by Chris Pow from Official Catchup
I think the majority of us expected a very competitive Lowland League this season, however, after the first three league games, we might not have expected the teams to be this competitive. Only one club remains with a perfect record and only three clubs overall remain undefeated.
Clydebank sit top of the league, winning all three of their fixtures. Admittedly, the Bankies weren’t at their best in the opener against East Stirlingshire at Holm Park, winning 2-0. An even closer affair with Cumbernauld Colts followed midweek at Broadwood, ending with a 2-1 Bankies victory. On Saturday, Clydebank travelled to Christie Gillies Park, which arguably could have been seen as their toughest test yet. A close game ensued for the majority of the 90 minutes with the Bankies leading 1-0 through a Nicky Little penalty within the first half hour. With twenty minutes to go, Clydebank ran away with the game with a flurry of goals from Keir Samson, an Aaron Black brace and a Stuart McCann strike in stoppage time to round off an impressive 5-0 away victory against Civil Service Strollers.
Tranent, sitting in 2nd, kicked off their campaign against Hearts B at Ainslie Park. Belters forward Harry Girdwood was the star of the show scoring four in what would be a 5-1 win for Tranent. The Belters welcomed Berwick Rangers to Foresters Park midweek for their first home game in the new league campaign. Unfortunately, a serious head injury to Berwick keeper Liam Campbell delayed the game and likely had an impact on the momentum for both sides, with the fixture ending 0-0. Tranent were back at home yesterday afternoon, with Albion Rovers, the visiting team. Girdwood would open the scoring, a Cammy McKinley brace, and a Dean Brett penalty would lead to a 4-0 victory.
Linlithgow Rose are 3rd. A surprise 2-1 home defeat to 10 men Gala Fairydean Rovers at Prestonfield wasn’t the start that many were anticipating for Rose. Linlithgow would go on to pick up their first three points at Forthbank against the University of Stirling on Wednesday, with a 4-1 away win. Before the game, Rose would announce their “excitement” of signing former Bo’ness United favourite Lucas Stenhouse after the expiry of his contract with Livingston. Not quite on the same levels of Luis Figo to Real Madrid, but it certainly might add a little extra needle to the first Flints Derby of the new campaign in September at Prestonfield. Rose travelled to Gretna 2008 on Saturday. Rose won 6-0. Gretna going down to 10 men after only four minutes, likely helped Rose on their way, but they did look dangerous every time they went forward, and in truth, it could have been more. Alan Sneddon scored a hattrick and Olly Hamilton scored a brace in a lethal Linlithgow display.
Speaking of Bo’ness United, they are currently just behind their rivals, occupying 4th spot. A Tom Grant hat-trick got the BUs season off to a flyer against Civil Service Strollers with a 3-0 nil victory at Newtown. A tough 1-0 away loss to Cowdenbeath at Central Park on Tuesday would follow, before a 10 men Bo’ness side defeated East Stirlingshire 3-1 on Friday night at Ochilview, with Ryan Stevenson scoring two of the three goals.
The Caledonian Braves are 5th. Two wins from the opening fixtures with a 3-0 victory over Stirling Uni and 2-0 away win over Broxburn Athletic. Braves travelled to Netherdale on Saturday likely expecting another three points but Gala Fairydean Rovers would upset the momentum with a 2-0 win of their own. Braves are always well drilled when you watch them but weren’t at the races yesterday afternoon and Gala took full advantage, to their credit. There’s no panic buttons being pressed after only three games but it could be seen as a slight warning against complacency for Ricky Waddell’s side.
Anyone can beat anyone is a popular phrase used by managers in the Lowland League and Gala Fairydean Rovers are proving that early doors, sitting 6th. Upsetting the odds with 10 men away to Linlithgow, and beating the Braves at home on Saturday, their only loss this far was midweek to Bonnyrigg Rose, losing 3-0 at the Netherdale. Martin Scott’s side play good football and they can score goals, defending was the issue last year but if they can manage a few clean sheets over the course of this season, we might see the expectations rise from a bottom half finish to pushing top half. A lot of football still to be played though.
In a similar way to Gala, Cowdenbeath has perhaps surprised a few people with their start, in 7th place. Losing to rivals Berwick 2-0 down at Shielfield Park on opening day, the Blue Brazil have followed up with two home wins against Bo’ness United (1-0) and Bonnyrigg Rose (2-1). The word “potential” was used in describing a much younger Cowdenbeath side for this campaign, this could quickly turn into “exciting” if Cowden can make Central Park into a fortress. The away form wasn’t great last year either but if a few of the home draws can be turned into three points, we could see a decent campaign for the Fife side, especially given the work rate the Cowden players have given manager Paul McLean over the last few games. Max Williamson, formerly of Spartans, already looks to be an inspired addition, scoring the winners against the BUs and the Rosey Posey.
Celtic B and Hearts B occupy 8th and 9th spot, completing the top half. Celtic B edged out Broxburn 3-2 in their opening league fixture, before 3-3 draws with Civil Service Strollers and Cumbernauld Colts. Along with Clydebank and Tranent, Celtic B remain undefeated, however, Celtic have begun the process of loaning out their more experienced talents, most notably Celtic B captain Mitchell Robertson, who recently joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Hearts B lost to Tranent, before a cracking 4-4 draw with Gretna 2008, and on Saturday edged out Stirling Uni 2-1 at Forthbank.
It’s been a positive start for Albion Rovers, currently in 10th. A 3-3 draw with Lanarkshire rivals Cumbernauld Colts might have felt like a win with Grant Marchant equalising in stoppage time on the opening day and a 2-1 victory over old SPFL rivals East Stirlingshire at Ochilview will have sent Rovers fans home happy. A big early season test was seeing how Rovers would do against a very strong Tranent side on Saturday and they ended up losing 4-0 at Foresters. But all in all, with Sandy Clark at the helm, there’s always a quiet optimism going into games.
Berwick Rangers are currently 11th. Fans of the “Dream Team” would have revelled in their 2-0 win over rivals Cowdenbeath on the opening day, however, the game at Tranent would have been disappointing, not only for the drab 0-0 scoreline, but the worry over the seriousness of goalkeeper Liam Campbell’s head injury. Luckily, it wasn’t as severe as it may have looked for spectators, with Liam only missing a few games through concussion protocol. Another away trip on Saturday to Broxburn would have seemed like a good chance for another three points with the Brox losing their opening two fixtures, however, the return of Broxburn forward Errol Douglas to the lineup and a Shaun Brown masterclass ensured a 5-0 win for the Brox and a first loss of the campaign for the Borderers.
Gretna FC 2008 opened their league campaign with a 2-1 win over Bonnyrigg Rose. They had an absolute classic against Hearts B midweek with the game ending 4-4, with Sean McKenzie scoring a hattrick for the Anvils. Unfortunately, Gretna went down to 10 men and Hearts equalised in stoppage time after Gretna took the lead minutes earlier. It was another sending off against Linlithgow Rose that might have Anvils gaffer Vinnie Parker sweating over suspensions. Albeit, the red against Rose did seem slightly harsh given the player was deemed as last man and denying a goal scoring opportunity when Gretna did have other defenders back. The Anvils currently sit 12th in the league table.
Unlucky for some and it has been for Broxburn Athletic sitting in 13th. The Brox had one of the harder openings, losing 3-2 to a Celtic B side that was at full strength before they began loaning out some of their better players recently. Their second league game against a fellow challenger Caledonian Braves ended in a 2-0 home loss. Having Errol Douglas back for Berwick would have been a relief for everyone and Broxburn showed exactly what they were made of, bouncing back with an emphatic 5-0 win.
It’s not been the best of returns to the Lowland League for Bonnyrigg Rose, who currently occupy 14th. A somewhat surprising 2-1 home loss to Gretna on opening day, was followed up by a solid 3-0 away win over Gala Fairydean Rovers. Coming to Cowdenbeath on Saturday, Rose fans would have felt their team had a decent chance of another three points, however, a lacklustre performance and facing a hungry Cowdenbeath side meant it’s two losses from three league games after a 2-1 defeat at Central Park. Rose have a solid team and like I’ve said with other clubs, there’s no panic after three games, but if the goal is to challenge at the top and get back to the SPFL for Bonnyrigg, they can’t make a habit of losing to teams they should be beating on paper when comparing the strength of the two squads, with respect.
Cumbernauld Colts are one of four sides still looking for their first win of the new league campaign. Currently sitting 15th, Colts might be the team to go and watch if you want to see goals in this division. Drawing 3-3 with Albion Rovers, narrowing losing to Clydebank 2-1, and another 3-3 draw with Celtic B on Friday night. Goals don’t seem to be the issue for John Doyle’s side but defending might be in the early stages of the season. Like other teams, there’s definitely players that will need time to gel, but with the fixtures coming thick and fast early in the season, it’s tough for managers with less time for training sessions.
Civil Service Strollers are 16th. They lost their opening league fixture to Bo’ness United 3-0, drew 3-3 with Celtic B midweek, and lost 5-0 at home to Clydebank on Saturday. It’s not been the easiest of starts for Strollers, playing arguably three sides that you would expect to be pushing top half or further. Strollers are one of those sides too, so I wouldn’t imagine it will be too long for Gary Jardine’s men to pick up some points and push up the table.
East Stirlingshire are one of two sides yet to register a point in the league so far. Sitting in 17th, they have lost all three of the opening fixtures – a 2-0 defeat to Clydebank, a 2-1 loss to Albion Rovers, and a 3-1 loss to Bo’ness United on Friday. It’s been a bit of a theme over the past few seasons for Shire manager Pat Scullion, one that has frustrated fans, players, and Pat himself, no doubt. Slow starts aren’t as much of a worry this season given there’s no relegation but it’s obvious no club wants to be near the bottom. Shire have turned things round before, however, with the league getting stronger, it will get more difficult to pull off a good run of form for most sides. The move to Ochilview certainly helps Shire off the park but it remains to be seen if it will help them on it.
University of Stirling have lost all three of their opening fixtures and find themselves bottom of the league (18th). It’s been a tough start playing against some of the sides you’d expect to be challenging. The opening league fixture against the Caledonian Braves, Uni lost 3-0. Uni for large parts of that game looked decent, they were behind going into half time but the heads seemed to drop with Braves scoring just after the break. Uni in their second league fixture lost to Linlithgow Rose losing 4-1 and on Saturday they were narrowly defeated by Hearts B. It’s easy to look at results sometimes and think teams are going to struggle but in reality, they’ve had harder fixtures than others. I would fully expect the University of Stirling to pick up from here.
