Forth Wanderers 1 Newmains 2

Dreadful result for the Wanderers against a limited Newmains side. To make matters worse we had another two players sent off, although the referee made some baffling decisions throughout the game. The Forth goal was scored by Kris Jarvie from the penalty spot. The Newmains goals came as a result of a goalkeeping blunder and a penalty in the dying minutes.

More to follow once I've had a pint and cheered up. Possibly.

Two days later after some reflection, I'll add the following points :

• apart from the miss-kick which resulted in the first Newmains goal, keeper Clark had a decent game with one tremendous stop.
• the sending off of Mark McKay seemed harsh, as from my vantage point he tried unsuccessfully to hurdle the keeper and avoid contact.
• we need Kenny Wright fit sharpish to add some pace and goals to the attack.
• the Newmains Committee win the award for the grumpiest of the season so far. It's fair enough to laugh when the decisions go your way but not to then go crazy when they go against you. And no, I don't believe in a bionic eye which allows you to clearly see decisions from a vantage point 50 yards away. No wonder a few of the Forth players had a word at the end ...

Forth team : Clark,Napier,Gemmell,Grant,McKinlay,Stevenson,Crawford,Traynor,Harty,McKay,Grant(Jarvie)

I've added some other photos here. Just bear in mind I'm no photographer.

Newmains Tomorrow

Forth Wanderers face Newmains at Kingshill Park tomorrow, kick off 2pm.

Forth Wanderers 0 Wishaw 0

Disappointing result for the Wanderers tonight after an encouraging pre-season.
Wishaw started by far the better and dominated the majority of the first half creating several half chances while Forth couldn't seem to get going, their best chance a free kick well saved by the Wishaw keeper just before the interval. Chris McGroarty was pushing forward at every opportunity but this left gaps at the back for Wishaw to exploit. The Forth management changed things on 40 minutes with McGroarty moving into midfield, Gemmill moving to left back and substitute Murray coming on at right back. HT 0-0.

Forth began the second half brightly with another substitute Craig Crawford being introduced on the left but despite some decent possession and a few scrambles within the Wishaw box they couldn't make the breakthrough. Wishaw though were still dangerous on the break and one such move resulted in a second yellow card for Forth centre half Lewis McKinlay who it's fair to say 'took one for the team'. The Wishaw bench were increasingly unhappy with some of the tackling and this resulted in one of them (the manager ?) being given his marching orders by the whistler. A late Forth free kick on the edge of the Wishaw box was blocked and the game finished goalless.
Another clean sheet for the Forth but disappointment that they couldn't make the breakthrough in the second half despite pushing men forward at every opportunity. Having said that, Wishaw had their chances in the first half and seemed a much better outfit than the one which visited Kingshill at the tail end of last season.
Forth team (inaccuracies and spelling mistakes all mine) :
Clark,Gemmell,McGroarty,Grant,McKinlay,Stevenson(Murray),Napier(McKay),Traynor,Jarvie,
Cameron,Grant(Crawford)
A few other photos can be found here.

Wishaw Game Tomorrow Moved to Forth

The Surridge League Cup game against Wishaw tomorrow night, 27th July, has been moved to Kingshill Park with a 6.45 kick off.