The game against St Johnstone was a big day for everyone at the club. It was the biggest game many of the boys had played in and there was a real buzz on the bus heading north. We arrived at the stadium early to allow the lads time to have a look behind the scenes at an SPL ground and get prepared for the game. As I was suspended and unable to play all this build up was hard for me to take knowing that I wasn’t actually going to get my boots on and play. It was doubly difficult for me as it was likely to be one of the biggest games of the season and as captain I wanted to be a part of it.

We started the game really well and kept the ball well in spells. However, St Johnstone did look sharper and more comfortable on the ball but it’s to be expected from full time SPL under 19s. It was a fairly even encounter for the first 45 minutes of the game with both sides creating a couple of half chances each but nothing really threatened either goal. After 60 minutes the score was still 0-0 which is a credit to ourselves, however after St Johnstone scored their first goal they got stronger and stronger while we were tiring and they ran out eventual 6-0 winners. Even though the game finished 6-0 we in no way embarrassed ourselves and competed well for an hour against a very good side on their home pitch. It gave many of the boys a first-hand insight into what is expected of players at the highest level and gave us all something to aim for. It shows us what improvement is needed and I am sure it will act as a great incentive for us to train that extra bit harder over the coming weeks.

As for the East of Scotland League, we’ve only played three league games so far and haven’t been able to pick up any points. This obviously wasn’t how we had envisaged our league campaign to start but I’m confident that it will come together over the next couple of games as we have the ability within the squad to do well this year. The game against Edinburgh City today was a strange one, in the first half neither team was playing much football and at half time we believed the game was there for the taking. It didn’t turn out that way and some sloppy defending can be blamed for the five goals we lost in the second half. A couple of weeks ago we lost out on qualification to the semi’s of the league cup on goal difference after a hard fought 2-0 win over Tynecastle which was bitterly disappointing for us all but we can be pleased to have won the game and kept a clean sheet. This does show that we are capable of keeping clean sheets and winning games of football in this league and we will work hard to repeat that feat in the coming games.

Daniel Shields, Captain EoS 19s

All players eligible are required to meet at the Spartans Academy for 11:30am Please bring boots, trainers and usual training gear. The session will finish around 2pm.

Chris Anderson U19s Head Coach

Spartans under 19′s lost 6-0 to Falkirk today in the Scottish Youth Cup at the Falkirk Stadium. More details to follow.