Warming to the idea of summer football
If ever there was a game that was going to change my mind and add my name to the support for summer football then it was .
The players were all sitting in the dressing room before the game as the referee inspected the conditions and the majority were expecting an unfortunate late call-off.
It didn't materialise and credit to the referee for letting it go ahead after Elgin had travelled such a long distance. After talking to him in the early stages of the matches I know he certainly had his doubts.
The pitch itself wasn't the main problem, but the strong wind and driving rain that blew up the Galabank slope made things difficult.
Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the game until I was taken off and I'm sure it was a decent game for the 311 supporters who braved the conditions; and it's for the supporters that I think it's time we looked at a change to the schedule of our season.
Was the Galabank surface any worse than Partick Thistle's back in January 2008? Photo: SNS
Saturday was our lowest home crowd we have had since we joined the Scottish Football League and it was for no other reason than the weather.
The supporters of most clubs have been starved of football over the last few months and you would think they would be desperate to take in a game.
You would have had to physically drag me to watch a game in those conditions so I have no complaints to make to those who chose to stay away.
Jason Crooks scored both of Elgin's goals direct from corner kicks in the first 11 minutes of the match and I think that tells its own story.
It's very rare that any player scores directly from a corner these days and I've certainly never seen or heard of the same player doing it twice in the same game and within eight minutes of one other.
I'll leave it up to you to check the record books!
On to the game itself, and after scoring four minutes in to injury time we were happy to take a point from the game.
Elgin are a right good side this season and even without the conditions we were always facing a tough match.
The sending off of Aaron Muirhead after half an hour only added to that and we were thankful for Neil McFarlane's late goal that grabbed us a share of the spoils.
On looking at the league table it turned out to be a good point for us. It meant that the gap between ourselves and Elgin remained as it was and, with the other results working out OK, it has left us in a decent position in the league.
I've always said I'd rather have the points but we've improved our squad in the last week and we feel in a strong position to go on a good run by climbing the table with our games in hand.
I've already mentioned and with him and committing themselves until the end of the season we've now got great experience right through the spine of our team.
That was only Neil's first game for us even though he's been at the club for two months.
He's recently been laid low with a virus so it might take him a couple of weeks to get fully up to speed.
Big Sean has been limited to an appearance against Stranraer, where he scored, but we've already seen enough of him to know that he's going to be massively important for us in the remainder of the season.
Annan have also strengthened the goalkeeping situation by bringing in Alex Mitchell who was without a club. Alex has most recently been with Gretna 2008 and also had a loan spell with earlier on in the season.
The club deserve great credit for pushing the boat out and getting these players in and, should we keep everyone fit and free of suspension, there really isn't any excuses for us not to achieve our ambitions this season.
Hi there, I'm Chris Jardine, midfielder with Scottish Third Division side Annan Athletic. I hope, throughout the season, I can give you a good insight into life at the newest Scottish League club and maybe even a few laughs along the way.
Comment number 1.
At 19th Jan 2011, MrHighway wrote:Hi Chris,
Having attended a SOSL game on Saturday i will definately agree with you that the weather was terrible, but i was there despite the weather to cheer on my team. As ive posted previously on here im not a fan of Summer Football, but i think that Youth football should be played then instead of them following the Senior game season.
You have to give Annan Athletic a bit of credit for the signings they've made recently. Big Sean is a Queens Legend and will certainly get goals for Annan and i think the same can be said for MacFarlane he also is a fantastic player and another the Queens fans saw as a hero during his time there. I think the Annan board and management have shown a lot of ambition in bringing in these players and i'll predict a Play-Off finish this season.
Best of luck Chris.
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Comment number 2.
At 19th Jan 2011, jpannan wrote:Hi Chris
You are spot on regarding the decision by the Referee to allow the game to be played. Conditions were far from perfect and all credit to Gary Hilland who handled the game exceedingly well, probably the best display by a Referee seen at Galabank this season (even the early departure of Aaron Muirhead was the right decision) and I hope the Management Teams of Annan and Elgin and the Official Observer give the Ref high marks.
Rather ironic that the pitch inspector who cancelled the games against Clyde (Benefit of doubt with this decision) and Stanraer (Got it completly wrong) was one of the Assistant Referees on duty - I hope that he will take on board the decision made regarding the playing of this game and consider all aspects if called upon again regarding pitch inspections.
Credit to all the players Annan and Elgin alike for their efforts to entertain us in the conditions and to all the Volunteers for their unstinting work on Saturday.
Keep up the good work.
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Comment number 3.
At 21st Jan 2011, Chris Jardine wrote:MrHighway - thanks for the comment. Totally agree with your point regarding youth football, I hate to think of young kids trying to learn to play in weather like we've been having. Fingers crossed for that promotion slot at the very minimum!
jpannan - thanks for the comment as always. I'm sure I mentioned in a previous blog about our games being postponed. I think of the two you mention, Clyde was the biggest surprise as the boys managed a bounce game on the park that afternoon. After training on the morning of the scheduled Stranraer match I felt that the pitch was unplayable - although I was surprised before going to the ground.
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Comment number 4.
At 21st Jan 2011, PabloPiatti wrote:I agree youth football should be played in summer months. Do you think that playing youth football in the summer months could change the British game from face paced and physical to a more technical game?
This article I read seems to think so, quite a good read.
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Comment number 5.
At 22nd Jan 2011, MrHighway wrote:PabloPiatti- The British game in my opinion needs to change, more so Scottish Football. If you travel throughout Europe you will find kids football being played more technically than over here. Take the Netherlands for example they have a slightly larger population than Scotland (about a million more)but they have players far superior than any Scottish player. I have been involved with Youth football and it pains me to see that a lot of teams care more about winning than the kids learning formations, postitional sense etc. Thats where we fall behind over here, summer Youth football i think is key to developing better technically gifted players.
Back on topic though, a tough game today Chris but i reckon you can sneak a win today especially now with MacFarlane and Big Sean in the team.
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Comment number 6.
At 22nd Jan 2011, kafkafil wrote:What on earth would we do in the winter without football? And don't say rugby union. Winter is depressing enough. Football is the only thing that gets us through it. Without it would be just alcoholism.
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Comment number 7.
At 24th Jan 2011, Rob04 wrote:Summer football yes please.
#5 Just a small correction: the population of the Netherlands is about 16.5m that is not 'slightly' more than Scotland that is just over three times more.
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