Bloody Cheerleaders!

Albion Rovers v Celtic XI
Friendly, Jock Stein Friendship Cup
Monday 20th July 2009, kick-off 3pm
Cliftonhill Stadium, Coatbridge

Off to Cliftonhill via the train, and I was given the kind offer of a swig of Buckfast from a few bevvied up Celtic fans after I gave them directions to the ground. The match was a friendly affair to mark the relationship between the two clubs due to their former great player, and manager in Celtic's case, Jock Stein. The Wee Rovers ground isn't in the best of conditions, and only one stand is in use these days, the main stand is out-dated with hard wooden seats with next to no leg room. I opted to stand on the terracing in front of the stand, leaning of the freshly painted barrier, painted grey for some reason, fairly certain they were red and yellow before which seemed more appropriate.

Celtic fielded very much a reserve style side with the first team not long back from their Australian tour and preparing for the weekend Wembley Cup games. The Bhoys were managed by Neil Lennon after previous reserve gaffer Willie McStay moved to Ujpest for a management role. Recognisable names is the Celtic line-up were Cillian Sheridan, Paul McGowan and Ryan Conroy, whilst the Wee Rovers were without influential centre-half Todd Lumsden after he picked up a ligament injured in their 6-0 friendly win over Selkirk. Plenty of the Bhoys faithful fans made the short journey on Fair Monday to see their side, the stand was packed, which is a rarity at Cliftonhill. They were in good spirits, some literally, bouncing up and down, singing and waving huge flags, the Wee Rovers fans of course sang their one song repeatedly, AR-ARF-ARFC-OK! Lyrical genius. Tribute songs were also sang about Celtic legend John Hartson who is currently battling against cancer.

Celtic started the brighter with McGowan buzzing about, but it was the Wee Rovers that had the first real chance, a long range effort that had beaten Celts 'keeper Scott Fox but crashed off the crossbar. Rovers goalie Derek Gaston was by far the busier, making several great saves to deny Celtic taking a first-half lead. Half-time brought about the dreaded cheerleaders, I despise this at football games now, it's cringe worthy stuff, although I wouldn't be complaining if they were more my age. That wasn't the only form of entertainment for the interval with a local boys club having a wee beat the 'keeper game, having to run from the half-way line and attempt to score in ten seconds.

The second-half started to become a bit of a borefest and proceedings began to drag on. Out of nowhere Celtic created a clear-cut chance for Sheridan, who slipped and missed from yards out. Sheridan looked to have made amens as he provided an assist for a seemingly well worked goal, but it was flagged for offside. Things continued to peter out towards the closing stages, then three golden chances were created. Either side of Celtic goal bound headers that were both cleared off the line by Rovers defenders, Pollock had a great opportunity to win for the Wee Rovers after a strong run, but unfortunately couldn't apply a finish. So off to penalties for the third match in succession for me, which can be viewed below, apologies about those bloody cheerleaders opting to block more peoples vision by spacing out.

Celtic finally, and I mean finally, triumphed 5-4 in the shoot-out, leaving me three minutes to sprint for the train, I really didn't fancy an extra thirty minutes in Coatbridge. Many positives for the Wee Rovers though who competeted well and didn't seem out their depth, a bumper crowd will also be benefical revenue wise. I doubt the watching Tony Mowbray and Peter Grant will have been overly impressed by any of the Celtic performances.

Next up for the Rovers is a trip to the seaside to play Ayr United in the Challenge Cup, their first competitive outing of the season. Tony Mowbray and his Bhoys will travel down to London to play in the Wembley cup with Al-Ahly, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur over the coming weekend. Many photos from the day can be found on Paul Reilly's website, and my YouTube video of the shoot-out here. Another website with video highlights is Randalstown CSC, Down the Wing blogger also attended this fixture, his photo's can be found here.

Result: Albion Rovers 0-0 Celtic XI, Celtic XI won 5-4 on penalties

Line-ups
Albion Rovers: unknown
Celtic XI: Fox, Gallacher, Kurakins, Ferry, Marr, Lafferty, Conroy, Millar, Sheridan, McGowan, McGinn.

Goalscorer(s)
Albion Rovers: none
Celtic XI: none

Attendance: unknown

Cook Puts Icing On Baking Day

Albion Rovers v Crawley Town
Friendly
Saturday 11th July 2009, kick-off 1pm
National Centre Inverclyde, Largs

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside. I made the trip to baking hot Largs on Saturday afternoon for a double header of football. First up was Albion Rovers taking on Blue Square Premier side Crawley Town, followed by the 'main event' of Queen's Park and English seasiders Fleetwood Town sweating it out. After eventually finding how to access the sports complex I arrived pitch side, a rather unique pitch that sloped from the centre line downwards towards each goalmouth. Burst goal nets meant that a Crawley substitute practising penalties had to fetch the ball from the nettles behind the goals despite his successful spot kicks. Football at it's best before it had even began.

The match was the Red Devils first match of their pre-season training camp in Scotland. The West Sussex sides gaffer Steve Evans was an ex-Albion Rovers player from the early eighties. The Wee Rovers were playing their second pre-season fixture, notching up an impressive 2-0 victory away to Alloa Athletic last weekend.

Once the match kicked off it was made obvious how short the pitch was with 'keeper clearances going deep into the oppositions half. Something else you don't notice much at your average game of football are the shouts from the players, being on the touchline made it easy to hear and they were a bit colourful to say the least. The ball spent the majority of the first period getting pinged from one end to the other in a very physical battle. A half of very few chances, only one of real note was strong Crawley frontman Geoff Maxin's right-footed drive saved by Rovers' debut 'keeper Derek Gaston.

The players stopped for a short half-time interval and Crawley made many changes that were to have an impact on the match. Despite looking more threatening Crawley had to clear the ball off their goal-line from a Bobby Barr effort. The deadlock was finally broken after an individual effort from Charles Ademeno, netting from just inside the box. The extra fitness from the full-time Red Devils helped them pin back their part-time opposition as they began to dominate.

Romone McCrae doubled the lead with a fine strike from the edge of the area. A third was soon added after a mix up in the Rovers defence led to Todd Lumsden bringing down Ademeno in the penalty box. Jamie Cook did the necessary and even managed to prevent the ball from going into the nettles, just the net this time when it mattered. With the last kick of the match Rovers trialist Ally Forster fired in a consolation goal that may have impressed manager Paul Martin.

Next up for Rovers is a Saturday trip to play Selkirk as their pre-season programme continues. Crawley continue their Scottish tour when they travel to Cappielow on Monday evening to take on Morton, before a glamour home friendly against the millionaires of Chelsea. The Crawley Town website has a small report.

Result: Albion Rovers 1-3 Crawley Town

Line-ups
Albion Rovers: unknown
Crawley Town: unknown

Goalscorer(s)
Albion Rovers: Trialist
Crawley Town: Charles Ademeno, Romone McCrae and Jamie Cook (pen)

Attendance: unknown