Scottish League One
Saturday 11th January 2020
A long trip up to Scotland in the early weeks of the new year... what could possibly go wrong?
Regular readers of this blog (if such a thing exists) will have noticed this post is a few days later than usual; the reason being the old flu bug that's doing the rounds has caught up with me (again) and I've been zonked out for a big chunk of the past 72 hours.
Despite feeling 'lethargic' during the trip up to North-East Scotland, I was still, nevertheless, determined to enjoy every minute of my visit as best as possible.
Even though I'd previously been to Station Park for a cup tie against Brechin City in December 2013, it was one of few grounds 'up north' that I wanted to revisit - the reason being that I left that match early, missed two (or maybe even three) goals, extra-time and subsequently a penalty shoot-out which Forfar won!
At least that was my (justified) excuse for this lengthy jaunt, which I wanted to be at this time of year, when the damp, cold weather makes Station Park appear even more rural, desolate and incredibly nostalgic in so many different ways.
The trip up to Scotland went fine with tickets purchased through LNER several weeks beforehand (with the DNA Card discount - thanks Doncaster Rovers) when they first went on sale. It was broken up by a couple of hours in Edinburgh followed by a cheap train to Dundee.
With several games being postponed in the hours beforehand due to excessively wet weather, I was quite grateful that Forfar installed a 4G pitch several years ago - meaning the potential risk of the old dreaded postponement was significantly reduced!
Remarkably, despite the name 'Station Park' suggesting there's a railway station in close proximity to the ground, there isn't and the nearest one is Dundee - some 14 miles away. There was, once upon a time, a station nearby though it closed over half-a-century ago when Dr Beeching decided to make drastic cutbacks to the UK rail system.
The ground name remains simply because it's always been known as Station Park since it first opened it's doors way back in the 1880s.
History lessons aside (and if you're reading this before bedtime you should have no problems sleeping now), what materialised on the pitch suggested a bright future for Raith Rovers and a lad called Dylan Tait, in particular, who I thought was their best player.
The youngster had good distribution, a calmness and control, linked up play on many occasions, showed a technical intelligence and though he was knocked off the ball a bit easily and wasn't vocal enough (that bit will come through experience), he clearly had something about him. It was only afterwards, when a Google Search revealed that he'd only just turned 18 that I was just like 'wow'. He has time to improve, has ability, and to be making such an impact - especially in the tough 'rough and ready world' of lower division Scottish Professional football at such a young age is a phenomenal achievement.
It might be worth remembering his name!
Forfar took an early lead after something of a goalkeeping howler led to Ross Forbes being able to finish from close-range but eventually the visitors, who were backed by a decent following, got on top and eventually levelled in the second half thanks to John Baird.
Plenty of good chances were squandered; most of which were by Raith though the hosts did have late opportunities to snatch the three points as well. All in all, on balance, a point apiece was probably a fair reflection of proceedings.
With this trip completed, I'm now down to two grounds left in the Scottish 42 that I need/want to visit; Brechin City and Cove Rangers. Hopefully, LNER will make those lovely 'cheap' early-bird tickets available again soon so I can enjoy another jaunt north.
It is my intention to have completed the lot by the end of this season but we'll just have to see how it goes.
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