Just after half time at today’s game we heard the news that Jim Martin had passed away.  He had had another stroke during the night and hadn’t regained consciousness.  Jim had been a fantastic supporter of the club and director of the Academy over recent years.  Almost single handedly and certainly single-mindedly he drove through every legal aspect of a very tricky deal the Academy has with the City of Edinburgh Council.  We would often chat about some problem about 10 at night and by working ’till 3 or 4 in the morning he had it cracked and was ready by morning to get stuck into some unsuspecting fellow on the other side of the deal.  He also created in his role as Company Secretary the new company format for the club which sets us up perfectly for the future. 

His sharp tongue or sharp use of the key board did get him in trouble now and again, and often again and again.  We all caught it at some time other than perhaps Derick who somehow knew how to duck out of the firing line at the right time.  He was nevertheless a really generous guy with very few knowing the extent of what he did.  He loved and cared for the club and all we stand for.  Quite simply we would not be where we are now without him and that’s a fantastic legacy he has left us.  Wherever you are tonight raise a glass of Pinot Grigio for Jim and we know for certain that he would want us to carry on driving the club and the Academy forward.

It was an exciting game against Vale of Leithen in the Image Printers Cup semi final although we went down 2 – 1.  Aaron Somerville put them ahead midway through the first half with a great left foot volley.  We had had most of the play but couldn’t quite score, Gavin Malin coming closest when he contrived to hit the bar from underneath it.  We again pushed forward in the second half but Somerville again scored after 53 minutes, this time a right foot rocket in the top corner.  We camped in the Vale half for the remainder of the game.  Donal Henretty hit the post before their goalie pulled off a cracking save from him also.  Gavin did pull one back with just over 15 to go.  We continued to pour forward but the chances were being missed.  Keith Mcleod did hit the post in the final minute and the ball came back out along the face of the goal but it wasn’t to be.

Team: Flockhart, Archibald, Gerrard, Sievewright, King, Malin, Kader, McLeod, Henretty, McAuley, Manson Subs not used: Vinelli, McKibben, McGarrie, Hamilton, Sinclair

Att 204

The Amateurs beat Bridgend 4 – 0 in a league game, the scorers were Finlay Clark 2, Ronnie Napier 2.

The Juniors game at Blackburn was postponed.

The Seniors game at Ainslie Park against Vale of Leithen is definitely on today.  The pitch is wet but in good shape and although the fog is around it’s not bad enough at the moment to put the game in danger.  The ko is 2.30pm.

The Juniors head through to play Blackburn in a league game.  We havent had the breaks in our last two outings and manager David Cowan is optimistic “This will be a good test for us but if we can cut out the bad mistakes and start defending a bit better we should do okay”.  The Junior rules means ‘keeper David Paterek isn’t suspended today despite his red card last week and Ollie Antoni may come back in after injury.    KO is 1.45pm.

The Amateurs are at Ainslie Park on the FieldTurf in a league game against Bridgend, ko 2.30pm.

Jeanette Veitch has advised that she can make up Spartans goodie bags for Christmas presents. It can contain polo shirts, t-shirts, mugs, hats, scarves and pennants. Prices depend on goods.

To place an order, call Jeanette on 0131 557 1769.

Mike says -

“As I said earlier in the week, tomorrow Sam and I would have at least liked the chance of picking the same eleven who did so well for us last Saturday. By midweek however we realised that was never going to be a starter but then again Robbie Manson, Gavin Malin and Donal Henretty were always going to feature heavily in our thoughts when deciding on a starting line-up in the Image Printers semi final.

Although not definite, it looks like three of last weeks starters will miss out tomorrow with two substitutes who came on also unavailable. Danny O’Donnell and Stewart Fowlie both took sore ones and had to leave the park during last Saturdays win and haven’t been able to train this week. Dean Hoskins is nursing a very tight hamstring and although he did some light training last night it’s unlikely we’ll chance playing him or his two colleagues tomorrow.

Chris Smith who came off the bench and scored last week had to pull out of training on Tuesday with a groin problem and Luke Cassidy who also came off the bench against City is cup-tied.

As I say up top Robbie, Gavin and Donal will come back into the side and although Sam and I will have to shuffle the pack a bit we are confident we can put out a competitive side against very good opposition.

To bolster the squad we have pulled Gary Hamilton and Andrew Sinclair up from the Under 19′s. Both Gary and Sinky played for us in a midweek friendly a few weeks ago and as well as good back up for us it’s good experience for the youngsters to be involved with the first team. Phil McKibben is also taking a break from his study leave to make sure we have a full compliment tomorrow.

The Vale under Rab Paget are going really well and deserve our utmost respect. They beat us down at Innerleithen in a cup-tie late last season and I’ll be reminding our players of that before the kick-off. Maybe we have something to prove for a change.

Anyway the Vale are the only unbeaten league side in East of Scotland football this season and promotion is very much on the cards. They are scoring goals for fun with top scorer Aaron Somerville well supported by an attack minded team. When I entered EOS football in the early 90′s the Vale (and Gala) were pushing for the title each season and I’d like to see that happen again. Gala may have to wait a bit but if Rab can keep the present Vale team together I’m sure they be promoted at the end of the season and pushing the “big” boys next time round.

That’s all in the future and today we fight for the right to play Gretna or City in a Cup Final and Berwick or Livie in a semi. Anyone care to explain?”

Mike

Mike says -

“Jimmy Murray has confirmed that he has spoken to the powers that be and our semi final against the Vale will kick off at 2.30 this Saturday at the Academy.

I also spoke to David this afternoon and the really good news is he flies back up to continue his recuperation in Scotland either today or tomorrow. He sounded much chirpier than he did the last time I spoke to him and he can’t wait to come back to his adopted home. It would give everyone at Spartans a huge lift if he could attend the game on Saturday but that will depend on the daily physiotherapy the Army have planned for him over the coming weeks. 

With the injury problems I detailed earlier I asked him if he could manage 45 minutes for us but I think he hurt himself laughing.  The good news is he’s on the mend and although that will be a lengthy process we’ll be able to see him in the flesh much sooner than we had anticipated.”

Mike

Mike says -

“As I don’t work on a Wednesday and as it’s too cold for golf (for me anyway) I thought I’d give you a mid-week update on First Team matters. 

Last week I asked Jimmy Murray to contact John Greenhorn and tell him that over the winter period Spartans would like a kick off time of 2.00 for all games at the Academy. Nobody knows what’s going on when it’s 1.15 one week and 1.45 the next and as we have lights, some sort of consistency would help our players and everyone who comes to watch us.

Although the EOS website never changed we kicked off at 2.00 against City and we were assuming we’d do the same this weekend and against the Vale. That was until I received a call from Rab Paget this morning. As the Vale committee have a meal booked and an night out in Edinburgh planned after Saturday’s game they don’t want to hang around too much before the festivities start. Rab asked if we could put the kick off back to 2.30 and I agreed in principle. Craig confirmed it’s OK as far as the Academy is concerned and Jimmy is contacting Mr Greenhorn and the referee today.

Watch this space.

After such a convincing victory as last Saturday’s Sam and I would at least like to have the choice of playing the same eleven again. There’s little chance of that I’m afraid. We had so many injured at training last night that Mike actually used me in the functions set up as well as the game at the end.

For the record Danny, Deano and Stewart all came off injured on Saturday (Danny leaving us with ten men as we’d used all our subs) and none of them trained last night. Danny’s was still limping as he went in to receive treatment and must be deemed doubtful for the Vale. Stewart had already received treatment on his injury and had the night off. He’s been told Saturday might be a bit too soon to be playing again but we’ll have a better idea by Thursday. Deano has had a very tight hamstring for a number of weeks and it nearly went early on against City. He did well to last as long as he did and although he was down last night he didn’t strip and is another doubt for the weekend.

Dan took a dunt in the ribs against City and couldn’t train last night and Cloudie’s groin problem has resurfaced recently and as such has been given the week off from training. We’ll reassess Dan and Keith later in the week. Archie was also in the wars on Saturday and needed treatment on his back before training last night.

To round things off our two scoring substitutes from last Saturday are also in the wars. Jorge missed training with the flu (it gets cold over here Jorge) and Chris pulled up early last night with a groin strain he’s been carrying.  

I think I better take it easy on Thursday in case I have to sign a form and fill a jersey on Saturday (I remember a game against the Vale where I had to do that for my previous club!!!).  

Seriously, Sam and I hope most of those carrying knocks or strains improve greatly as the week goes on and we do have Donal back from suspension and Robbie and Gav desperate to get back in the team. Put it this way Sam and I won’t be thinking about a starting line-up until after training on Thursday at the earliest.”

Mike

Mike says -

“After an hour yesterday we were beginning to get concerned on the side and Sam, Mike and myself thought about changing things round.  Boom! Sean raked one in from 25 yards and almost before we caught breath Omar delightfully chipped the keeper from wide on the right. The team relaxed, the fluency to our passing returned and we ran out handsome winners.

We started the game well and early on created three or four very good openings but the ball just wouldn’t go in. City took confidence from our inability to score and came close on a couple of occasions. With it looking like it was going to be goalless at the interval Cloudie broke clear in the box and his partially blocked shot was forced home by the alert Ross Archibald. 

As I say at the top we lost our way a bit at the start of the second half as City changed their formation and squeezed the game further up the park looking for the equaliser. City got up a head of steam and our passing became sloppy. Changing from a back three sitting in a bit to a back four pushing up the park gave City an impetus to their game but ultimately it proved their downfall as we got in behind them in the latter stages and were clinical with our finishing.

City missed one or two experienced players who may have steadied the ship and the three points we were desperate for were given the added bonus of another seven goals to our goal difference. A team’s goal difference is as important as a point as it proved last season when Dalbeattie were put under the pressure of having to beat us by three clear goals to lift the title. As it was we won the league by six points but who knows what will happen this season.

As I said we would on Friday, we brought Danny, Omar and Sean back into the team and they were all as excellent as we knew they would be. Sam and I would comfortably start any of our immediate pool of fourteen players and yesterday Robbie and Gavin were the unlucky players left out. Robbie had been the only player to start every game and we thought it might be the right time to rest him for a week. Gavin was our joint top scorer until Cloudie’s late header yesterday and is having a great season for us. He does however have an ongoing  problem with his shoulder and is the only first team player playing mid-week university football hence his seat on the bench.

Sam and I envisaged bringing Robbie and Gavin straight back in next week but we’ll think more about that in the next couple of days. Donal is back available from suspension but Danny and Stewart were forced off yesterday and I’ll check the extent of their injuries with them today. As well as the displays of the three amigos Sam and I were delighted with the contribution Chris, Jorge and Luke made when they came on. We are still in all the domestic competitions this season and we’ll need everybody to do their bit if we want to be more successful than last time round.

Finally back to yesterday. A big thank you to Colin for the work he put in with Hugh and Craig helping to get the park playable. Too many EOS clubs leave things to the elements and a referees decision. At Spartans we don’t.

 As for the game the score flattered us but we’ll happily take it along with the three points. The players in the home dressing room who have been regularly pulling on a strip had a big reminder that competition for places  is getting keener. Sam and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Mike