A couple of games have been lined up.  Tonight the Juniors take on a Cowdenbeat XI at Broughton HS on their new synthetic pitch, ko 7.30pm.  Cowdenbeath are bringing along a strong squad after getting very little aftion recently due to the snow and ice.

Tomorrow (Fri) our Under 16s take on Alloa Athletic 16s at the Academy on the FieldTurf with an 8pm ko.  Daniel Shields, who left us to join Alloa in the Summer, is likely to get a little stick from the home crowd when the game kicks off!

We have received a great photo from the lads in Afghanistan of Flem and Joner sporting their Spartans shirts in Helmand province. These probably won’t be the furthest flung Spartans shirts to be worn but they certainly will be the first ones to be worn in a war zone.

Everyone at the club would like to take the opportunity to wish all of the lads in 3 Rifles all the best. Stay safe. Swift and Bold.

For anyone who wishes to donate to the 3 Rifles ‘Swift and Bold’ campaign, you can visit http://www.swiftandbold.org/ and make a secure donation online.

The Juniors beat Civil Service Strollers 2 – 0 at the Academy today.  All the squad played for a half and coach David Cowan was pleased with the first half performance which put us in control.  Paul Sutherland opened the scoring from a yard on 12 minutes after their ‘keeper saved an Ollie Antoni header.  Kenny Young scored a second ten minutes later when Adam Perry laid the ball into his path. Team: Paterek, G Young (Hair), Boyes (Robertson), Sutherland (Steele), Cruickshank, Bannon (McLeod), K Young, Antoni, Preston (Reid), Perry (Cartwright), Scott (Trialist)

Mike says -

“First of all the result was unimportant. Both teams used every player available as the lack of recent football necessitated everybody getting  a run out at some stage. Both Bonnyrigg and ourselves were more interested in giving everyone a game than trying to win it. The game itself was played at a pace which pleased Sam, Windy and myself and although as Sam keeps saying “playing on field turf is not REAL football” it’s the next best thing. We go up against a very good Lothian side next Saturday in what is a pivotal game for them in their attempts to win the title and I can’t think of a better way to prepare than 90 minutes against a top Junior side.

As expected Stewart Fowlie and Danny O’Donnell weren’t fit enough to take part although Danny managed to train with the Third team. Sam and I left Donal and Cloudie on the side for the first thirty minutes as we wanted to give all the first team regulars at least a hour but wanted to remain competitive throughout. As I said at the top the result was unimportant but the confidence of the team is paramount. After a run of nearly a dozen straight wins the defeats against Forfar and the Vale (although we played well in both games) may have dented the teams belief in itself and beating the Rose won’t have done them any harm.  

Like every other team when the visit they Academy for the first time the opposition yesterday started better than the home side. It took us twenty minutes to settle down and as we approached half-time we started to play as Sam and I would have wanted. Alex King looked to have taken a bad knock to his ankle but he shrugged it off, scored and overall had a very good game. We got more solid at the back as the game went on and Omar showed flashes of the player he should be during his second spell on the park.

I see Jorge got Craig’s “man of the match” award and I must admit he is pleasing on the eye. He shows flashes of real “Spanish” class at training and once he becomes a bit more aware of the physical nature of the Scottish game he should prove to be an asset. That’s for the future though and we have to turn our attention to Lothian Thistle, the East of Scotland Premier league and trying to retain our title starting next Saturday.”

Mike

Spartans striker David Etale featured on STV news on Friday evening, promoting a new initiative to raise money to support casualties and their families. 3 Rifles are currently serving in Afghanistan and a number of the lads have already sadly been killed in the conflict. David himself was the victim of a roadside bombing, however he is thankfully recovering well.

To watch the article, go to the following link:-

http://video.stv.tv/?bcpid=1610699553&bctid=61902372001

To support and donate to the 3 Rifles Swift and Bold Campaign go to: http://www.swiftandbold.org/

In an exciting game at the Academy we beat Bonnyrigg Rose 2 – 1 in a friendly.

Rose opened the game sharper and had most of the possession before opening the scoring in the 20th when the right back broke forward and struck home a fine drive.  We then came back into the game and looked more dangerous.  Keith McLeod then hit the post with a header from a Robbie Manson cross.

It took us only 2 minutes to equalise in the second half.  Donal Henretty beating the right back before cutting it back for Alex King to fire the ball home from 18 yards.  The tempo kept up despite a number of substitutions and Keith scored the winner on the 80 minute mark when put through by Gavin Malin.  Man of the match had to be Jorge Vinnelli.  He only played for 30 minutes but lit the game up with a handful of outrageously skillful touches.

Team: Flockhart, Archibald, Gerrard, Sivewright, Hoskins (Vinnelli), Kader (Henretty), Malin, Cassidy (McLeod), Manson, McAuley, King (McKibben) Att: 125 (inc the Edinburgh City and Vale of Leithen players!)

The FieldTurf pitch at the Academy will be action all weekend.  On Saturday after our 8 to 11 year olds train on it during the morning the first match is our 2nd XI at Saturday 19s who take on Dunbar Utd at 12.30.  As Mike says our Seniors then play Bonnyrigg Rose the current East Region Super League champions at 2.30.  This is followed by Edinburgh City (getting some action in before their Scottish Cup tie on Monday against Montrose) against Vale of Leithen which has a 4.30pm ko.

On Sunday we host three Spartans youth games in the morning before our Juniors take on our nearest rivals Civil Service Strollers at 12.30 in a friendly.  This is followed at 2.30 by our 1st XI at 16s who  play Tynecastle Colts in a league game.  This is followed at 4.30 with a Scottish Universities league game between Stirling Uni and Edinburgh Uni.

The cafe/bar will be open both days and we’re looking forward to hosting good crowds keen to see some football action after the icy weather.