Gartocharn v Drymen United

Gartocharn 1-1 Drymen United
Forth and Endrick Football League
Shandon Park
Friday 20th April 2018

After the entire card of opening round fixtures fell foul of the weather last Friday night, the Forth and Endrick Football League – a summer season league falling under the auspices of the Scottish Welfare FA – got under way on a gloriously sunny evening. I’ve never taken in a game in this competition before, and made the short trip with no idea what to expect.

The Venue

The fixture list that the Forth and Endrick League posted a few weeks ago had this listed as a home game for Gartocharn, but it was played at Shandon Park, the home of their local rivals Drymen United. Driving past Gartocharn’s usual park on the way here, it didn’t look in a playable state, and I’m unsure if there’s an underlying issue. I’m not totally clear if the game had been officially switched to a home tie for Drymen, or if Gartocharn had been forced to give up home advantage.

Shandon Park is situated just before you enter the village on the right hand side if approaching from the Stirling direction, or once you pass through the village on the left if you approach from towards Balloch. It’s hidden behind some hedges and could easily be mistaken for a field if you don’t know where exactly it is you’re looking for. Once inside, the ground is a very tidy little setup, with a decent quality grass pitch (which did cut up a bit as the game progressed, but held up relatively well). There’s a wooden pavilion on site and wooden spectator barriers down the two sidelines, both of which are covered in sponsor boards. This is an excellent little ground that wouldn’t look out of place at all in the lower junior leagues.

The Teams

For the purpose of this blog, there is frustratingly little information on the teams available online. As a summer league that is playing Friday night games this season, I’ll probably be frequenting the Forth and Endrick League, and will figure out some sort of format as I go.

The Forth and Endrick League is a Welfare league, a grade of amateur football that was originally set up for works teams. The Forth and Endrick Football League actually predates the Welfare Association, having been set up in 1910, with the first league competition being played in 2012. It operates on a summer season, and from this year moved from Saturday teatime kick offs, to Friday evening games. There are currently eleven teams, primarily from the Stirlingshire area, competing, with Fintry currently in abeyance. The clubs represent small villages throughout the region. The members also compete in four cup competitions, with some league matches doubling up as sectional cup ties. Balfron Rovers have won the league the past two seasons.

Tonight’s teams are the two most local to me, and therefore most likely to be ones I visit again this season. Being situated only four miles apart, they are fierce local rivals. Gartocharn were formed in 1957 and are the youngest team in the league despite celebrating their 60th anniversary last year. Drymen United were founder members back in 1910, having formed the same year. Drymen have Vale of Leven captain Craig Cowan in their side, with the Vale only having one game left of their season and no chance of promotion, Cowan has registered with his home town side for the start of the season.

The Game

I got held up and missed about the first fifteen minutes of the game but arrived to find Gartocharn on the attack and looking dangerous. With 17 minutes played, they opened the scoring when Dougie Wilson latched onto a through ball and placed his shot well across the Drymen keeper and into the net. Having missed the start, I don’t know if the goal came against the run of play, but from that point on it was pretty much one way traffic in favour of Drymen. Over the following ten minutes they bombarded the Garto goal, with Cowan heading just wide from a corner, the keeper being forced into two good saves, and seeing the ball hit the post following a good old fashioned goalmouth scramble.

The one way traffic continued after the half hour mark, with Garto’s keeper making two good saves in quick succession and another header from a corner flying inches over the bar. The pressure paid off with 36 minutes gone when right back Davie Cowan burst down the wing and cut into the box. His shot was blocked but the rebound was turned in by David Fraser (according to Gartocharn’s Facebook report, although the Drymen supporters next to me thought it was a young lad by the name of Cammy who had scored). As half time approached, Craig Cowan saw a 30 yard free kick fly just wide of the post, and despite Drymen’s dominance, the two sides went into the break level.

The second half started in cagey fashion, with neither side really able to string anything together. With fifty minutes gone came an amusing interlude when a dog got loose and invaded the pitch. The dog stood in front of Cowan as he was preparing to take a free kick, took a shit on the pitch and then ran off with the ball. The mess was picked up by the dog’s owner, the mutt was captured and put back on his lead, and the game was able to continue with most of the crowd in fits of giggles. Drymen continued to dominate possession, but long serving Garto captain Graeme McKenzie was marshalling his defence well and restricting United to long range efforts.

With an hour gone, Garto made a rare foray up the field, but goalscorer Wilson snatched at his shot and saw it fly past the post and get stuck in a tree. McKenzie came close to restoring Garto’s lead with a 35 yard free kick that took the Drymen defence by surprise, but it flew just past the post. The short spell of danger from Garto fizzled out and Drymen took over pressing again, but still found themselves unable to make the final connection. Craig Cowan was controlling the midfield, and he had two similar long range chances midway through the half, but both of them fell just past the post.

The last fifteen minutes were played at a frantic pace as the light faded, and both teams were stretched on a couple of occasions. Again, the finish just couldn’t be found and the game finished 1-1. Drymen will I’m sure be disappointed not to have picked up all three points in a game where they dominated possession, but just lacked the killer touch. Gartocharn will be extremely pleased with their defensive performance, as the restricted their opponents to mainly long range efforts. All in all a good game, a really decent standard, and I look forward to seeing both teams again over the summer

The Pies

No pies or other catering as would be expected at this level. Instead I made a visit to the always excellent Palombo’s chippy in Balloch on my way and devoured my favourite sausage supper.

Admission: Free
Programme: None
Pie: None
Bovril: None
Attendance: Fluctuated between 40 and 60