BLAIR’S FIFE STALEMATE

Entertaining end to club’s memorable campaign

Blairgowrie ended the season as they had started it – with a draw in Fife.

The match in Glenrothes on Saturday, which was tipped to be a ‘winner takes all’ occasion, ended up carrying little significance.

Blair’s failure to take full points versus Scone Thistle the previous week meant Glenrothes clinched promotion with an emphatic midweek win over Forfar Albion.

However, the game was good to watch with some good spells of football played by both teams.

Scott Tovey made a welcome return to the Blair defence, but it was still a somewhat depleted squad that travelled to Fife. Ben Middleton, James Simpson and Jamie Duncan were unavailable for selection.

Both teams had spells on top, but clear cut chances were rare. Ryan Menzies fired just over for Blair midway through the first half while Glenrothes threatened with some dangerous crosses.

Steven Findlay used his pace on the wide park to run the defence ragged, while Ross Mitchell – playing the lone striker role – had success only for the attacks to fizzle out due to good goalkeeping or resolute defending. Mitchell had to be replaced following the recurrence of a calf injury that has dogged him over recent weeks.

The central defensive pairing of Scott Tovey and Danny Millar had to cope with tricky forward players, on the whole dealing quite well with what was thrown at them.

There were some ‘heart in the mouth’ moments for the fans but the back four and keeper Gordon O’Brien seemed unfazed. The first half had been in the main end to end but lacking anything clear cut from either team.

The pattern continued for a time after the break but the home side enjoyed a dominant spell which saw O’Brien make a magnificent one-handed save and two close-range blocks.

The midfield three of Brash, Bremner and Plenderleith performed particularly well together, causing problems for their opposing numbers.

Blairgowrie finished the match strongly and were awarded a free-kick inches outside the Glenrothes penalty area, but Ryan Menzies’ drive was blocked.

Allan Cruickshank fired wide and Mark Brash just failed to connect with a Steven Findlay cross as Blair threatened to spoil the Glenrothes celebrations.

Manager Billy Mackay said: “We performed well and on another day we would have done enough to come home with all three points. However, on reflection a draw was a fair result and we wish Glenrothes well in the Premier League.”

Blairgowrie – Gordon O’Brien, Ryan Menzies, Scott Tovey, Danny Millar, Stewart Nicoll, Steven Findlay, Mark Brash, Kit Bremner, Ian Plenderleith, Gary Axworthy and Ross Mitchell. Subs used: Allan Cruickshank, Gordon Pirie and Paul Maloney.

Meanwhile, Blairgowrie JFC’s end of season awards night takes place in the Royal Hotel this Saturday from 7pm. All supporters are welcome to attend. Elsewhere, this week’s berry-pickers weigh-in numbers were 1, 2, 4 and 8.

There was one winner of the £750 prize fund.

The total for next week is £300.