Scottish Cup Fourth Round
Saturday 9th January 2010
Shamefully, despite having Scottish relatives and venturing north of the border on multiple occasions in the years beforehand, this was the first ever football game I watched in Scotland.
It very nearly went tits up, too, and I'll come onto that!
It wasn't my initial plan for the day by any means because I'd already bought a ticket for a Championship clash between Preston North End and Doncaster Rovers at Deepdale. However, sub-zero temperatures and a snowstorm that had blanketed much of the United Kingdom since the turn of the year, meant that game was always in doubt and it was duly called off on the Friday.
Not being content to just sit on my backside and have an afternoon watching Soccer Saturday though, the early postponement - coupled with being in possession of a free rail pass at the time, meant it was relatively easy to put a 'Plan B' into action.
Therefore, I wisely, or stupidly as some might say, opted to ignore the Met Office's advice against all but essential travel and venture up to the best country on the planet to take in a football game with Edinburgh being my destination of choice as 1) It's easy to reach from Doncaster and 2) Hibernian's Easter Road ground, situated in the city within walking distance of Edinburgh Waverley station, has undersoil heating - minimising the risks of a postponement.
Many train services were cancelled altogether, nonetheless, with others delayed and some stuck en route. Those that were operating were subsequently packed to the rafters!
Having arrived (later than planned) into Edinburgh at just after 1.30pm and slipping and sliding my way down Easter Road towards Hibs' home, the excitement was building - even if the game was expected to be an extremely one-sided affair with the visitors, Irvine Meadow, being a junior outfit made up of part-time players. Hibernian, obviously, were a fully-established top flight team and the game was actually the first ever Scottish Cup meeting between a top tier and a junior outfit.
It was bloody freezing and my abiding memory was the 'Hibs Heroes' anthem (forget 'Sunshine on Leith') playing over the PA system at various intervals before, at half-time and afterwards.
On the pitch, with a line-up which contained attacking talents such as Anthony Stokes, Derek Riordan (who infamously got himself banned from every nightclub in Edinburgh), Marouane Zemmama and Colin Nash, the SPL outfit were expected to rack up a few goals but the script didn't exactly go to plan.
Backed by a noisy contingent of a couple of thousand visiting fans behind one of the goals, the Ayrshire part-timers put up a tremendous fight and following a nervy start during which Riordan had a goal ruled out for a push, the visitors forced a fair amount of pressure with Graeme Smith making a string of stops to prevent Hibernian from suffering the indignity of falling behind. Had they done so, it would have been comparable to the infamous few minutes when Liverpool's multi-millionaire stars trailed at home to Havant & Waterlooville in the FA Cup, only a few seasons earlier.
The home 'keeper was also involved a controversial talking point just shy of the half-hour mark as Richie Barr was sent sprawling inside his area despite appearing to reach a loose ball first, only for the referee to wave away the subsequent appeals for a penalty.
Eventually, the team in green started to get to grips with things and exert their authority and it paid dividends only a few moments later as Riordan bundled the ball home from David Wotherspoon's cross to ease the nerves which had built up in some home sections of Easter Road.
Still, even with a one-goal advantage, it wasn't plain sailing for the hosts as Irvine continued to pose plenty of questions and they nearly levelled on a couple more occasions when Chris Strain squandered a golden opening to level on the rebound having seen his initial shot only parried by Smith, whilst Brian McGinty went even closer with a clever curling shot which came back off the post.
Had either chance been converted, it may have altered the course of proceedings but it didn't and before half-time John Hughes' hosts took a crucial step towards ensuring a comfortable progression to Round Five with Zemmama making it 2-0 with a deflected effort after being teed up by Stokes.
A comeback now seemed highly unlikely and any doubts about whether Hibernian were firmly put to bed not too long after the re-start as Paul Hanlon (still a Hibernian player nowadays) ventured forward on a mazy run, carrying the ball half the length of the pitch, before he pulled the trigger with a powerful drive which found its way past Irvine's 'keeper.
At 3-0 with half-hour to go, one worried whether the floodgates may open but they didn't and Irvine continued to battle, work tremendously hard and deliver the type of spirited performance which delighted their 2,000-strong following - even if they wouldn't see a cup shock!
The visitors were rightly applauded off at the final whistle and as I navigated the snowy streets back to Edinburgh Waverley Station afterwards (somewhere managing to avoid going arse over tit on the black ice), that's where my problems began - there were no trains back to Doncaster!
However, there was one service to Wakefield Westgate and it was that which I caught knowing full well that any delay en route could throw a hugs spanner in my intentions to catch a connecting service back to my hometown. As it happened, there was a delay, but only a minor one and I was left with a few minutes to spare (spent on a thoroughly 'Baltic' platform in West Yorkshire) before it arrived.
Sadly, despite seeing it in the distance down Easter Road on this visit, I never got to visit Meadowbank Stadium - some things you live to regret, but 11 years on and visits to just Brechin City and Cove Rangers are all I require to have seen a game across all 42 professional grounds in Scotland.
Maybe at that point I'll rekindle acquaintances and head to Irvine's Meadow Park and it'll likely be in the summer, too, because 11 years on... it's still bloody freezing in January - nevermind a pandemic!
All photos below were taken during a quick visit to Easter Road in July 2019. Note the East Stand (picture two) which was completely rebuilt in the space of around two months not long after Irvine Meadow's visit in the Scottish Cup.
