Bo’ness Athletic V East Kilbride – SFA South Challenge Cup Round 5 (05/03/2022)
Made the short trip from Grangemouth to Bo’ness in the car which took all of 10 minutes, made all the better by the decent weather. Parked up near the Hippodrome and stopped at a chippy, Corvi’s, for a bag of chips on the way to the ground. A 15 minute walk to Newtown Park, which unfortunately a fair bit was up a steep hill but was pretty straightforward when using google maps, to say I was breathing out of my arse when I arrived would be an understatement.
One of the things I love about non league groundhopping is some of the sights and views that these smaller towns and villages have. Today was no exception with some great views from the top of the hill.
South Challenge Cup gripped me once again as I attended my fourth tie of the competition. Got to Newtown Park at about quarter past two and enjoyed a walk around the whole ground. With a covered terrace on one of the bylines, an open terrace on the other, a grass bank behind a goal, and a slightly curved open terrace behind the other, which has a tidy little club house on the corner. It’s a proper non league ground, with great character. Even the Astro turf pitch doesn’t take away from the character. It reminds of some of the non leagues away days when I first started going to football matches.
Made my way to the pie shop before kick off and was told by the lady at the window that “the steak and gravy pies are delicious”, so I took one of them and a bottle of water for £3. She wasn’t wrong to be fair, said steak and gravy pie really was delicious. I decided to stand just to the right of the halfway line in the covered terrace, mainly just in case it decided to start raining.
Within minutes of the start, Bo’ness Athletic counter attacked and took an early lead through a well taken finish from just inside the box by Tiwi Daramola. What a start for the home side, as they shocked the team higher in the pyramid and favourites for the tie East Kilbride.
The away side in all white found themselves level with around 15 minutes gone with a sublime free kick a few yards from the edge of the box by the silver haired Stevenson.
Mere minutes later East Kilbride took the lead with what could only be described as an absolute peach of a finish from distant which looped into the top corner with the keeper well beaten by McLaughlin.
The Kilby extended the lead with half hour player following a foul just inside the box and a penalty was awarded. Neil McLaughlin put they penalty away straight down the middle for 3-1.
Dog watch returned as a golden retriever, a terrier and a spaniel were spotted behind the goal to my left.
Entertaining first half of football, the home side started well but East Kilbride showed they were the better side as they dominated the bulk of the half and the score line reflected that.
A strange moment with quarter of an hour gone as the referee sent off Jonny Mitchell, which was a bit of a shock after a coming together saw him down for a number minutes and the sound of the tackle was horrid.
The numbers advantage paid off as it was 4-1 five minutes later as Joao Victoria beat the keeper from what many in the stands thought was an offside position.
Second half was a bit more competitive but the man advantage and gap in quality was too much for the home side. A good afternoon of football though as we had five goals and a red card.
So onto my ratings…
Ticket Price – £6
Programme Price – N/A
Programme Rating – N/A
Refreshments – 7/10
Stadium Facilities – 6/10
Getting To Stadium – 7/10
Stadium Rating – 8/10
Thanks for reading my thoughts on Bo’ness Athletic against East Kilbride.
Daz Carding
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