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Alex - scored second from 20 yards
The view from the Grandstand
Earlier in the evening the 2nd XI lost 1 – 0 to Civil Service Strollers from the EoS league in a friendly.
The grass pitch under the lights tonight
Craig with the strips ready for tonights 1st Xi fixture
Tomorrow we have two Youth games, an 11am ko for a game between our two under 15 squads and then a 12.30 ko for our 17s who take on Currie Star
In preparation for our Scottish Cup game on 10th January the 1st XI play two friendlies this week on our FieldTurf pitch. Firstly tomorow at 8pm there is a friendly against Newtongrange Star and then on Saturday a 12 noon kick off against Civil Service Strollers. We expect a big turn out tomorrow after Saturday’s postponement. The cafe/bar will be open and Sky TV was switched on today so Hull City vs Aston Villa will be on the big screens.
Looking ahead to the Airdrie trip the clubs have agreed that the admission will be £10 for adults and £5 for concession, a reduction of £5 on normal Airdrie prices. We’re looking forward to a big Spartans turn out.
Also tomorrow the 2nd XI play Civil Service Strollers (yes they visit us twice in a week) with a 6.15ko before playing Wishaw HSFP on Saturday in a critical league league with a 3pm ko.
We also have a couple of friendlies on the FieldTurf on Wednesday with our Under 15s in action at 11am and then our Under 17s in action at 12.30am.
We have hosted the Scotland Under 21 national rugby squad and Edinburgh’s pro rugby team for sessions over the last ten days. Edinburgh’s preparation paid off with a big win over Glasgow on Boxing Day. They play again on Friday 2nd and again in preparation we host them most days this week for a couple of hours including New Year’s Day.
To ensure you don’t miss out on a seat please click the banner above to book your seat or e-mail Cameron Hobbs – Cameron_hobbs@blueyonder.co.uk
We hope to have the Spartan Army out in numbers for this game which is the latest in a fantastic cup campaign this season. Book your seat now and be there for this great away day.
At their first break we revert to football with a game between our two 19s squads. At 3 we then have a further friendly between our 2nd XI at 15s and our 1st XI at 14s.
For those of you needing a festive football fix, Spartans will take on top Junior side Newtongrange Star in a friendly on the synthetic pitch at the new Academy on Tuesday evening (30th) with an 8pm kick off.
Donal - acupuncture
Edinburgh City are also light in numbers with suspension keeping out three players. Co-manager Mike Lawson is looking forward to the game, “it’s great to have a competitive game to look forward to. With the poor weather earlier in the year we need to get games played. We threw away two points against City earlier in the season after being 3 – 0 up but they fought back well against us that day and will have spotted a couple of weaknesses in how we played. Hopefully we will get another good crowd, there was a good atmosphere last Saturday. We’ve been losing too many goals recently and we really need to tighten up”.
The squad is Flockhart, Archibald, O’Donnel, Fowlie, Hoskins, Kader, Manson, McLeod, Devlin, Hair, Walker, Henretty, Malin, King, Smart, Gerrard
Dan - has been in commanding form recently
The cafe/bar at the academy will be open again after the game for both teams and for supporters.
While we are on the Academy – Edinburgh Rugby had a big win over Glasgow tonight in the Magners League after spending a few days training at the Academy last week…our 1st XI and Brechin City both enjoyed the facilities today…hopefully Edinburgh’s success will rub off tomorrow for us and Brechin.
It’s half time in the 2nd 11 season so far and the pre season on the sunny Granton shore line seems a long way off. In the time since joining the club in July 2008 my team have exceeded expectation and currently sit with a played 16 , won 14 , lost 2 set of statistics. In real terms it should have been only lost one, but unfortunately the satellite phone from Cyprus was not working too well and the Chairman managed to interpret 4-4-2 as 1-1-8 in an attacking formation that left us a bit shy at the back. Not too worry, a few weeks on the Paul Ince coaching course will sort him out!
As we all know statistics can tell a multitude of stories and the “real “story is of a team playing attractive, free flowing football. Unfortunately, we don’t have anybody from Brazil, but Boysie hanging about on the beach at the Ferry gives us our Copacabana influence.
Continuing on the continental theme our own “Holy Goalie” has had an outstanding season so far. Unlike his more famous namesake he is still having nae luck wi the lassies, although he is giving Lammy an easier time than wee Gordon Strachan keeping him oot the nightclubs.
At this point it would be appropriate to say a word about our sponsors. At last I can reveal the real truth behind how Jim Rae still gets a game. The last sets of strips have guaranteed out own Mr Perma tan a run till the end of the season. Hopefully, we will get a few more free kicks and penalties in the second half of the season, although the refs are getting issued with sunglasses after his latest sun bed session.
However, the greatest achievement of the season to date, must be keeping ASBO Perry on the park on a regular basis. Admittedly, there is a downside to this, as he still refuses to shower after every game, in the fear that his electronic tag might rust up!
No mid term report could fail to forget our Irish Hitman Nick Reid or Mozam Beak as he is affectionately known. I can exclusively reveal that our in depth post match video analysis can advise that his 14 goals to date have been scored with left foot 1, right foot 1, head 2 and nose 10.
And so to the legendary Burnsie our captain and Spartans stalwart of the last 15 years. He has been outstanding this season and it is particularly apt that he is getting a testimonial in the coming year. I would like to offer my own testimonial to Burnsie ….” your a true Spartan “
More disturbingly, I can report that Spartans second X1 still hold the all time record for having the hairiest man in Scottish football. I am sad to report that the boozers up the town are going bankrupt coz Paulo decided to have a night at training instead of his usual form of exercise.
All in all it has been a good season so far with us sitting top of the league, in the fifth round of the Scottish and in the 3rd round of the East of Scotland. The hopes are high for the second half of the season and the “real” work at the business end of matters is fast approaching. On this note, I need a greater commitment to training and self improvement to ensure we get our just rewards at the end of the season for our excellent efforts to date.
I am very hopeful for the rest of the season and will be active in the coming weeks to strengthen the squad to help in our push towards success. I was looking around the fantastic facilities we have the other day and thought it would be good to get that trophy cabinet filed up by the end of the season. C,mon boys lets give the Chairman a headache with his brasso budget.
| Date: | 4th September 2010 |
|---|---|
| Opponent: | Tynecastle |
| Venue: | Ainslie Park |
| Kickoff: | 2.30pm |
