Port Glasgow v Yoker Athletic

Port Glasgow 0-2 Yoker Athletic
SJFA West Region Central District League Division One
Parklea Stadium
Wednesday 25th April 2018

The weather from last Wednesday’s round of midweek madness seems to have deserted us, but with plenty of fixtures still to play (not least Wishaw, who still have a ridiculous 19 league games to go) it was off to Inverclyde and a first visit for me to Port Glasgow.

The Venue

Port moved to this ground, officially called the Port Glasgow Community Stadium in 2012 after a twelve year period sharing with their local rivals Greenock at Ravenscraig and Battery Park. Their previous ground at Woodhall Park had been sold by the local council for an industrial development. As suggested by the “Community Stadium” part of the ground’s name, this is one of the increasingly prevalent 3G cages, albeit with a bit more to it than the ones that tend to stand in public parks and high schools. Inverclyde Council spent £4.4 million on the facility.

Both sides of the excellent surface have a permanent spectator rail installed, and on the side that houses the impressive changing facilities and amenities are two reasonably sized covered enclosures. The enclosures have a couple of steps of terracing, while the rest of the spectating area is hard standing. The cage also boasts some screening on the lower portion to give the pitch a more enclosed feeling. While this is clearly one of the “council sports centres” that are so derided by the traditionalists, Port have done a really good job of making it a pleasant place to watch football.

Both old school traditional venues and modern facilities have their place in football in my book and I for one am just as happy watching a game somewhere like Parklea as I am at somewhere like Dunterlie Park where I was last week. They are undoubtedly very different, and the experience isn’t the same, but personally I enjoy the contrast. You make your own experience. Again using Dunterlie Park as an example because it’s fresh in my mind, cracking old fashioned venues like it have history which seeps out of them. I had never visited before last Wednesday, and I’ll hope to go back and take in another (hopefully better quality!) game there in the future because it was a fantastic place to watch a game. But I also enjoyed my time here. The two types of venue offer something different for sure, but there’s absolutely no problem with enjoying both. I take each ground on it’s own merits, and when facilities are as good as they are at Parklea, I can find little to complain about.

The Teams

Port Glasgow were formed in 1948 as a breakaway team from local juvenile side Clune Rock. They are the second junior club to serve the area, following Port Glasgow Athletic who were around from the 1890s before disbanding at the outbreak of World War II. Their most successful season was in 1978-79 when they won the “A” division of the Central District, just three years after playing in the “C” division. Their most recent triumph came in 1999-2000 when they won Evening Times Cup after winning the Central District Second Division. They were promoted to the Superleague Division One in 2008 after winning the Central First Division, but lasted only one season at that level. They are currently managed by Brian Heron and go by the nickname of “The Undertakers”

Port currently sit in fifth place in the Central League Division One table, although they are ten points behind Neilston, who occupy the promotion playoff spot. With six games still to play, they are clinging on to slim promotion hopes, but would need a spectacular collapse from the teams above them. They finished second in their Sectional Cup group behind Renfrew to start the season, but have fallen at the first hurdle in all the other cups, losing out on penalties to Wishaw in the Central League Cup, to Neilston in the West of Scotland Cup, and exited the Scottish Junior Cup after a replay to Petershill.

Colloquially known as the “Whe Ho,” Yoker Athletic were formed in 1886 and play out of Holm Park. Yoker itself sits right on the boundary between Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire, and while it is technically part of Glasgow, Holm Park is situated just on the Clydebank side of the border, meaning they play in West Dunbartonshire. The club were extremely successful in the 1930s, winning the West of Scotland Cup in the 1930-31 season, and the Scottish Junior Cup in 1932-33. They also reached the final of the Scottish in the 1935-36 season. They haven’t reached the top league since the West Region reconstruction, but have played in the Superleague First Division. Last season they reached the final of the Central League Cup, but were beaten by Petershill. Graeme George appears to be in caretaker charge of the team after manager Steven Reilly left sometime after their December game with Troon (who’s online programme from that day is the only reference I can currently find)

Yoker currently sit in eleventh place in the league table, but still have ten games to play including tonight. Mathematically they could still reach the promotion or playoff spots, but it seems unlikely at this point. Their season started by finishing third in the Sectional Cup group, with a point against their derby rivals Clydebank being the highlight of a disappointing campaign. They have exited at the first round stage of the Central League and West of Scotland Cups to Shettleston (on penalties) and Maybole respectively. The main talking point of Yoker’s season has been their run to the quarter finals of the Scottish Junior Cup. They dispatched of Ardeer Thistle, St Anthony’s, Troon and Whitburn, before succumbing to fellow Central District League Division One side Wishaw in a twice postponed quarter. The cup run was a big talking point around the club and reinvigorated their season. A seven game unbeaten league run was only halted by table topping Benburb on Monday night.

The Game

The advertised kick off of 6.45 had been switched to 7.15 without my knowledge, so when I showed up just after half six, there were multiple kids’ teams still in full flow on the pitch. It was suggested to me by someone who seemed to know what was going on that the kids always have the pitch on a Wednesday until 7. I almost reconsidered my defence of community facilities above on hearing this, but it is important to get youngsters involved, so I digress.

I have to apologise that there isn’t really much of a match report here tonight. My phone was very quickly dying, and I didn’t want to drain the battery any faster by using my usual note taking app. In all honesty it wasn’t really a game to write home about anyway, this was the third game in five days for both teams, and the fatigue was definitely showing. The main highlights of the first half saw Yoker break forward with a good passing move before skewing a shot wide, and a 25 yard Port strike being pushed just round the post by the Yoker keeper.

Yoker had the ball in the net five minutes before the break, but after initially appearing to award the goal, the referee gave a free kick to the home side for a foul in the build up. The Yoker players were furious, but the ref’s mind was made up and it was 0-0 at half time.

Ten minutes into the second half saw the breakthrough in controversial fashion. A through ball from midway inside the Yoker half was collected by Hynes, who beat the offside trap, ran through and rounded the Port keeper. Hynes dragged the ball wide but managed to squeeze his shot into the net. The Port players and coaching staff protested vigorously as the visitors celebrated, but the goal stood. From where I was standing, it was a borderline decision, and without assistants, it was a tough call for the referee to make.

The rest of the half was of slightly higher quality than the first, but neitehr side could really get much going in front of goal. Yoker hit the bar with a long range strike with two minutes remaining, and in stoppage time added a second through Henry. I actually missed the goal, as I had left thinking there were only about 30 seconds left! Not the best game I’ve ever seen, but definitely not the worst way to spend an evening.

The Pies

The pie stall is in the club room inside the main club building and is staffed by an absolutely delightful woman who was making funny conversation with anyone who came in to see her. The pies were a standard Scotch pie, nice and meaty and peppery. I had two. I was hungry and it merited a second bite!

Admission: £5
Programme: None
Pie: £1.50
Bovril: £1
Attendance: 31 (headcount – there may have been an extra 3 or 4 in the second half)