SPARTANS beat Hibernian 5-3 in what can only be described as a tremendous Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup semi-final under the floodlights at Riccarton.

The lighting may not have been good enough to take action pictures in this semi-final, but both Spartans and Hibernian made this a fantastic occasion and the best possible advert for women‘s football. I have always been intrigued by the title of teams at this level and the word ‘Ladies’ is incorporated in to the name of many of the women’s teams. When I looked up the word ‘lady’ in a dictionary is said ‘gracious and well-mannered’! That may be correct, but it was certainly not gracious and well-mannered at Riccarton, where the far-side referee’s assistant had to warn players, several times, not to swear at him! I thought men’s – or should it be gentlemen’s – football was passionate, tough and committed, but these two team of women/ladies more than matched their male counterparts! (more…)

Senior side Spartans scored a major victory, not only for themselves but for the East of Scotland League against Pollok. The standard of football was affected by the wintry weather conditions as rain and wind battered the exposed City Park ground. Expectations seemed to favour the junior side however Spartans didn’t just win the tie, over the 180 minutes played they were the better team. Pollok manager Sinnet’s comments in the Evening Times the night before really didn’t come close to reality against a team that had a “stronger” side out than last week.

Spartans changed to a 4-4-2 formation. Hoskins was replaced by Preston in the line up as Fowlie moved to left back, O’Donnell to right back and Archibald moved into the centre.

Nicky Walker had the first clear shot at goal in the 10th minute. He ran passed the Pollok defence and into the box however his weak shot was easily collected by the Junior Keeper.
(more…)

Match highlights of the first half and of the goals from yesterdays cracking Scottish Cup first round tie have been kindly made available by Pollok. To watch the first half highlights (including both goals), click the video below.

Spartans and Pollok will have to do it all again this coming Saturday after a hard fought, balanced draw between the two sides. Spartans, with a point to prove against Junior opposition after last years 4-1 defeat to Linlithgow Rose, welcomed back Fowlie and Gerrard, both missing the last game vs Coldstream. Pollok, in only their 2nd year in this cup tournament were short a couple of first team players, as they looked to further prove the perceived higher standards of the Junior leagues.

Spartans started strong and Walker’s pace up front ensured the Pollok defence we alert from the start. Walker had a great chance to score the first goal, working hard to get his shot, only to see it drag past the left hand post.

On 15 minutes Pollok took the lead. A corner crossed in was only half cleared by the Spartan defence. The ball played back in and was knocked into the back of the net by Dingwall.

Spartans reacted well to going behind and immediately pushed for an equaliser. The pace of Walker and Kader causing the defence a huge amount of trouble while the midfield engine, King was pulling the strings from the centre.

In the 27th minute Kader was bundled over in the box by the Pollok defence. The referee awarded a freekick just outside the box, but after rightly consulting his assistant, confirmed the foul was in the penalty area. Penalty given!
(more…)

Spartans started their belated league campaign with a single point from a game where they should have left with all three.

New signings Robbie Manson, Chris Flockhart and Nicky Walker all started their competitive debuts in an attacking 4-5-1 formation. Spartans quickly took hold of the game. With only 3 minutes gone some great distribution play from the lightening paced Walker created space for Kader on the right. His ball into the box was cleared only as far as King, whose shot from 18 yards rattled the bar.

Just 3 minutes later and Walker this time missed a good opportunity to put the away side in front, putting the ball over from just a few yards out.

Henretty then missed a glorious chance in the 14th minute. With an open goal his soft shot was cleared off the line by the City defence. (more…)

Spartans second pre-season match saw them record a 2 goal victory over last seasons SFL3 champions East Fife.

Spartans started without Jon Seeley and Dan Gerrard in defence, so Stewart Fowlie moved to centre back along with Ross Archibald, with Danny O’Donnell and Dean Hoskins filling the right and left back roles respectively.

The Fifers dominated possession in the first half but looked the more tired side in the second. The first goal came from a Robbie Manson free kick which was headed in by Ross Campbell for the game’s opener. Spartans grew into the game as time went on and Struan Preston added a second goal late on to clinch the tie.

Spartans next pre-season game takes place this Tuesday at Stirling University Campus, where they will take on Stirling University, who were recently admitted to the East of Scotland League.

Spartans: Lunn, O’Donnell, Fowlie, Hoskins, Archibald, Kader, Campbell, Manson, Walker, K McLeod, Henretty. Subs (used): Young, Preston, Burns

See more match photos in our match gallery.

Spartans kicked off pre-season with a 3-1 win away to Falkirk Under-19s at Stirling University last night.

Struan Preston put the visitors ahead from an Omar Kader cross after 12 minutes and Robbie Manson, on his debut, made it two with a 25-yard volley in the 20th minute. Five minutes later Nicky Walker also scored on his debut,  the striker converting from the penalty spot after being brought down in the box. Falkirk pulled a goal back just before half time.

Mike Lawson, the Spartans co-manager, said: “I had to shuffle the pack and played one or two in strange positions, but it was a worthwhile exercise and we played very well indeed.”

Spartans’ next pre-season match is against East Fife at Bayview on Saturday.

Spartans: Flockhart; O’Donnell, Gerrard, Archibald, Henretty; Kader, King (Young 45), Manson, Noon (Campbell 61); Walker (Noon 75), Preston (Devlin 61).

Match report and pictures on official Falkirk FC website:

http://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/club-news/falkirk-xi-v-spartans.html