Kelty Hearts 4-1 Buckie Thistle

Kelty Hearts 4-1 Buckie Thistle

Scottish Cup

Saturday 23rd October 2021

Eighteen years after my first experience of live football, this was the day where I reached both the landmark of attending 1,000 domestic matches and completing 'the 42' in Scotland.

It wasn't my initial intention to hit these landmarks on this particular day and, if it hadn't been for the pandemic, I'd have no doubt reached 1,000 games prior to the end of the 2019/20 campaign - probably with a trip to Brechin City which I've somehow still not yet managed.

Brechin, of course, are no longer in the SPFL and that's because they were beaten by Kelty Hearts in the Play-Offs last summer. Now managed by Kevin Thomson (who replaced Barry Ferguson following promotion), Kelty look set for promotion again this season and considering Cove Rangers' achievements in recent years as well, it does make you wonder just how many non-league teams are going to get into the SPFL and win promotion straight away over the next decade or so - especially now the 'juniors' from the East and West are part of the Scottish Football Pyramid at long last.

Kelty's New Central Park home makes for a pleasant addition to the SPFL. 

Situated on the outskirts of Cowdenbeath, the place has plenty of character, decent facilities such as concreate terracing and a comfortable modern all-seater stand, and just from initial impressions of entering the ground, you can tell there's been a decent amount of investment in recent years. The only downside was that the frosty welcome in the clubhouse (presumably for having an English accent) coupled with the fact it was closed altogether for supporters at half-time - thus, they're missing out on 'coining in' a decent amount what people would probably spend.

As the weather was pleasant, I opted to walk to the ground from Cowdenbeath Railway Station which took just over an hour at a modest pace. It's probably too far for most folk, however, so anyone reading this and happening to be planning a trip might want to be made aware that there is a direct bus link (operated by Stagecoach) from Princes Street in Edinburgh which drops off at regular intervals. It takes around an hour and weirdly, a return fare is £5 yet a single fare is considerably more; I'm not quite sure why, but there we go...

On the pitch, it was the Highlanders that initially began brightly, knocking the ball around confidently during the first 5-10 minutes and looking a reasonable enough outfit. It didn't take long for Kelty to wrestle the initiative from Buckie though and gradually the hosts began to look the more dominant with their pressure eventually telling just past the half-hour mark when big Tam O'Ware rose highest to head home from a corner. A 1-0 lead quickly became a two-goal cushion as Joe Cardle found the net from the tightest of angles just two minutes later - thus meaning Kelty were comfortably in the command at half-time.

Had Buckie been able to pull a goal back then it would have made things interesting but it was Kelty who remained on top - controlling possession and looking the more likely to add a third goal which occurred when Cardle got his second of the afternoon with just over a quarter-of-an-hour to go. Sam Urquhart then responded with a long-range strike to give the Highlanders little a consolation and that's all it was because Ross Philp soon made it 4-1 to complete a straightforward passage into the next round for Kevin Thomson's team.

Getting away from New Central Park afterwards was made simple by virtue of the aforementioned bus to Edinburgh which departed from right outside the ground only a few minutes after the final whistle.

Overall, it was an enjoyable day and it's nice to have competed all 42 SPFL grounds at last - though with both Edinburgh City and Queens Park planning to relocate back to Meadowbank and (Lesser) Hampden in the next 12 months, it won't be long before I'm back in Scotland on a recompletion mission.