The weather got to us last week, but hopefully we’ll get some action this weekend! The gents are here to Preview it all.
EAST STIRLINGSHIRE VS CUMBERNAULD COLTS
It’s seventh hosting sixth place in the GeoSonic Scottish Lowland League this weekend at The Falkirk Stadium as Cumbernauld Colts make the short trip to face East Stirlingshire.
Just over 20 miles separate this two on the map and only four points in the league table, albeit East Stirlingshire have played two more games than Cumbernauld Colts.
Both sides saw their games fall foul of the weather so East Stirlingshire stayed unbeaten in 2019. Their four game unbeaten run stretches to the 29th of December and has seen them rise from tenth in the table up to seventh.
Despite this improvement in form, East Stirlingshire haven’t won at home in the league since October when they beat Gretna 2008. They did however, beat Linlithgow Rose at home in the South Challenge Cup in November.
Cumbernauld Colts on the other hand are unbeaten in their last three league away games, a run stretching back to October.
Consistency in recent weeks has been the trouble for the Colts as they sit on the fringes of the top five and victory could move them to within a point of Civil Service Strollers.
Cumbernauld came out on top earlier in the season as they won a five goal thriller at Broadwood thanks to Fraser Team and a Sean Brown double.
Ones to watch
East Stirlingshire – Ross Allum
Cumbernauld Colts – Craig Holmes
VALE OF LEITHEN VS EAST KILBRIDE
In the last three meetings between these sides there has been 15 goals scored. Unfortunately for the hosts, Saturday’s visitors have scored 14 of those goals.
It will be a challenge for Vale of Leithen to take anything from this game, which is becoming a common phrase used whenever East Kilbride come to town.
Kilby’s form has been outstanding, they have won eleven games in a row and will be confident of making that twelve at the weekend. Should they do it then they could potentially go 11 points clear of BSC Glasgow who sit second.
The hosts have not played in over a month due to an unfortunate string of weather-related call offs, however in their last outing they defeated Edusport 5-4 to put an end to a five game winless run.
Vale will have to be wary of the deadly Craig Malcolm if they want to stand any chance of winning this one.
Ones to watch
Vale of Leithen – Matt Underhill
East Kilbride – Craig Malcolm
CIVIL SERVICE STROLLERS VS EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY
Civil Service Strollers have become one of the form sides in the league and will be looking to extend their good run with a victory over Edinburgh University.
Strollers are currently enjoying a seven game unbeaten run. During this run they have taken points from games against Spartans and BSC, so they will be hoping to take the three points against an Edinburgh Uni side who have had a tough season.
The visitor’s season has been plagued with inconsistency. Whenever they pick up a positive result, they fail to build on it and they are currently without a win in their last seven.
Steven Froude and Abdul Yusuf both have seven goals this season and they will be important players to their respective teams in this one.
Ones to watch
Civil Service Strollers – Steven Froude
Edinburgh University – Finn Daniels-Yeoman
BSC GLASGOW VS GALA FAIRYDEAN ROVERS
In-form BSC Glasgow face Dean Shanks Gala at a rearranged venue of Broadwood Stadium due to BSC’s usual home at The Indoorhill being used by Alloa Athletic.
Stephen Swift’s men were involved in the only fixture last weekend as a stoppage time equaliser from Ross Smith ensured a 2-2 draw against 10-man Edusport Academy. BSC had to twice come from behind to close the gap to eight points adrift of East Kilbride.
Gala’s last match came a fortnight ago when league leaders Kilby were victorious 2-0 at Netherdale after last weekend’s match with Civil Service Strollers was postponed. However, they did win their last away fixture after coming from behind to defeat Edsuport Academy 2-1 with goals from Reece Donaldson and Ruari Paton.
Ones to watch
BSC Glasgow – Martin Grehan
Gala Fairydean Rovers – Kieran Watson
UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING VS WHITEHILL WELFARE
Eleventh place University of Stirling welcome bottom club Whitehill Welfare to Forthbank in a crucial match at the wrong end of the table.
Both sides have shown improvement in recent weeks, with the hosts coming into the game after back-to-back 2-2 draws. The first of those came against high-flying Kelty Hearts before two stoppage time goals from Dom Slattery and Aidan Ferris broke Dalbeattie hearts a fortnight ago, meaning Chris Geddes’ men sit on 20 points from 20 matches.
Meanwhile, Ian Little’s Welfare have recently secured draws against Spartans and Cumbernauld Colts, with new signing Scott Wright who joined from Blackburn United making a promising start to his career at Rosewell. However, Whitehill need to start turning one point into three if they are to have any hope of escaping the relegation zone.
Ones to watch
University of Stirling – Aidan Ferris
Whitehill Welfare – Scott Wright
KELTY HEARTS VS GRETNA 2008
It’s third place Kelty Hearts who host 12th position side Gretna 2008 who will hope to carry on their run of good form.
The New Central Park squad are one in a majority of Lowland League teams who benefit from an extra week off due to many of the fixtures succumbing to the harsh weather conditions last weekend. Kelty’s last league outing was a 5-0 thrashing of Edusport Academy. Another victory is necessary for the side to regain their winning streaks from earlier in the season, especially after recent unexpected stalemates with East Stirlingshire and University of Stirling.
Gretna meanwhile are in the midst of a fall from mid-table to bottom four and haven’t won since defeating Dalbeattie Star 5-2 at the start of January. Since then defeats from East Kilbride and East Stirlingshire mean Gretna will be desperate for a point or three to climb away from the relegation zone.
Ones to watch
Kelty Hearts – Kyle Wilson
Gretna 2008 – Ashley Kelly
DALBEATTIE STAR VS EDUSPORT ACADEMY (Wednesday)
A second from bottom Dalbeattie side will hope to grab a few points from falling mid-table squad Edusport Academy who last week grabbed their first point since November.
The Islecroft side grabbed a crucial point in their last league game against University of Stirling. A win could be a huge step for them to finally climb away from the 14th position they have been stuck in for so long.
Edusport, however, could use last week’s surprise 2-2 draw with second place BSC Glasgow to make sure they grab all the points in this fixture. Despite only gaining two points in almost three months, Edusport will surely go in as marginal favourites this weekend and continue on from last week’s impressive performance.
Ones to watch
Dalbeattie Star – Liam Park
Edusport Academy – Ross McNeil
