We lost 1 – 0 to Celtic in the league at Lennoxtown today.  Scotland and ex Arsenal striker Grant scoring the winner in the 85th minute from what looked like an offside position.  Our injury hit side had defended very well and stand-in ‘keeper Claire Crosbie had several good stops.   We came closest in the first half when Scotland ‘keeper Gemma Faye had to pull of a couple of flying saves.

Our next game is on the gras pitch at the Academy this Wednesday against local rivals Hibs.  The ko is 7.30.

Mike says

“We were fortunate to win yesterday. Preston deserved at least a point and could have shaded what must have been an exciting game to watch for the neutrals. Both teams battled hard, showing the right spirit for 90 minutes in an end to end game of football.

For our part we got our noses in front with Deano’s free kick but didn’t hold on to our lead long enough to settle the team. A few minutes later we gave away yet another sloppy goal because we didn’t attack a keepers long kick and ended up giving away a free kick on our goal-line which we didn’t defend properly. I thought we had the better of the first half but admit the home team had the better of the second down the slope. We threw on Donal, Omar and Michael with 20 to go in an attempt to win the game and when Donal’s cross came into the box on 89 minutes and 30 seconds Omar just beat Michael to the ball to head home the winner which shows the depth of our squad. It was a sore one for Stevie and his boys but they are a good team and will be in the mix come next April.

The result puts us mid table with a game in hand on all the teams above us. Sam and I know there is still room for improvement but we were more than happy with the spirit shown by the boys yesterday. You don’t win leagues playing pretty football every week and you need the odd break along the way.

A special thanks to Kevin for replacing Chris in goal. He looked sharp when he was called into action and two saves at least showed what a great keeper he still is. Fatherhood hasn’t dulled his reflexes, that’s for sure.

We now look forward to the Uni on Tuesday and I’ll post my thoughts on that game tomorrow.”

Our Womens team are back to League action tomorrow with a game away to Celtic at their Lennoxtown training centre, ko is 3.30pm.  Our injury run continued last week and our squad is down to the bare minimum however we did sign ex Scotland international Julie Smith this week to bolster the squad.  Julie was with Kilmarnock last year and manager Shelley Kerr has managed to coax her from retirement to augment the squad.

Our EoS 19s game against Gretna due to be played at the Academy has been postponed.

Over the season we will lose games we deserve to win, today we rode our luck and sneaked all three points.  Only two changes from Tuesday’s team with Kevin Brown in for the unavailable Chris Flockhart and Ross Archibald back at full back for Danny O’Donnell.

We started brightly and Deano scored a great free kick after only five minutes.  In their first attack however Preston equalised after we were unable to clear a corner.  We had most of the play in the first half and did come close when David Etale’s shot hit the bar and then the post before bouncing clear.  The second half did belong to Preston.  Midway through the half they had us under real pressure.  Firstly Kevin saved at point blank range from Craig Manson before a flying save for the cameras denied Michael Campion.  Sean McAuley then came to the rescue clearing off the line.  Our subs did brighten up our play and just when the game looked like a draw in the 90th minute up popped Omar Kader to head home a Donal Henretty cross.  Preston deserved better but after we suggested luck was on our side manager Steve Myatt did say “you create your own luck”.

Kev - MoM

Kevin Brown took the Spartans Man of the Match award in his first game for the team in 15 months.  Team: Brown, Archibald, McKibben, Fowlie, Gerrard, Malin (Moffat 70), McAuley, Manson, Hoskins (Henretty 75), Etale (Kader 70), McLeod Subs not used: Smith, O’Donnell

The Juniors worked hard through at Linlithgow and have picked up quite a bit of praise on the P&B Junior section for their performance today.  Their crowd was over 300 and a very good League Cup section has set us up nicely for league action Team: Smith, G Young, Hutchison, Osborne, Antoni, K Young, Perry, Reid, Scott, Robertson, Cartwright Subs used: Fleming,  Douglas, Thomson

Our Amateur team went down 3 – 2 to Loanhead MW, a disappointing scoreline with Clarke and Sambou the scorers.

Omar Kader scored a last minute header for Spartans senior side to beat Preston Athletic 2-1. Omar missed a late chance in this same game last season, with Spartans drawing 1-1 then. However this time he made his chance count to seal all three points at the Pennypitt. Dean Hoskins scored from a free kick in the first half from a free kick, however Preston hit straight back.  Kader, who started on the bench, then headed home the winner to give Spartans their first away victory of the season.

Spartans Juniors lost 4-0 in their final league cup game, away to Linlithgow Rose. The match was 0-0 until the 40th minute however the Superleague side scored goals either side of half time to put the game past Spartans. The Juniors open their league campaign next weekend at home to Pumpherston.

We’re delighted that we are going to host the Women’s under 19 International between Scotland and Denmark on our Stadium pitch on Tuesday September 8th.  The game kicks off at 7.30pm.  Both teams are going to use the Academy for a training camp during the week before playing a second match on our synthetic pitch on Thursday 10th September.  This is great recognition for our new home and we hope the start of many such occassions.  One of our players Hayley Lauder is expected to be in the squad which will be announced next week.

Mike’s thoughts on tomorrow

“This Saturday we head down to Prestonpans on the back of two good wins. If confidence is high in the camp it’s tempered by knowing it’s three seasons since we’ve won in the league at the Pennypit. Last season we shared two goals and the season before we were edged out in the best of three.

Stevie will be smarting at Tuesday’s result against the Uni and after a great start to the season he’ll have his boys well fired up to make amends.

For our part we made two changes on Tuesday against Strollers from Saturdays team against Lothian and we’ll make another couple of changes tomorrow. Although two good results we are not firing on all cylinders so Sam and I will freshen it up once again. Tomorrow comes too soon for Alex King and Kevin Sivewright but they are on the mend and we hope they’ll both be available for selection a week on Saturday when we are at home to Tynie.

Each team in the East of Scotland Premier is finding it’s feet and here we are approaching the third Saturday of the season with Lothian the only unbeaten side in the league. It augers well for a tight competitive season and we expect a tight competitive game at the Pans.”

Dean - scored a ccracker on Wednesday

The ko at Prestonpans is  2.30.

Our Juniors travel to Linlithgow for their final League Cup section game.  This is another great game for us to play in so soon after joining the Juniors and we’re ready for a big effort.  Michael Osborne comes in but Gary Bannon is doubtful after picking up a knock on Wednesday.  Sam Scott is still struggling with a knock and Paul Sutherland, Joe Steele and Keith Boyes are also out.    The ko is also 2.30.