Spain Park, Highland Football League, 2/12/23
Me still 297, Wee Man still 165
Banks o’ Dee Football Club
Founded – 1902
Nicknames – The Dee, The Rechabites
Selected Honours – Scottish Junior Cup-1957, Highland League Cup – 2022/23 Aberdeenshire Cup 2021/22, Aberdeenshire Shield– 2021/22. North Region Superleague – 2007/08, 2008/09, 2015/16, 2015/16, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2021/22. Grill League Cup – 2013/14, 2016/17, 2018/19 and 2021/22. North Regional Cup – 1969/70, 1970/71, 1973/74, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1980/81, 1981/82, 1983/84, 1984/85, 2010/11, 2017/18 and 2018/19. McLeman Cup – 1924/25, 1937/38, 1938/39, 1950/51, 1955/56, 1958/59, 1960/61, 1967/68, 1969/70, 1978/79, 1981/82, 1986/87, 1990/91, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2018/19 and 2021/22
Random Fact – Spain Park is Wee Man’s most visited ground on 10 times through the turnstile
This was not the plan at all today but with only 11 matches on in the pyramid due to the need for summer football…….I don’t mean the later part. Anyone who calls for that nonsense needs their heads checked. Yes the frost has decimated the weekend but its no need for this boring conversation. With our original plan of a Forres Mechanics v Brechin City chapter being added to my second book being kyboshed early yesterday, followed by a plan B of Deveronvale v Buckie Thistle then biting the cold white dust this morning, we were left with the Dee or dipping into the Amateur Scottish Cup to watch Tarves v Craigneuk which had been moved to Inverurie. When given the choice I was told it had to be Spain Park by Wee Man who was determined to keep adding to his Banks o’ Dee tally. Fair enough. Highland League fitba never goes a miss. It also allowed me to take him for a few games of pool down the beach pre-match to make up for the disappointment of not getting to play last time we headed to the Dee a few weeks back.
Obviously a cold Spain Park awaited us at 14.35. Which made me wonder how cold it would be come darkness arriving. The pie and coffee was more essential today than it had been all season so far. It was in here I blethered with Dee assistant manager Aggie Gray who had been “relegated” to pie duties after receiving a red card the previous week and was currently under suspension from the dugout. With a decent bit of time we got a good round of the tyre game in. Clearly the reason, as always Wee Man chose to come here. Then just before and around kick off a couple of familiar faces in Colin and Jock took up blethering duties as we watched through the net. The game started with a couple of chances for Dayshonne Golding who was wasteful. Strathspey came into it and created a couple of decent chances that had the Dee defence arguing with each other. The home backline were even more irate when a third chance for the Jags was buried and a tidy finish too. Full back Owen Patterson received the ball on the left hand side of the box cutting in to create space to curl an effort across Hoban and into the top corner. Strathy had started the game better than the Dee and the goal was deserved. But the pressure from Strathspey was not to last as the Dee forced their way back into the game and really should have been out of sight by the half hour but some poor finishing from Golding kept the home side on a blank. The forward could have killed off Thistle himself but for poor finishing. The only effort he could be excused for was when he attempted to curl one in the top corner, only to see defender Jack Gilliand get back to head clear off the line. It was on the half hour that the Dee pressure finally paid off when some great quick feet from Chris Antionazzi bamboozled two Jags defenders leaving the wide man to cross to Max Alexander who fired home from ten yards. It was a goal that was coming and it seemed the proverbial floodgates may have opened from here. This was not to be the case though as the the Jags battled away and saw out the half on evens with some decent defending while soaking up some sustained pressure.
HT 1 v 1
After losing the tyre game as always by trying for four point glory all the time, the temperature was clearly dropping further as the darkness set in. But the Dee weren’t cold and came out the traps. Philipson was unlucky after a couple of minutes when a low drive was deflected wide for the corner kick. Banks o’ Dee continued to attack the Jags but couldn’t create anything solid. Some players could even be accused of greed as they went for glory rather than square balls. Again like their first goal you could see the second coming and it was from the spot. Golding (I think) was clearly pulled back by Gilliand and went down. The defender was given his marching orders. Golding stepped up and hit the target with his kick and with that I said to the company I was in, “that’s it finished”. I was again worried this could turn into a proper do-in as there was still twenty five to go. But again it did not materialise. But the Dee were given another penalty when Antionazzi was upended by a trailing leg as he burst into the box. Again like the first there was not much in the complaints department. This time Philipson took on the spot kick duties and buried his effort. With ten to go this was surely over as a contest. There was still a fourth to be added in the crisp Tullos air bust not after a few more Dee chances went a begging. However, Lachie MacLeod made sure he was to make up from a couple of previous misses when he was on hand to find himself unmarked in the box at a corner to leather an effort past Martin in the Jags goal to finish off the scoring for the day. Not the hiding we expected prior to the game, nor the hiding I though would come as the game went on. But the Dee have gone top of the Highland League for now so they wont be too perturbed by how the win came about. I said after seeing Strathspey against the Broch, they would not come bottom of the HFL this season. I stick by it. I also stick by there will be no playoff for the dreaded bottom spot as Broughty Athletic, Loch Ness and Culter will win their leagues.
Trainspotting (10 passed during the match) was not the plan we originally had, but we were fortunate we got a game and many couldn’t say that today across the frozen country. To be honest I was surprised at the lack of numbers here today given it was the only senior game on between Inverness (Caley) and Perth (Letham). But this weekend may have come at a serious cost as trying to get round the 18 HFL teams in a season when you work away half the year is not simple, this could be a serious dent in proceedings. The Aberdeenshire Cup may have to save the day or the book really.
Entrance – Me £10, Wee Man Free
Attendance – 138 (rough head count) plus many a kid from youth teams
Pie – £6.20 Pie, Coffee, Fanta
Pint – £4.90, Coors Light, Sunset Boulevard
Sore Predictions – Wee Man 6 v 0, Me 7 v 0
Score Prediction SeasonTotals – Wee Man 0 v 0 Me
FITBAWBAG 