Another taste of WOSFL Conference A this weekend as I travelled South to watch Maybole take on Bellshill Athletic at the Ladywell Stadium.
Maybole is a town in South Ayrshire, apparently well known in the past in shoe and boot making circles. I don’t know if this included football boots although there appears to have been plenty of interest in the sport prior to the formation of Maybole Juniors FC in 1946. I learned that Norris McWhirter (of the Guinness Book of World Records fame), a feature of the Blissboy’s televisual life in the 70s/80s, was descended from the McWhirters of Maybole.
Other than having won a few Ayrshire League and Cup competitions over the years, the biggest claim to fame of the town’s football team appears to be playing Rangers in the 2nd round of the Scottish Cup on 27 Jan 1900. Rangers won 12 – 0.
I try to concentrate on the home side when I visit new grounds but on this occasion, I was keen to see how the visitors looked. Bellshill looked like a club in disarray having sacked their manager and his entire coaching staff the previous week (leading to their planned fixture against Maryhill being called off). Unsurprisingly, social media was painting a partisan picture of who was right and who was wrong but it seems to have stemmed from disagreements between ‘the committee’ and the managent team which came to a head in the week running up to the Maryhill game.
It wasn’t entirely clear where the players stood on this but there was enough evidence in twitter comments from players to back up a rumour that many of the playing side had voted with their feet and that Belshill might have to field the U21s for this game, the first under a new manager.
Before the game, the teams sat midtable in 7th and 9th positions with only 3 points between them but the effects of the last couple of weeks might well be telling.
I arrived at the Ladywell Stadium in good time and was greeted at the gate by friendly staff who relieved me of my £6 entrance fee and £2 worth of half time draw tickets (on the promise that they would make every effort to find the winner during the break – I’ve lost count of the times I’ve got home and found tickets in my pocket that I have no idea whether were winners or not).
I immediately liked the ‘stadium’ which comprised two covered areas (one seated and one standing) on one side of a grass pitch. Grass areas were open to stand around the pitch and there were also banks of uncovered seating on the far side of the pitch by the home dugout and behind one goal. The was a gusty wind blowing but it was dry and mild, perfect for watching football.
Ist Half
The game started with Belshill looking confident despite the behind the scenes goings on and, after knocking the ball around confidently in the opposition half, they forced a save from the home keeper and a corner in the first minute.
The bright start didn’t last however a the black shirted hosts took the lead from their first attack in only the third minute. When they doubled that lead five minutes later, it looked as though the visitors would be getting a thumping this afternoon.
Perhaps they were saved by a message from Francis ‘Rossi’ Donlevy (one of the friends who ‘benefit’ from regular Saturday afternoon score updates from my travels) who suggested that I was in for another goal fest. Of course, this resulted in the next 35 minutes showing little sign of another goal other than an effort from Belshill which was cleared off the line in the tenth minute.
Maybole dominated the rest of the half without seriously threatening to score again and the half time whistle blew with the home side leading 2 – 0.
2nd Half
Seemingly determined not to follow the script, Belshill went at their opposition from the re-start and found themselves right back in it as early as the 47th minute when they pulled a goal back. Could this be the start of an unexpected come back? Almost certainly not as this was suggested in my next message from Mr Rossi.
Maybole bossed most of the rest of the half, pushing and pushing for another goal, but Belshill defended manfully, putting their bodies on the line with a number of important blocks, keeping them in the game.
I spoke briefly with a man who was watching his son playing for Belshill and he confirmed that this was an entirely new team and that the previous first team had all left the club with the previous manager. This made the away side’s performance all the more impressive and they could perhaps be forgiven for communication problems at the back which had led to the goals conceded early on.
Maybole finally got their breakthrough in the 78th minute as they killed off the game with a neat finish. Only the width of the post prevented a 4th goal two minutes later but the game played out to finish 3 – 1 to Maybole.
A good game which Maybole thoroughly deserved to win, but Belshill should take a lot of positives from their performance which bodes well for a turn around of fortunes as they gel as a team.
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