Another Weekend in Scotland

A quick return north o’ the border, this time with Brother in Law John for a quick break before his birthday.  I’d promised him a little trip months ago and after so many local non-league cancellations last weekend seemed as good as any.

It’s a long way so an early start was needed.  We started the journey listening to some back episodes of The Blizzard podcast as I couldn’t face Talk Sport or 5 Live so soon after dawn.  The SatNav instructions kept interrupting the flow of the podcast which led to some amusing breaks such as “...his favourite anecdote was”.. “at the next roundabout go straight on”, bloody good story that one!  After a while though we succumbed to the inevitable and tuned into Talk Sport and endless chatter about the North London Derby.  Apparently a Talk Sport 2 is to be launched soon which will probably delight taxi drivers though you have to worry how thin they can spread their special brand of ‘intelligent debate’.

As the driver I was knackered when we finally reached Stark’s Park, the home of Raith Rovers.  Our first sight was the offices and the Val McDermid stand looming over a wall.  In case you are not a fan, Val McDermid is a crime writer (The Wire in the Blood, and others) who comes from Kirkcaldy.  A quick photo and tweet to Hull crime writer Nick Quantrill and we were off in search of refreshments.  Ten minutes later we almost run into the good lady herself but she was occupied with a group of people so I couldn’t go all fan-boy and ask for an autograph and picture.

Refreshment came by way of a decent pint Orkney Raven ale in the Robert Nairn down the lovely named Kirk Wynd.  I could have happily spent all afternoon supping but we had food to find and football to watch.

Food came by way of the ubiquitous pie from a local baker on the High Street.  John opted for a macaroni one and a chicken one whereas I went for scotch and chicken.  John was a bit apprehensive about the idea of a macaroni pie but after a couple of steaming bites deemed it one of the finest pies he had had.  Praise indeed!  I bit into my piping hot scotch pie and got a squirt of hot fat.  It is one of the mysteries of life that if you dip your finger in something wet two seconds later you have a wet arm up to your elbow.  In this case super heated pie fat up to my elbow; curses followed and some of my pie filling fell onto the pavement.

Stark’s Park is a curious little ground with the away fans sat in the Val McDermid stand behind one goal and the bulk of the home fans sat behind the opposite goal.  There is a main stand which contains the offices, changing rooms and such like but it doesn’t even make it to half way.  On the opposite side is a covered terrace which is being converted to seating, on which was proudly displayed the Raith Rovers flag which appears to be a Lion with a Talbort Sunbeam steering wheel.

The match itself was a very entertaining end to end affair.  The purist would probably argue that there were too many long and aerial balls but to be fair the pitch was heavily sanded by modern standards, which is not conducive to slick passing.  Raith opened the scoring after only three minutes and added a second mid way through the half.  St Mirren battled away and got their reward just before half time, but Raith were good value for their half time lead.

The second half started much as the first did when Hardie quickly grabbed two more to complete his hat trick, all of which were finished well.  They then eased down somewhat, becoming a little sloppy and inviting pressure.  St Mirren required no second invitation and got themselves back into the game on the hour mark.  The tide had turned and as so often is the case when a team eases off they find it hard to raise their game back to the required standard.  This was no exception and St Mirren added a third and were looking for looking for an equaliser.

Back to the car and a short drive over to Glenrothes where our hotel was situated, on a roundabout which being a new town it seems to have in abundance.  All rather confusing in the dark and for some inexplicable reason one wrong turn led to a 30 minute walk taking nearer to 90 minutes.  At least it worked up a thirst and an appetite!

We finally made it to the local Wetherspoon’s pub the Golden Acorn for a few pints and some food.  Unlike their pubs in England they do a Highland Burger which is like a chilli burger but with a haggis toping rather than chilli.  Bloody lovely; we must petition for them down south.

A great day was rounded off with a nightcap in the Fettykil Fox adjacent to the hotel and plans for Sunday morning sightseeing in Edinburgh.

Raith Rovers 4 (2) St Mirren 3 (1)

Hardie (3, 53, 55), Stewart (24)                   Watson (41, 76), Clarkson (61)

Raith Rovers

Cuthbert, Thomson, Toshney, Benedictus, McKeown, Connolly (Anderson 56), Callachan, Davidson, Panayiotou (Matthews 64), Hardie, Stewart

Substitutes: Anderson, Matthews, Thomas, Court, Craigen, Law, Barr

St Mirren

Langfield, Watson, Webster, Baird, Irvine, Gallagher (Gow 56), Mallan, Quinn (Agnew 25), Stewart (Thompson 85), Shankland, Clarkson

Substitutes: Goodwin, Gow, Thompson, Agnew, Cooper, Wilks, McAllister

Referee: John Beaton

Attendance: 1,888