Spain Park, Highland League, 13/12/24
Me still 328, Wee Man still 193
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 and 2024/25 Aberdeenshire Shield– 2021/22 and 2023/24. 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
First game in a while and it was possibly more one sided that I expected it to be. A game lacking any form of spectacle and just seemed a bit routine for the Dee.
In an act of extreme punctuality, we arrived at Spain Park before the gates were even open to the punters. This led to the most excitement of the night coming pre-match and at half time as we got an elongated spell playing the tyre game. The standard behaviour for a Spain Park trip. As the game kicked off it was noticed the full officials team were female, something I cannot say I have ever seen before and to be honest that was the only time I noticed them which is a sign of a good game by the team***. In terms of the match Banks o’ Dee were the team on the front foot in the opening stages and had a couple of half chances early. You just felt it could be a long night for the visitors. Max Alexander should have had the Dee up one-nil on around the 20 minute mark but fired a clear cut chance wide. He surely had to do better. He made no mistake moments later though and got his side off the mark when he headed a clearance back from the left hand side up and over everyone and into the top corner. From here they were clearly in their ascendancy and kept at Keith. This inclusive of rattling the bar. It took a further 10 minutes to add to the score but when the second came the third was right behind it too. Andy Hunter was picked out mid-box while in acres of space, so much so he managed to control with his back to goal, take a touch then stick it away while still having no maroon shirt near him. A poor goal to give away from a Keith point of view. Then it was the turn of one of Wee Man’s favourite players in the league, Chris Antionazzi who again seemed in far too much space when he lashed home across the goal from the edge of the box. This pinpoint accurate effort into the bottom corner coming no more than a minute after Hunter’s effort. You had to worry for Keith here. There was a faint shout of Keith penalty for handball at the end of the half when Horace Ormsby sent a ball into the box which seemed to be stopped in its tracks by a hand of Alexander, hard to tell if the hand was in an unnatural position from our side of the pitch, but the ball was stopped none the less.
HT 3 v 0
Disaster struck at half time. I thought I had the winning ticket in the raffle, I heard 436 – 440 over the tannoy. My numbers. When I enquired I was told it was pink that won and not my yellow. Shite
Banks o’ Dee didn’t let up and came out at Keith from the opening blast of a the refs whistle in the second half and Hunter had a brace on 47 minutes and it was all too easy for the striker who took advantage of poor defending off a corner to smash home. 4 v 0 and it was looking like a massacre was incoming. Everything Keith cleared seemed to land at a Dee player and the ball was coming back at them as quick as they could clear it. In my opinion, the Maroons could have done with a wise old owl in their ranks to steady them a bit. It was only a matter of time to before Craig Reid’s goal was breached again and the fifth came via Michael Phillipson who gathered a Keith clearing header to place an effort well out of Reid’s reach which kissed the post on the way in. A great finish but again it was avoidable. At this point Wee Man said “I feel sorry for the Keith keeper, he has had no chance” , and he was not wrong at all. He really didn’t have a chance on the night. Not a game to live long in the memory, but a solid and ruthless performance from the Dee. From a Keith point of view, all 5 goals were arguably avoidable. Lessons learned I suppose, but you can’t give a team like the Dee these chances. One bonus of it being, it was nowhere near as cold expected, which is good for a body that has been on the Tropic of Capricorn for the last month.
***I found out on the Saturday it was the first time this had ever happened in the Highland League.
Entrance – Me £10, Wee Man Free
Attendance – 165 (Rough Head Count)
Pie – £12, Pie, Coffee, Juice, Kit Kat, Crisps
Pint – N/A
Score Predictions – Me 4 v 1, Wee Man 3 v 1
Season Score Prediction Total – Me 0 v 1 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 