Many think that the Scottish football scene has shutdown for the summer but on Wednesday night it was alive and kicking at Newlandsfield Park.

Super League First Division champions Pollok FC took on newly crowned Scottish Junior Cup winners Auckinleck Talbot in the Evening Times Champions Cup semi-final.

For those that don’t know about the Junior leagues, it’s much the same as the English non-league game.

The sun was out in all it’s glory and timely too, as the main Scottish sports story of the day was the summer football debate rearing its head again.

I can’t deny that it was nice standing in the glorious weather. Beer could have helped the cause though!

Although, one bad point about the sunshine was the sore arm it gave you when you were saluting into it when the play was at the wrong end of the field.

So were we entertained by the football?

Well here is a quick overview:

• We had four good goals.
• Two penalties during the ninety minutes. One Scored and one saved.
• We then had a penalty shoot-out.
• Fans able to mingle and mix with ease.
• A game full of action and passion.
• A crazy sending off that Bilel Mohsni would have been proud of.
• Pollok keeper Jordan Longmuir provided an inspirational display in between the sticks.
• A forty year old former Scottish international striker, who showed the excitement of a teenager!

All that at a price of just £5 for an adult ticket. I have paid between £15 and £40 for professional games and not seen half of the action we saw last night and certainly not enjoyed those games nearly as much either.

You then add on the £2.5o for a nice cheeseburger with fried onions and ask why on earth are the professional sides overcharging us?

The game itself was a hard fought encounter, with neither side giving an inch. Pollok started off well but Auckinleck always looked dangerous on the counter and pushed hard in the second half.

For me, Loks goalkeeper Jordan Longmuir was the stand-out performer. He made two saves during the shootout and also kept one out during the game too. Plus he made two miraculous saves towards the end of the match, that were top-drawer and went along way in getting his side into the final.

The twenty-eight year old goalie also has a monstrous kick on him. Many of his goal-kicks would end up at the edge of Talbot’s penalty area!

In the second half we saw veteran striker Robbie Winters introduced by Pollok as they looked to secure an equaliser.

I remember Winters breaking into the Dundee United side back in the mid-nineties. He would then join Aberdeen and infamously had to go in goals during the Scottish Cup final in 2000 after just three minutes (he would go on and concede four goals). In 2002 he joined Norwegian club SK Brann, where he would win the Tippeligaen and the Norwegian Cup.

Robbie also gained one cap for the Scottish national team, collecting it after an impressive away win over Germany in 1999.

Now aged forty, the striker has lost a yard or two of pace and doesn’t seem to have the legs required for a full match but you could see he still had a footballing brain to rely on. He helped win the loks a penalty and was then unmarked to nod in at the back post and give his side the lead. The way Winters celebrated showed everyone just why he continues to play, he was overjoyed with his goal!

Auckinleck’s team resembled their strip; it was a bit of a patched work effort! They were missing a large chunk of the team that won the Junior Cup in the weekend, mainly due to defender Martin McGoldrick’s Spanish stag-do.

The only members of Talbot’s dugout seemed to be their management team and they were kitted out just in case they were going to be needed. The Ayrshire side also called in retired Derek McCulloch to do them a favour and make up the numbers.

Ironically the ageing defender blew a fuse midway through the second half. First Robbie Winters was seen rolling around the floor after an altercation with McCulloch. That created a melee and McCulloch would throw his hand into another players face, right in front of the referee and was then given a straight red. He would eventually leave the park after a five minute temper tantrum. That just had fans mocking him as he trudged off.

That actually seemed to spark life into ‘The Bot’ who would go on and equalise, making it two-two. They nearly grabbed a winner before the death but the inspirational Longmuir would not be beaten again.

The game would go to penalties.

Pollok held their nerve and reached the final.

The football was action packed. It was full of commitment and easy to watch. The officials would only seem to get involved when challenges resulted in actual bodily harm. At times the challenges resembled that of ones you’d have expected from the eighties. But the players didn’t roll around all the time or moan their heads off at the ref, usually they just dusted themselves down and carried on with the fixture. It was quite refreshing to see.

It was also very much a social affair. You had men, women, kids and even a few dogs congregating on the verge of the park. Many seemed to know each other and would chat jovially about previous games, eras and everyday life. It reminded me of the Spanish families that head to the town’s main plazas on an evening, just so that they can chat with their friends and other family members. Although I am sure the Spanish don’t converse with quite as many ‘See you next Tuesday’s’.

I absolutely loved my sunny night in Pollok.

The football was great, the price was realistic, the atmosphere was superb and the weather was a bonus!

So many teams in Scotland’s pro leagues could learn from a night at the Juniors. It was nice to go and enjoy a game at the grassroots and not think of the corruption and infighting that makes high-end football so toxic at the moment.

If you are in the Glasgow area on Saturday and are missing live football, then I can’t recommend the Evening Times Champions Cup Final enough.

Blantyre Victoria will take on Pollock FC at Newlandsfield Park. Kick-off at 2pm. Price £6 (adult) and £3.

Also remember that Newlandsfield Park is within walking distance from many of Shawlands great pubs and you can go to any of them and catch the Scotland/Ireland game later that evening.

You can follow @pollokfc on Twitter and keep up to date with all their news and fixture date on their website.

Many thanks to Ross MacDonald for allowing me to use his match-day photos.

Posted on June 12th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article