Humbug Park, EOSFL Premier League,20/1/24
Me 298, Wee Man 166
Crossgates Primrose Football Club
Founded – Originally 1926. Reformed 1983
Nickname -The Rose
Honours – Alex Jack Cup – 2021/22. Fife Junior Cup: 1947/48 and 1955/56
Random Fact – The Primrose in the club name comes from a disused mine which is situated where Humbug Park now stands.
A spanner thrown in the works in regard to the ongoing book project today. There is no room for the weather being an arsehole and that’s twice now we have had our Highland League plans scuppered this season. With very little leeway to complete the book due to work we are now at the limit. No call offs possible from now until April. But ever the glass half full type, I saw today as a chance to do something rare this season. It’s not often we have managed a new random ground we both haven’t been too this season. Two hours down the road we found ourselves in the Kingdom at Crossgates to watch one of four senior games today in Fife.
With sitting at home awaiting the inevitable conformation of the Deveronvale v Formartine United game being snowbound taking up a chunk of the morning there was no time for any pre match shenanigans. It was to be a swift pint then kick off at our 4th choice game for the day. With Nairn County v Lossiemouth biting the dust on Friday, the Vale in the morning, plan C was actually East Fife v Peterhead. But after thinking about the capabilities for a kick about with the yellow ball, New Bayview was shelved and after noticing Broxburn saying this game was on via Twitter. There was only one place to be…….Humbug Park.
We dumped the car outside the ground and took a wander back into the town to see if we could get a drink and a bit of the Spartans v Hearts game. The Crystal Bar threw up the goods along with some cheapness. (Considering I work in Denmark and live in Aberdeenshire, it was a welcome cheapness). The place seemed to be full of Broxburn fans who had made the short journey to the other side of the Forth Bridge. Many seemed to have leanings to Hearts too as when Spartans equalised there was a few remarks that pointed towards this. Not long after the surprise Spartans goal we were offsky to the ground for some EOSFL fitba.
After seeing Broxburn a few months ago and noticing they were still top of the league both of us expected an easy day for the visitors. The score line suggests it was but its not the full story. We grabbed a pie and a coffee and randomly spoke to other Aberdeen fans who were in attendance behind us in the queue. The guys only spoke as Wee Man had an AC Milan hat on and the elder of the two was also a Milan man. A wee Dons/Serie A related blether and we were on our way to grab a space to watch the game. As said it looks an easy day for Broxburn but it was the hosts who were the better side for large swathes of the first half. It was a tight opening to the game but Primrose looked the more threatening. The fact the home keeper Shaun Hunter was still pristine in his mint coloured get up said a lot about the direction of the pressure. The first clear chance fell to Broxburn though as a ball in to the box found Errol Douglas who got his header all wrong leaving Hunter to stay clean for a bit longer. Crossgates had the ball ball into the box a few times but failed to test Watt in the opening twenty despite the pressure. However, the keeper was diving across his goal on 24 minutes only to see the ball kiss his post and hit the net. This when a short defensive header landed at Craig Reid who struck from 25 yards through a host of bodies and out of reach of the keeper. A deserved lead for Primrose. As the home side celebrated I watched the fall out at the back for Broxburn when I realised St Johnstone’s record appearance holder Steven Anderson was playing. After a quick look up it turns out he was at Crossgates prior to Broxburn too. Broxburn seemed to be perturbed by conceding and came more into the game. The were unlucky not to equalise soon after when Gary Brass struck the bar from close range. He seemed to hit it too hard only to see it strike the woodwork and away to safety. A let off for Crossgates none the less. This was followed by another big chance for Broxburn when Callum Heath showed an awesome burst of pace to nip into the box beating every defender to the ball but his quickfire effort was blocked on the line. It was Heath who did finally stick the ball in the Primrose net when he rose brilliantly to head a Nimmo cross into the net giving Hunter no chance. A well worked goal celebrated with a cacophony from the travelling fans who made their presence clear as the net rippled. This probably deserved as they had the better of the final 15 minutes.
HT 1 v 1
Plenty of grass to have a kick about at half time with the opposite side from the clubhouse being a decent expanse. Long range passing as my trainers and jeans got clarted was the story of the 15 before the teams emerged for the second half. A half that was to be much different from the first. By this I mean Broxburn were a different animal . More up for it from the get go. They had the ball in the net within three minutes of the restart when a corner found Douglas who made no mistake finding the net. From here there was only one team who were to win it. Bob Watt the Brox keeper was to be a spectator in goal and could only look on as his team mates pushed to kill the game. By this point the pitch had cut into ribbons and playing football couldn’t have been the easiest but Broxburn were good, they had swagger and just something about them. You could see why they were top of the table. A very decent side. They had to wait over twenty minutes to score again though and it was in controversial circumstances. They were awarded a penalty for what was never a spot kick for two reasons. One, it was outside the box and two it just wasn’t a foul. It was right in front of us and I cannot see what the infringement was, neither could the two punters to our left. Douglas stepped up and made it 3 v 1 and most likely game over. If it wasn’t over then it was two minutes later when Nimmo was provider again when he found Brass who tapped in Broxburn’s 4th of the day and killing any potential Primrose comeback. Despite a slow start the better team won on the day. A random choice of game which I would never have guessed would have been our destination on Friday night. But worth the travel for sure. On a personal note Crossgates Primrose are the 200th Scottish fitba club I have visited in my life. So although a totally random day out it will be in the history books as a somewhat special occasion.
Entrance – Me £8 ,Wee Man Free
Attendance – 163 (official)
Pie – £6, 2 x pie and coffee
Pint – £3.70, Tennents, Crystal Bar
Score Predictions – Me 0 v 3, Wee Man 0 v 4
Season Score Prediction Totals- Me 0 v 0 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 