Spain Park, Highland Football League. 28/1/26
Me still 361, Wee Man still 217
Banks o’ Dee Football Club
Founded – 1902
Nickname – The Dee, The Rechabites
Selected Honours – Scottish Junior Cup-1956/57, 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
I have been home from work 11 days and its pretty much been dark the whole time since. On top of that it has been wet, wet and more bloody wet and with another one of those “storms” hitting last night , it seemed the wee HFL card would be obliterated tonight due to the water. Our local team Formartine United were the only game to fall foul to crap weather in the end. For a few reasons the plan was always going to be a trip to Spain Park tonight. The first being due to the crushed tyre nature of the park which would surely see the game on and secondly it was a chance to see Lossie, a team we both have a lot of time for after our shenanigans on the telly a few years back. The final reason was as we had not been to for a while. A while actually turned out to be almost a year which was a non-descript 1 v 0 victory versus the aforementioned Formartine (22 days shy). Time which seems to have flown in. This came as a surprise given how much we frequented the place over the last 6 years or so. Spain Park is actually Wee Man’s most visited ground on his travels to date.
Keeping on the topic of time, tonight’s visitors coming into this were two months short of three years since seeing defeat at Spain Park. The Coasters also beat the Aberdeen side in Lossiemouth earlier in the season 1 v 0. Could the keep up their half decent record against the City club. We were hoping for something close but it wasn’t to pan that way. But the one way nature of the match wasn’t the first disappointment of the night for the Wee Man. One of the reasons he has been to Spain Park as much is through his own choice due to what was called the tyre game. The tyres are now gone from behind the south goal. This leaving the pre-match kick about as just knocking the ball about which led to a highly amusing sight of junior taking a heider after tripping over his own feet, this ruining any chance of Formartine United signing him as it happened at the feet of gaffer Stuart Anderson. Maybe it was a sneaky foul by the United man. No VAR to confirm this though.
The teams appeared on the park to darkness as the floodlights went off for a few seconds, I didn’t know if this was a glitch or some sort of showbiz Hibs/Celtic type dickish light show*. The Dee came out playing most of the game in the Lossie half and this was to be the tale of the game. To be fair to Lossiemouth in the first half they kept the Dee at bay mostly and the goal they conceded couldn’t have been stopped due to the Big Bertha nature of the volley from Sam Pugh. This thing was beautiful. A clearing header from the goal mouth had good length on it but the Dee man had other ideas and seemed to just stroll on to the ball to perfectly volley the shit out of the thing into the the left hand side of Stuart Knights goal from 25 yards or there abouts. There was nothing the keeper could have done about this strike bar admire it. The half wasnt action packed and our company for the night Jock Gardiners 5 v 0 prediction looked well off. For all the ball the Dee had it didn’t feel like a hiding was coming and Knight was only really seriously tested once before half time. One random point of note during the half. If you know Spain Park it sits on the bank of the Dee(funnily enough), at this end of the park we saw what looked like a wildcat. Surely not in the city but unless my eyes deceived me(and Wee Man) this thing was a huge cat, correct colouring, big puffy tail. I did once see one in Ellon in my old works yard, so you never know. Maybe a fox though.
HT 1 v 0
Going back to a hiding not looking on the cards, Lossie blew that and rapidly. Just as I emerged from the bog I saw Pugh grab his second goal in the first minute of the second half. Five minutes later Joe McCabe had headed home a corner and Magnus Watson finished off a move which saw Banks o’ Dee cut through red shirts with ease. This was some collapse unfolding and if it wasn’t for Knight between the sticks who was forced to pull off a few sound stops it could have became embarrassing. It became so one sided I could see Wee Man get bored. It was one of those games. We were behind home keeper Matthew Duncan’s goal for the second half and the most strenuous piece of action he saw was to come out and catch a header back from team mate Ramsay Davidson. The Dee were just knocking it about for fun at times letting Lossiemouth chase and just generally seeing the game out. They did get a fifth with 10 minutes to go when a poor clearance from visiting captain James Leslie could only find Jack Brown who couldn’t miss from inside the box, this ensuring Jock’s prediction was in fact on the cards and Wee Man and me got it well wrong. Not the best of viewing in a competitive sense but with Wee Man asking to go to a game “outside” earlier in the week, I will always oblige and I’ll also always take watching a one sided game in the flesh with him over a kid who wants to watch the grotesque Champions League on TV any day. Top loon.
* Quite possibly the most terrible thing in Scottish football……along with music after goals. Both make me want to vomit profusely
Entrance – Me £12, Wee Man Free
Attendance – 105 (Jock did the deed)
Pie – £12.50, Pie, Coffee, Sprite, Pringles
Score Predictions – Me 3 v 1, Wee Man 2 v 1
Season Score Prediction Season Totals – Me 3 v 2 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 