trophy-2015/16 AAFA Division 2 East 2009/10.
Random Fact – The club were formed by ex Ellon Thistle players who were lacking in game time at Thistle
A rare Wednesday night with Wee Man which saw us head to my home town(I am an Ellonite at heart) to take in the derby at the Meadows which is a family affair in itself. But this Wednesday turned out to be constant family linked with an afternoon with both the Wee Men at the Duthie Park which included the Winter Gardens but also randomly bumping into my brother and his family in the cafe (this also included Aberdeen’s Mauricio Pochettino doppelganger). After seeing Spike and McPuddock we followed up with watching the Jags in the derby who’s secretary, treasurer , paperwork mannie is none other than my Dad hence the family links with the club.
With the Jags chasing the title and Bon Accord City in hot pursuit with games in hand they really just have to go out and win every game in front of them from here on in. The destination of the title is not in the their hands, they just have to keep winning.Both teams will go up by the looks but who tops the league come May is another matter. Whether it is a derby or a trip into Aberdeen or Monymusk three points every game are essential in the silverware quest. Tonight may not have been great on the eye but this first midweeker of the late season produced the goods in the end.
We arrived to slight disappointment as Wee Man was not going to rack up another ground as the game was to be played on the Ellon United pitch instead of the the usual which Thistle and the Amateurs share. I found this strange and never did get to know the reason for it. As long as the right Ellon won, where it was played was irrelevant. “Played” may be overstating the first half. It was not pretty. There was a lot of “second touch was a tackle” type action and very little entertainment. It was scrappy but even. The Amateurs looked a lot better than they did earlier in the season. Thistle looked like they had forgotten how to play football. They did create two good chances though. The first fell to Michael Moffat who did everything right and unleashed a powerful drive from 15 yards only to see Alex Lyall pull off great save to his left with his upper right hand. The next chance fell to Nick Price who burst into the box from the left but he screwed his cross goal effort just wide. That was about it for the half. To be honest, catching up with my old Thistle teammate Stevie High was more exciting than goings on on the pitch. (A top man is Stevie for the record)
HT 0 v 0
The second half was a lot better and we had a goal sharpish. A quick Thistle break saw Price nutmeg a defender and play in Moffat and as night follows he found his name on the scoresheet again with a calm finish as he entered the box. This seemed to calm Thistle down a bit and they got the ball on the deck and knocked it about well from here and became the better team. One became two as the Jags stomped their authority on things. Fortuitous yes but they all count. A half clearance from the Amateurs headed out the box to the right, this landed at Morris who tried to further clear but incredibly sclaffed it and crossed back into the box straight to Nick Price who coolly slotted home on his first touch . A great assist from the Amateurs defender and Thistle were heading towards another three points on the board. It was noticeable the home sides heads went down from here and Thistle created a few half chances. Fitness also seemed to be an obvious difference as the game went on with some of the men in blue and white clearly breathing hard. Thistle could have made it more in the last five minutes. Firstly from Luke Cruikshanks who did well to fashion an effort. Touch away from defender to create space, powerful low drive but unfortunately for the big striker he was met by a cracking save from Lyall who got down in rapid fashion to tip past the post. As the game was dying out Brad Whyte found himself unmarked at a corner but he glanced his header only to see it go wide. As the darkness was heavily setting in the final whistle went and the towns bragging rights were with Thistle who claim the whitewash over their neighbours for the season and keep their title charge on the go.
To be noted after the game Dad, the ref Ian Innes and myself had a blether as Wee Man kicked the ball about on the pitch. It turns out Ian is 70 in a few days. A few things to take from that, I wouldn’t have guessed he was 70. Also he looks very similar to my dad who is a couple of months from turning 70 himself. But most importantly fair play to him for still having the love for it at that age.(He had a decent game too). Many happy returns to him when it comes.
As already stated it was not the most bonnie of performances (however Thomas Blakey had a great game for Thistle). On the whole it was a good night though, three points, clean sheet with veteran keeper Daniel “Jock” Adamson having as good as nothing to do and a bit more momentum going into the final push of the season which includes a title run in, a cup semi final and cup final. But also, my old man was smiling which made Wee Man smile as dad is his best pal and of course a Thistle win will always please me. I am usually impartial in these write ups but not here. ‘mon the Jags!
Entrance – Me Free, Wee Man Free
Attendance – 43
Pie – N/A
Pint – N/A
Score Prediction – Me 1 v 3, Wee Man 0 v 3
Season Score Prediction Total – Me 1 v 2 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 