Bellslea Park, Highland Football League, 16/10/24
Me still 322, Wee Man still 188
Fraserburgh Football Club
Founded – 1910
Nickname – The Broch
Honours – Highland League – 1932/33, 1937/38, 2001/02 and 2021/22 Highland League Cup – 1958/59 and 2005/06, Aberdeenshire Cup – 1910/11, 1937/38, 1955/56, 1963/64, 1972/73, 1975/76, 1996/97, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2022/23. Aberdeenshire Shield – 1991/92, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1999/00, 2011/12, 2015/16, 2019/20 and 2022/23, Qualifying Cup – 1957/58, 1995/96 and 2006/07
Random Fact – On the 31st of January 1959, Fraserburgh’s most famous victory was in the Scottish Cup where they defeated Dundee. A 1–0 at Bellslea is seen by many as the greatest cup shock in the history of Scottish football.
The idea of another Burgh was toyed with but with the incessant rain a close game was the better draw and Musselburgh Athletic v Whitburn was jettisoned in favour of the greatest league in the world and to be honest, thats something I’ll never complain about.
Walking into Bellslea I thought we were to be in for three things, a decent contest, a draw and a soaking. The latter transpired but the former two were well off the mark. Nobody in attendance would say this was a classic but it found a way to entertain with a pantomime villain. Step forward, the man in the middle. A truly woeful performance that was literally based around giving the foul to the loudest shout. The shirt worn made no difference and both teams were victims, some of the decisions we witnessed were absolutely baffling, so much so it was a source of amusement . For example one such decision right in front of us where United’s Aiden Combe put up a foot to block a Ross Aitken clearance which he successfully managed to do. You would struggle to even say this was a 50/50 as it really was a block, but no the Formartine number 11 was in the book. But this was one of many ridiculous decisions. It was for the full 90. The amounts of stops of plays for nothing was ruining any spectacle and was also infuriating but ended up just daft and amusing. I am not sure what was more miserable, the officiating or the weather that was making my trousers so heavy they were falling down
Game wise the first half was as good as even for almost the entirety of the 45. Not much final third action, to the extent there was one save in the half. (To be mentioned shortly). The game was scrappy, no helped by the constant stopping. Both teams did try to keep the ball down but not much was created. The biggest chance fell to Aiden Combe who got his head to a Lawrence cross but he tried to glance it across Joe Barbour’s goal seeing the ball go wide. Maybe a bit of power was the answer. Wee Man was to give me a laugh during the half when after another trademark shout from Broch manager Mark Cowie he said, “he is always shouting, imagine he was your dad, you would always be in trouble”. It’s wee nuggets like this that make me really appreciate watching games with someone so young. The longest serving manager in the league was yelling happily soon after as the half came to a close. This when Sean Butcher put his side one to the good late on. Barbour struck an effort from the edge of the box which saw Macdonald save very well only for Barbour to rapidly retrieve the rebound(so rapidly I started to doubt Barbour hit the initial shot) to cross to Butcher who made no mistake as he headed into the top corner unmarked.
HT 1 v 0
A kick about in the “away end” on the astro was the order of business as the designated yellow ball area would have been far too wet, this seeing a random nipper getting involved to. He never said a word, just knocked it about with us. The second half was more in favour of the Broch with a couple of half chances created but only one testing Macdonald who was called into a fine low save to his left. The bulk of the play was in the Formartine half and if a goal was to come it was come the home teams way. On the other hand, Formartine looked like they could have played until Saturday and still not have scored. (The fact Barbour didn’t make any sort of save in the game until 80 odd minutes from what was a worm burner of an effort says it all).To add to proceedings the ref was continuing his display and pissing off everyone in the ground whether player, manager or punter. A second goal came with five minutes to go in calamitous circumstances. Formartine were awarded a free kick which keeper Macdonald went to take a good distance away from where the infringement happened but inexcusably made an arse of hitting it straight to Logan Watt who on receipt ran the line and crossed to Scott Barbour who skelped the ball home into a keeperless goal as Macdonald had been punished for stealing the yards for the kick. This leading to more entertainment for the night when the boisterous Broch fans behind the goal goaded the keeper but instead of ignoring it ended up hooked in and got involved by throwing a water bottle at the fans behind the goal, one of which took the keepers towel out of the net and threw it on the pitch , the verbals heated up and the keeper ended up in the book. It really should have been red for the bottle. The game finished and but the keeper v fans skirmish had not and a face off ensued with Macdonald asking for a square go, amusingly with a goal net and sponsor boards protecting him. As it heated up the referee sprinted in and I was positive the red card was coming, especially with an altercation with a Broch sub, but I never saw it brandished. The keeper was led away still shouting obscenities at the the home enclosure in a Scrappy Doo “let me at em” type manner. It was all bravado and was never going to happen. On that we left both a couple of stone heavier given the rain water we had taken on over the time in Bellslea. Maybe not the best game we will ever see but entertaining in other ways.
Entrance – £10 Me, Wee Man Free
Attendance– 302 (rough head count)
Pie – £5.70, Pie, Coffee, Sweetie
Pint – £3.90, Tennent’s, Leisure Centre
Score Predictions – Me 2 v 2, Wee Man 1 v 1
Score Prediction Season Total – Me 0 v 0 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 