You are here: Home > Matches Attended > Match Review
Match Review
Match Number: 550
Date: Saturday 1st November 2008
Kick-Off: 2:00pm
Match: Gretna (2008) 5 Kelso United 2
Competition: Alex Jack Cup Semi Final
Stadium: Everholm
Attendance: 120 ish (5 ish)
Stadium Stats
No. of visits to stadium: 1
Total no. of stadiums visited: 102
Programme and Ticket
No ticket stub given on entrance.
Photos
Review
Travel to match
Method of Travel: Car
Travelling time: 40mins
The short trip to Annan is one that familiar to me now with going to a few Annan Athletic matches this season. Traffic was heavy so it took slightly longer than normal but I still arrived in plenty of time.
Pre-Match
I parked up in the free car park just off Battery Street and wandered
round to the main pitch- the walk round was a muddy one which was no surprise
after the amount of rain we've had in the region in the last few days.
There was very little to do though other than having a quick conversation
with the Gretna Treasurer Pete George who I had been in contact with over
email during the summer about me being able to take photographs.
Stadium
Everholm is very basic- it has a pitch and a worn athletics track on the
outside and entrance is gained in one corner which can be reached by Battery
Street (and then walking round the path and other passing other pitches)
or by North Street. The facilities were limit- I didn't notice a toilet
and there was no seating other than a park bench on one side and this
seems to have stopped some of Gretna's older following from attending
games. Some spectators did bring there own camping chairs though so they
could watch in comfort!
A food van was present and sold food at decent prices though I didn't brave tasting them as I'd already eaten before setting off for the match. The ground doesn't have any floodlights which is why I presume the games kick-off at 2pm, whilst a limited amount of club merchandise was available from the back of a car.
Admission
It was £2.00 to watch the game which was very good value.
Programme
£2.00 for 16 with an impressive cover (which stays the same for
each game) but lots of adverts. The content is poor and comes no where
near to giving you value for money. However reading it the editor has
requested for volunteers to contribute content so hopefully in the next
few years it will develop and match that of the former club. As a collector
though it great that the club do produce something as I'm sure many at
this level won't.
Food and Drink
I had a coffee at half-time which was £1.00 and biscuits were available
on the counter too which was nice!
The Game
Gretna won easily 5-2 and could have scored plenty more. I was appalled
by the language and attitude of players and some fans though throughout
the game- the referee got an awful lots of abuse and although his performance
was poor to say the least it was totally unnecessary. I love lower league
football but the downside is the language and attitude of players.
Home Fans
The Gretna fans I spoke to were all friendly as they had been on all the
other times I've watched them. Credit to them for having over 100 fans
present despite the game being played outside Gretna.
Away Fans
There seemed to be a handful of Kelso fans there but obviously there was
no chatting.
Stewards / Police
There was no police and I don't remember seeing any stewards, just club
officials .
The Ref
The referee made some odd decisions and let Kelso put in some very over
the top tackles and got a lot of abuse from it.
The Journey Home
Travelling time: 35mins
Getting away from the ground was easy, and the town only takes a few minutes to drive to before hitting the M75 again.
Statistics
Travel: £5.00
Ticket: £2.00
Programme: £2.00
Total: £9.00
Mileage: 40
Travelling time: 1hrs 15mins
Stadium character: 2/10
Facilities: 2/10
View of pitch: 6/10
Atmosphere home fans: 3/10
Atmosphere away fans: 0/10
Match Rating: 8/10
Wish to go back to stadium: 9/10
Photos
