Lowland League: Herdy has high hopes ahead of Hogmanay humdinger

Posted on Friday, December 30th, 2016

The curtain comes down on 2016 this Saturday in a Hogmanay humdinger at Ainslie Park when Dougie Samuel’s men take on Whitehill Welfare in the final game of year.

Welfare own the early bragging rights with a narrow victory in the corresponding fixture at Rosewell earlier in the season.  It was a game clouded in controversy with Spartans denied a ‘stone-waller’ when Jamie Dishington was downed in the home box ahead of Kieran Chalmers’ second half winner.

One man keen to level proceedings in terms of victories is Michael Herd.  ‘Herdy’, set to make his 65th appearance, is well versed in the dangers Welfare can offer however the midfielder is relishing the opportunity to make it a win a-piece in the head-to-heads and end the year on a high.

“We all know it will be a tough game against Whitehill, it always is.  We got beat up at Rosewell earlier this season and undoubtedly the lads are keen to settle a score on Saturday and pick up three points too.

“Our preparations this week have been good with 90 minutes under our belt in a midweek friendly and the lads have also trained well.  The feeling around the camp is a positive one and we go into the game with an unbeaten run of four leagues games which boosts the confidence too.

“We’ll go out there and play our own game on our home patch and hopefully it will stand us in good stead come 3pm.”

New Year games in the past at Ainslie Park have been littered with drama and incident however Herd is hopeful that its the football alone that provides the talking points, “It’s one of the oldest and biggest rivalries at our level and undoubtedly there will be the odd tough challenge flying about but hopefully the only fireworks will be up at the Castle at midnight!”

Off the pitch, Saturday sees the Spartans Academy’s Young Person’s Committee provide the pre and mid-match catering facilities as part of a fundraising drive.  Guided by Academy Youth and Community Worker Jamie Tomkinson, the Committee will also be conducting a half-time raffle with a prize likely to kick-start someone’s Hogmanay celebrations!

Admission for the final game of 2016 is, as ever, £5 adults, £3 Concessions and Under 16s remain free.  We continue to commit to offering affordable football for all at Ainslie Park.