Take a point

Don’t really know what to make from last nights performance against Stenny at Stair Pk.Was it a good point?or 2 points dropped?Got to say fancied us to beat the warriors but they put in a battling performance.One or two talking points,a lino got injured,two local boys on the bench and a crowd of 219,the latter I’m not surprised at,although going by FB some seem to be.I was talking to Dof Stuart Millar recently and he can remember 200 odd at a midweek game when him and Neil were at the helm,and we were doing really well at that point.I looked up an attendance in 2012 when Stranraer played Alloa in midweek when both teams were doing pretty well,the figures that night were 225,so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out 219 represents a drop of 6 from 225.The game wasn’t the most attractive 3rd bottom v bottom and with the Blues playing Raith at the weekend maybe punters were holding off till Saturday,hopefully another 100 or so on Saturday.This brings me nicely onto the aforementioned game.Probably the most disappointing team in League 1 this season,full time Raith Rovers are struggling once again in this League.They may have a lovely new all weather pitch,but there team is not so lovely.I’ll echo what I’ve said previously,they remind me so much of Dunfermline in this League several years ago,and the frightening thing for their supporters is that word on the street says they will go part time if promotion does not come this time around,worrying times for the Fife club.The blues can put another nail in the coffin of the away team on Saturday with 3 points.The games between the pair have been very close this term and expect another close one on Saturday.No word of any injuries for Stranraer last night so you would think the gaffer will go with same 11 which beat Brechin and drew with Stenny,but Jao Victoria might want to prove a point against his old employers.As for Rovers don’t think there as good without Lewis Vaughan and he’s out for the season,but Nisbett up front is quite a handful and Liam Buchanan has been scoring against us for about 40 years.So the stage is set,as usual a very hard game but one I greet with confidence🤫And finally I’d like to start with a Chimney joke,I’ve got a stack of them.The first one is on the house😎⚽️

A balmy day in Brechin😎

Felt quite confident to going to Glebe Park today,hit 3 sets of temp traffic lights from Lanark to Falkirk and the Green showed every time,when your lucks in its in.Picked up the boy Cottam in Camelon and her indoors didn’t fancy a run to Angus(again)so it was just me and Tony to sing along to Daniel O Donnell on the cassette player.First stop was Costa of course,at Kinross service station,where prices are so dear,rip off should be added to the signs.Anyway I digress and it wasn’t the greatest start as I watched Burnley beat Spurs in the Brechin bar,well I watched it on text as the Hedgemen don’t have Sky in the bar🤬We finally exited to take in the game in sunshine,last year it was beast from the east,today it was best of the west and the stage was set.The gaffer,Faz,rang the changes and new boy Ali McCann made his debut with Cammy Elliot and Adam Cummins coming in replacing a injured PJ Crossan and not so injured Jao Victoria and Andrew Macdonald who was suspended.The blues made most of the running in a good opening spell,but surprise surprise were made to pay for some slack defending when Euan Smith popped up to score for Brechin.I had just stopped swearing when Kyle Turner produced some lovely work on the left hand side and Innes Cameron scored with a pass from KT,1-1 and all to play for.I hadn’t even finished my pie from H-T when Max Currie made a fantastic stop with his left foot to keep the scores level.The winner came from a free kick just outside the D,when Jamie Hamill smashed a shot into the net,a slight deflection but they all count.The remaining part of the game was very tense,could we hang on for our first victory of 2019 ?The answer was Yes yes yes and happy days are here again.Lovely touch from the gaffer at the end to come and thank the supporters,us fans appreciate that👍So Stenny on Tuesday at Stair Park,a follow up would be nice.I rounded off going  to a Chinese called Yang sing,I don’t know about Yang,but I sang the praises of Stranraer to anybody who would listen🤯And finally I wasn’t particularly close to my Dad when he died,which was lucky for me as he trod on a Land mine😎⚽️

What could wrong?

Woke up this morning feeling on the Top of the world,although I’ve got to admit Everest is some climb😲My favourites were at home to bottom club Dumbarton,I was being chauffeured by Tony Cottam who has just had his Cataracts done and says he can see much better😎and was going to my first ever press conference at the end of a blues game,exciting stuff eh!Got to the ground with a detour of Port Wullie,used to me some great pubs there,sadly no longer about,I just loved the Eagle.I digress,and took in the bar at the opposite side from the Stand and was full of Dumbarton fans,so couldn’t really get an intelligent conversation🤬Liked the look of Stranraer Manager Stephen Farrell team on paper,but sadly games aren’t played on paper.A sparse home support took their seats to watch the blues beat a team we always beat at Stair Pk,well nearly always.The first half was really poor and the Sons of the rock really should have been in front,a couple of decent chances going a begging.Got to half time,0-0 all to play for kicking into our favourite end.The half time draw came and went in fact 2 were drawn,no winners in my wee area so no holiday in Sandhead with the winnings,lucky them.I don’t gamble these days,caused me too many problems and kept on losing,which is probably a good idea to stop.The second half started the way the first half stopped,the blues just couldn’t string 2 passes together and it was no surprise when Ross Forbes smashed one into the net from about 20 yards giving Max Currie no chance.Although we hadn’t been in the game young star Kyle Turner should really have made it 1-1 but his shot flew over the bar and our chances flew out the window.Just when we were getting back into the game Andrew Macdonald,his Mum likes me to call him Andrew,got stupidly sent off for 2 shirt pulls in 3 minutes and I didn’t call him Andrew after that.The 2 final nails in the old coffin were put in by Dom Thomas and Ross Perry to make it 3 for the sons of the rock.As ever at the press conference our manager Faz was as honest as the days long and said ‘we didn’t deserve anything out of the game’and he was right.Sad to say too many had an off day and although the park wasn’t great,it had cut up pretty badly,and the players had a hard game at Gayfield,it was pretty poor.Although I’ve got to admit Dom Thomas is some talent and although one man doesn’t make a team,he does his best to make that cliche rubbish.But beat 3-0 or not I’m up to Brechin next Saturday to support the team,we have so many 6 pointers coming up it’s frightening.But if you listen to the Stranraer podcast on Thursday,Its no easy,I’ll be dissecting the game,whatever that means🤷‍♂️And finally to all Ladies out there,don’t date a Tennis player,Love means nothing to them😎🤷‍♂️

Dunblane Hydro and all that.

That’s my vacation over to the Dunblane Hydro once again and her indoors can get back to the sink again😲Love my stay in this hotel and even managed to catch some fitba while i was there.Good to see Aberdeen thrashing Queen of the South,lovely watching Man City put 6 past Chelsea and Spurs winning again,all made up for a super Sunday.The Monday was spent in the fair city of Perth,some strange people up that way,was in Costa and this boy came in shouting about another customer and just along at the Taxi rank another guy starting shouting at the Taxi Driver,all made up for a very entertaining day in the cold.Back to the hotel and we headed for the Nick Nairn Restaurant,very posh but the Prosecco can wait,40 quid a bottle,I could go to Italy and pick up a couple of bottles for that!I digress and what a fantastic point for the blues last night up at Arbroath.Watched the highlights this morning and the blues deserved at least a point.Must admit looked like a Penalty early doors for Stranraer and to give young Cameron a yellow was ridiculous.Looking at the 2 benches we had 3 kids plus Mark Lamont,they had 7 very experienced players,shows where we are with squad and finances at the moment.But a bit of a confidence booster before the game on Saturday.Now onto the weekend and Dumbarton are the visitors.This is a game where the Stranraer fans can sing ‘can we play you every week’as the sons have a woeful record at Stair Pk.A win here would give us some leeway on the run in and if we carry our performance from Gayfield and to an extent against East Fife  you would have to feel pretty confident.No word on the return of P J Crossan and Iain Smith so a light bench again you would think.As ever I fancy the blues at Stair Pk,let’s do it.And finally I’m still making love at 71,which is handy for me because I live at 63😎⚽️

You could’nae make it up

I said at the start of the month after having a look at the fixtures for February,I stated that Stranraerfc boss Stephen Farrell had a good chance of Manager of the Month,and that has been proved right as he’s undefeated this Month,Erm the only thing is that we’ve not had a game yet this month with yet another game going by the wayside today,with the game being played again on Tuesday 12th February,not much opposition that night apart from Man Utd v PSG on the Fat Belly😲I’m maybe going to be a bit controversial here,but is not about time Football clubs starting listening to Weather forecasts.I think Schools are now doing it and I think clubs really have to be a bit pro active in this technology world,yesterday afternoon the met office gave a yellow warning for Angus,high winds gusting up to 70mph,so why no action yesterday?It was obvious that Saturday was going to be wild,I know Arbroath wanted the game on for financial reasons,but putting lives at risk travelling to Football matches is just plain daft.Wether we like it or not weather forecasts are very accurate these days and all football clubs should be keeping a close eye on the forecast from Thursday onwards,I think clubs don’t believe forecasts and hope it’s not going to so bad as they say,but I’m including my own club in this and all other clubs,this could have been avoided today okay the club loses money on hospitality etc but that’s life and we don’t want to lose one because of a blind eye to the forecast,rant over.So weather permitting we do it all again on Tuesday night,looking at the team sheet today,noticed Macdonald was back in favour today and with P J Crossan out the same line up can be expected on Tuesday night,knowing our luck their will be an earthquake in Arbroath on Tuesday🏔

Quite sure we’ll mention this shambles on Its no Easy the Stranraer fc podcast on Thursday morning,good to see wee Laurence interviewing Faz on you tube,I often say that to Laurence,You Tube🤫And finally I bought a Muzzle for my pet Duck,nothing flashy but it fits the bill😎⚽️

Chinese New Year and all that

Chinese New Year this week and the year of the Pig I believe.I can quite easily identify with this as her indoors says ‘I eat like a pig’bit harsh I would say.I’m always amazed that the Chinese New Year lands on a Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday every Year,I’m obviously not suggesting that Takeaways and Restaurants are always quiet during the week,I smell a Rat!I digress and after the abandonment of last Saturday’s encounter against the Warriors,the quick rearranged fixture looked certain to go ahead last night until a deluge of Rain waterlogged Stair Park,the rumour is Stranraer committee member Bill Paton was rowing a boat in the centre circle😅This means the Blues at the end of February will have played only 5 matches at Stair Park since the end of October and if the Dumbarton game goes make that 4,quite frightening.Now this Saturday I’m absent in action again as her indoors and myself are off to Dunblane Hydro for a few days.We are going for a romantic break as there is a Mills and Boon convention on🤬No the truth is we are going for a Valentine and Anniversary break,we have been married 43 years,she really is a lucky lady.So it will be media,media on Saturday as I try and get all the scores from Gayfield as the blues travel to runaway leaders of Ladbrokes League1,Arbroath.On paper this looks a huge ask for the blues,but with the game being played on grass looks a wee bit easier.Our recent record at the Angus club is decent,3 wins from our last 4 in all comps and with a win in the Scottish Cup recently,maybe not as hard as it seems.Cannot see Faz starting with 2 strikers on Saturday,and a performance like the Scottish Cup will do dainty.The good news is that this is our 3rd last visit to the county of Angus this term,the bad news is we are back to Angus in a fortnight to play Brechin City🤬And finally A hotel mini bar let’s you see into the future and what a can of Pepsi will cost you in 2030😎⚽️

Hard day.

So disappointing that Jack Frost got down to Stair pk again and caused a no show today at Stranraer.I hate getting no game on a Saturday,and I haven't been as let down since Susan Boyle finished second on BGT.Although the blues didn't play today,a couple of scorelines didn't do us any damage today and Raith once again struggled,this League is really being thrown at Arbroath by the full time fifers.Not all bad today as QOS got beat 3 by Falkirk and the MOTM award jinx strikes again as QOS Manager Gary Naysmith won it last month,if it wasn't for Dobbie they would. becoming our way next season.Early doors took in the Spurs game v Newcastle on Sky today,the lilywhites having about 99 per cent possession,but only a mistake by the Magpies keeper gave Spurs the victory.Her indoors was creating when I said I was going to watch BT score,so it was a walk up the street to see some Charity shops and Hairdressers,my home town of Lanark is so exciting,didn`t even pay a visit to Costa,her indoors said `We had one this week already``talk about tight,she bought double glazing so the weans couldn`t hear the Ice cream man.I finally sat down and watched some film,no wonder I take drink.The postponed game today v Stenny will hopefully go ahead this Tuesday night,ko 7.45 and I'm quite sure the boys on Stranraerfc podcast Its no easy will discuss the result to be broadcast on Thursday morning,and before that on Wednesday morning my blog will be looking forward to the game next Saturday against Arbroath at Gayfield.And finally Uncle Ben has died.No more Mr Rice guy.