Saturday 16th March
The Saturday leg of this year’s Scottish Groundhop was based in Perth. The first three matches were played in and around the city, followed by the final game at Sauchie in Clackmannanshire. Katie & Lee picked me up at 7am for the long drive north for the four matches in the East of Scotland Premier Division.
911.Brownlands Park
Luncarty 5-3 Crossgates Primrose
(1115ko)
Luncarty is a village in between the A9 motorway and the River Tay, 4 miles north of Perth. The football club was formed in 1886 by employees of a local bleachworks, who joined the Junior ranks in 1921. The club played in Tayside Division One in the SJFA East Region, and finished second in the division's final season in 2005-06, when the Bleachers were placed in the new Central Division, following the reconstruction of the East Region Juniors. Luncarty left the Junior setup to join the East of Scotland Football League within the senior pyramid in 2020.
Brownlands Park
Main Rd,
Luncarty,
Perth PH1 3EP
Capacity 1,200
The clubhouse and changing room block are behind the goal. The ground is open with wooden dugouts on one side, in front of steep banking where the railway line passes.
Luncarty 5(Woolley 21 McLachlan 33 Davies 34,40pen Scarborough 84)
Crossgates Primrose 3(Sutherland 3 Muirhead 31,77)
Matchday 20
15th v 14th
Att.386
Spondoolicks :
Admission £7
Steak pie £2.50 Tea £1.50
The first fixture of the day was a battle in the bottom three, which turned out to be a cracker. The away side took an early lead when a long ball was nodded in by Jake Sutherland from the edge of the box, before the hosts equalised, when Kyle Woodley nicely cut inside and finished with the outside of his boot.
Primrose quickly restored their advantage with Cammy Muirhead netting a rebound from close range, but moments later a left wing cross was met by a cheeky back header from Ross McLauchlan to draw them level.
Luncarty went into half time two goals up, when a shot was deflected in by Rhys Davies, then a silly handball saw Davies get his brace from the penalty spot.
The visitors got back into the game when a through ball found Muirhead to fire into the keepers left hand post, before our hosts clinched the win when a Ben Scarborough left wing cross flew into the far corner of the net to make it 5-3.
912.Tulloch Park
Kinnoull 0-0 Penicuik
(1400ko)
Kinnoull FC formed in 1943 and are based in the Tulloch area of Perth.
The Noull won the Tayside Premier Division in season 2005–06 and gained promotion to the East Super League for the 2006–07 season, but were relegated the following season. They moved from the Junior leagues in 2018 and won promotion to the East of Scotland Premier League in 2022-23.
Tulloch Park
Tulloch Hill,
Tulloch Rd,
Perth PH1 2SN
Capacity 1,200
Similar to the last ground, with the clubhouse behind the goal, open standing, no stands and both dugouts on one side, which are decked out with leather seats. There's plenty of space on all sides if the ground needs to expand.
Kinnoull 0
Penicuik Athletic 0
Matchday 21/22
16th v 11th
Att.356
Spon :
Admission £7
Macaroni pie £2.50(my 'hop aim achieved)
Irn Bru £1, chocolate £1
The match was starved of decent chances. Penicuik had the majority of the possession in the second half, but lacked quality in front of goal. Kinnoll could have won it with the last kick of the game, when a Reece Barnard shot from the edge of the box scraped off the crossbar.
913.Riverside Stadium
Jeanfield Swifts 1-1 Dunbar United
(1645ko)
Jeanfield Swifts FC are based in the North Muirton area of the city. They were also part of the reconstruction in 2006, having won the league title in the final season of Tayside Division One. They were promoted to the East Region Premier League as champions in 2011–12, then won the division in 2015–16, to reach the Superleague for the first time. In 2018–19, Swifts were admitted into the East of Scotland Football League. They finished third in Conference C and were promoted to the new 16-team Premier Division, after the league reverted to a two-tier system.
The club became full members of the Scottish Football Association in June 2019, making their debut in the Scottish Cup preliminary rounds. The club progressed to the third round for the first time this season, beating SPFL opposition Elgin City 6–0.
Riverside Stadium,
Bute Drive,
Perth PH1 3BP
Capacity 1,000
The ground has a covered terrace with an overhanging roof which backs onto the clubhouse, which is decked out in green. The rest of the ground is open with the dugouts on the far side.
Jeanfield Swifts 1(Smith 5)
Dunbar United 1(Hendry 90+3)
Matchday 21/22
3rd v 5th
Att.385
Admission £10
The Swifts took an early lead with a screamer of a free kick from Fraser Smith, blasting the ball home from 25 yards. Surprisingly, that early strike looked to be the decisive moment until deep into added on time. A push in the box resulted in Taylor Hendry converting the resulting penalty to give Dunbar a share of the spoils.
914.Beechwood Park
Sauchie Juniors 3-2 Hill of Beath Hawthorn
(2000ko)
Sauchie is a town in the Central Lowlands, north of the River Forth and south of the Ochil Hills, Sauchie has a population of around 6000, located just one mile northeast of Alloa.
Sauchie Junior Football Club began as Sauchie Juveniles, which was a league for players up to 27 years of age. Sauchie won the Scottish Cup four times in a ten year spell between 1951–52 and 1959–60, before switching into the Junior grade in 1960. In the Club's second season as a Junior team, they won the East Region League in 1962–63, using mostly the Juvenile players.
In 2011, the club won the East Region South Division to gain promotion to the Premier League, followed by promotion to the Super League the following season.. Following relegation the club won a second Premier League title in 2016-17.
In 2018 Sauchie were one of many clubs to move from the Junior leagues to the East of Scotland Football League.
Beechwood Park,
Sauchie,
Alloa FK10 3AX
Capacity 5,000
Sauchie Juniors originally played at Fairfield Park, before building a new ground at Beechwood Park. The ground was developed in 2003 with a new stand, enclosure and floodlights. The stand is built up with the changing rooms underneath and has red seats with SJFC picked out in white. Opposite is a pitch length covered in enclosure which is also painted in the club colours, with open standing behind the goals.
Due to the rotten weather I was unable to get any decent photos, so I've posted some alternative pictures of Beechwood Park in all its glory.
Sauchie Juniors 3(Smith 7,32pen 45)
Hill of Beath Hawthorn 2(Watt 46 Tosh 83)
Matchday 23
6th v 7th
Att.447
It lashed down with rain during the 36 mile drive down to Sauchie, so when we arrived the pitch at Beechwood Park didn't exactly look match fit. Thankfully it went ahead and what a match it was, with both sides fully committed and putting in a great shift for the watching supporters and groundhoppers.
A fabulous Danny Smith hat-trick put Sauchie 3-0 up at half time, made up of two brilliant strikes from outside the box and an unstoppable penalty in between. Just before the third goal Ross Kavanagh was sent off for violence conduct, due to the interference of the linesman who spotted something the referee missed, so Sauchie were down to ten men after 39 minutes.
Straight from the restart Dan Watt side footed in at the near post after just seventeen seconds to put Beath back in it. The visitors then missed an array of chances, then finally scored with a Jordan Tosh effort from the edge of the box to make it 3-2.
Both teams went for it in the final ten minutes with chances at both ends, but the hosts won it in a great match to finish off a long day of footy.
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| Credit: Scottish Groundhopping Guide |
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| Credit:Sauchie FC Facebook |
#Heedhopper
382 mile round trip door-to-doors
Current East of Scotland League grounds visited 33/58
Total Scottish grounds visited 122
Much gratitude to Katie for chauffeuring us around the grounds in the Katiemobile and getting me safely home this morning at 1.25.
