East Kilbride v Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale

East Kilbride 4-1 Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale
Football Nation East of Scotland Qualifying Cup Final
New Murrayfield Park
Saturday 31st March 2018

Another Saturday, another cup final. This time the destination was Blackburn, West Lothian for the final of the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. The finalists have both already qualified to play Edinburgh City and Berwick Rangers in the semi finals of the East of Scotland Cup itself – although due to fixture backlogs, this cup may form part of preseason for 2018-19 according to today’s programme – but will fight it out today for the trophy.

The Venue

The venue for today’s final was itself an intriguing one. East of Scotland FA finals are usually held at one of their member grounds, or occasionally at an SPFL stadium. The choice to use junior team Blackburn United’s New Murrayfield Park led me to initially wonder if it meant that the rumours of them applying to join the EoSFL for next season were indeed true. I was then informed that the association have used junior grounds for finals before, so while they may still indeed be applying to go senior, the decision on the venue was probably due to it being fairly equidistant for both sides.

So with my probably unfounded conspiracies out of the way, onto the ground itself. Currently known as the Dem-Master Stadium for sponsorship reasons, New Murrayfield Park was opened in 2013, when Blackburn moved from Murrayfield Park, which was conveniently situated right next door. The first thing you notice on approach is the truly impressive main club building which houses the changing rooms, toilets, club rooms and a decent sized cafe bar, which was absolutely full to the gunnels when we arrived. The pitch is a state of the art synthetic one which looks in fantastic shape.

Spectators are housed either on hard standing, or in the enclosure, which was moved from the old ground. I was a bit disappointed to find that the enclosure only has two shallow steps, meaning there’s no real height in the ground at all, but on a day with weather like today, it was the most sensible place to stand by far.

Minor gripe about lack of height aside, it’s a really good modern ground, with excellent facilities, and was a good place to watch a final.

The Teams

The first thing most people will probably wonder is why East Kilbride, being very much in the West of Scotland are even playing in an East of Scotland FA competition. Prior to being admitted as a founder member of the Lowland League in 2013, East Kilbride had joined the South of Scotland League for their first senior season. After one season, they switched memberships to the East of Scotland FA in order to play in their associated cup competitions. And breathe.

Kilby’s run to the final saw them receive a bye in the first round before a 5-1 win at Selkirk in the second round. Their quarter final at home to Civil Service Strollers was a cagey affair in which they ran out 1-0 winners. That scoreline was repeated in their semi-final away to Spartans at Ainslie Park. East Kilbride went into today’s final top of the Lowland League on goal difference from Spartans. Interestingly, in the six cup finals the club have played since turning senior, they have a 100% record of winning the trophy.

LTHV’s route to the final consisted of one more game, and a whole host more goals. In the first round they travelled to Galashiels and prevailed 7-5 after extra time against Gala Fairydean Rovers in a barnstormer of a game. Their second round game at Stirling University was a comfortable 3-0 win, before they dispatched Hawick Royal Albert by 2 goals to 1 in the quarter final. Their much postponed semi-final at home to Vale of Leithen was another 3-0 win. All four of Thistle’s wins came against Lowland League sides. They have won the East of Scotland League title in three of the last four years, but have been denied promotion due to not having an SFA Club Licence, something the club are working hard to rectify. They currently sit second in the league table, despite having a 100% record. Postponements and cup commitments have seen them rack up a fixture backlog, and they have played 4 games less than league leaders Kelty Hearts, who also have a 100% league record.

The Game

It didn’t take long for this game to burst into life, as East Kilbride took the lead just three minutes in. The ball broke to Declan Hughes at the edge of the box and he rifled a thunderous strike past Kevin Swain to put the Lowland League leaders in front. Things were to quickly get worse for Thistle as on thirteen minutes Kilby’s advantage was doubled. A free kick was swung in from wide on the right, and Sean Winter angled a fantastic header into the back of the net. The quickfire double to start the game had some Kilby supporters joking that they were off to Ochilview to see how Spartans were getting on, since this one was as good as done.

Going 2-0 down so early clearly rattled Thistle, who were over committing to tackles and putting themselves in trouble. Referee Stewart Luke handed out several yellow cards, all perfectly justified, but frustratingly let a few similar tackles go unpunished. It always irritates me to see such inconsistent refereeing. As the half progressed, Thistle started to come back into the game slightly, with Louis Swanson and Tony Muir doing their best to create chances. But it looked like the killer blow was struck just before half time when Kilby’s top scorer Ross McNeil latched onto a through ball and lifted a shot deftly over the onrushing Swain to make it 3-0 at the break.

If going 3-0 down on the stoke of halftime had crushed Thistle’s spirits, you would never have known it by the way they came out in the second half. The introduction at half time of Samuel Nhamburo gave them a much needed injection of pace and cracks in the Kilby defence started to open up. On 57 minutes, Kilby goalkeeper Matt McGinley inexplicably dropped what looked like a routine catch, which allowed Louis Swanson to take the ball and squeeze it over the line to make it 3-1. The goal seemed to light a bigger fire under the Thistle team and while Kilby still enjoyed spells of possession, it was the Edinburgh side who looked dangerous every time they pushed forward.

McGinley made amends for his mistake with several excellent saves, and Thistle were left ruing a string of missed chances. With 83 minutes gone, Kilby cleared after a Thistle cross had fizzed across their six yard line. Ross McNeil found himself one on one with Kevin Swain and lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper. His attempt went harmlessly wide, but in the process, Swain had taken him out and the referee pointed to the spot. Sean Winter stepped up and slammed home his second of the game to send the cup back west.

A really entertaining game, the complete opposite of the cagey affairs cup finals can often end up. Thistle, even when 4-1 down late on never gave up, but on the day East Kilbride were just too strong and proved worthy winners.

The Pies

Blackburn United offer both Scotch Pies and Steak Bakes for the bargain price of just £1.30 each. The Bovril was also a much needed hand warmer. The stuff is magic.

The Scotch pie is provided by a local butcher, and you can tell by the quality of the filling inside. Yet again at a junior ground, I’m treated to a fantastic pie. Kaitlin plumped for the steak bake today, and in her words it was “flaky, gooey, with a nice gravy and toothsome pieces of steak.” She enjoyed it.

Admission: £6
Programme: £2
Pie: £1.30 (both Scotch and Steak Bake)
Bovril: £1
Attendance: 220 (approx headcount)