Firstly as this game is a 7:30pm kick off it would be good to note that the Strollers currently have a GoFundMe for getting some floodlights (They estimate they need £30k) – see this here ( http://www.csstrollers.com/2019/06/24/strollers-launch-floodlight-crowdfund-appeal/ ) – as per any appeal anything will be greatly accepted by the club.
So to this evenings match – the 4th in 11 days – versus The Spartans FC ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartans_F.C. ) at Ainslie Park – under 2 miles away from Christie Gillies Park so a true local derby. They currently sit rock bottom with 2 points. Expect a tough game!!!
Same back 5/6 (I see this as the core of our promotion push) with McVitie replacing McCulloch, Devers going to Advanced Playmaker on Attack and Mackay in for Mair. Barras is back at AMR as an IF on Attack, Garden starts up top after his 2-goal salvo after coming on against Wick. Kev Waugh is suffering a little bit for fitness with 90% condition so he may have to be subbed today or rested for the next game against Edinburgh Uni. Spartans are playing the same formation as Wick – 3-2-2-2-1 Wingbacks, which we didn’t seem to have much trouble against, and man-for-man our scouts see them as weaker than Wick, but this game isn’t won on paper as they say (Its won on Spreadsheets) – lets get to it
HT Civil Service 0 Spartans 0
The Stroller started the match brightly but after just 7 minutes Scott Clapperton got a straight Red for a very innocuous challenge, and we found our backs to the wall. Then after 13 minutes our start Right-Back Tom Kelly pulled up with a hamstring pull – marvellous, looks like FM is out for me to stop the 10-wins-in-a-row. Kyle Fee came on in his place. In the 2x minute Spartans looked destined to score only for a majestic last-ditch challenge from Big Kev Waugh. However it became 10 v 10 when Robertson for the visitors scythed down Mackay in a horror challenge – So 55 minutes of possibly more freely flowing football to come?
FT Civil Service 0 Spartans 1 (Jack Smith 80) Att 214 (149 Away)
That was a tough one to take – a lone ball over the top caught us napping and Jack Smith finished, in a half where Spartans rarely troubled us. That was a standard bottom-of-the-league beating top-of-the-league FM-ing that happens so often in LLM in FM19. Losing Kelly early on was massive though, luckily – I will appeal the Clapperton sending off as that was ludicrous. So onto the next league game. The only positives were the teams around us all lost or drew so we stay top. We go again.