Penicuik Athletic FC
Penicuik Park
121c Carlops Road
Penicuik
EH26 9HU
07936 156451
Ground Number: 1159
Sunday 19th March 2023
Penicuik Athletic 0-1 Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale
Sunday 19th March 2023
Penicuik Athletic 0-1 Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale
East Of Scotland Premier
PENICUIK ATHLETIC FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was formed in 1888 but only joined the Junior setup in 1951. Success here included the East Region Division One in 1979 and 1981. In more recent times, the club were Lothian League Division 2 winners in 2005 and Division 1 runners-up the season after. They did very well here and were East Premier League champions in 2014. Their last few seasons in Junior Football were spent in the East Super League, their best finish was in their final season of 2018 when they finished 3rd. A shake-up of Scottish football followed, with Penicuik placed in the East Of Scotland Conference A which they won in 2019. Ever since they've been in the EOSL Premier, their best finish was last season when they finished as runners-up.
MY VISIT
This was to be the last day of the hop on my least favourite day of the week. Usually, I am hard at it at work, but even when I'm off it proves to be a poor day with little on. This was the case for this day too, with just one game. I felt that we should have shoehorned a game in the morning but the organisers told me that it was down to driver hours which was fair enough. I think generally people are not too keen on overdoing it to be honest, so I am happy to go with the majority despite my own preferences. The one time we did do two on a Sunday, it was Threave Rovers in the afternoon. I ended up getting back home at 2 am. Although that was fine by me, I understood why some might be against it with work in the morning.
The day of the game came and I awoke at 6 am, had a shower and got dressed. I then started to pack up my things. Having had a heavy few days on the booze, I decided that today would be a fairly sober day, so in went the cans to my hold luggage. It was nice to have a desk in the room to type my blog. I finished Saturday mornings before going down for a hearty breakfast. I came back and got a couple more uploaded, the most time-consuming part being uploading and sorting photos. The coach left at 10 and I managed to get up to date on all of my blogs. After a pleasant journey, we were there around 10.45. I and Colin headed to B&M Bargains to stock up for the journey south. Two litres of Irn Bru Extra and some Scottish jam square cakes. From there it was to the ground. From the merchandise stall, I bought a hat and a history book for £10, and also some raffle tickets for £1. I found the holy grail of the kebab pie at the tea hut, along with a can of Irn Bru it was £3. It was excellent and well worth the months I'd hankered after one. I later went back for another, they'd sold out but I had a nice toffee doughnut instead.
Penicuik Athletic sat in 7th place but were in disappointing form. Their last win had come on 21st December as they beat whipping boys Vale Of Leithen 4-0. Since then, they'd drawn 1-1 against Crossgates Primrose and at Haddington Athletic but lost 3-1 at Musselburgh Athletic and 4-2 at Blackburn United. Lothians Thistle Hutchison Vale were in 9th. They'd been in decent form, having won 5-1 at Broxburn Athletic in their last game. They'd also beaten Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 3-1. Vale Of Leithen 4-0 and Jeanfield Swifts 1-0. Their most notable victory had come as they won 2-1 at leaders Linlithgow Rose. However, they lost 5-1 at Haddington Athletic. Lothian Vale dominated the early stages and Penicuik made several smart blocks and good saves to keep the game scoreless. The hosts' Andy Mair was sent off for two yellow cards to make Penicuik's task all that harder. Lothian dominated the second half too and they took the lead with a superb strike on 78 minutes. Joe Viola smashed one in the top corner from the edge of the area and it was probably the goal of the weekend. There was a scuffle towards the end and a flurry of yellow cards as the game got a bit tense.
Sadly, around 2.15, it was time to head for home. The attendance of 398 was the lowest of the weekend, but still impressive, but the club deserved more. Over the whole weekend, 3,019 people turned out at the six games. There had been 17 goals, 6 red cards, 3 penalties and in my case, a whole lot of booze and unhealthy food. No home wins either, which I am sure must be some kind of record. Despite me being off work, I was determined to undo at least some of that, sober until Friday and a long walk every day. It was a subdued atmosphere as we headed south, but there was plenty of friendly chat. I had been in brilliant company, especially Colin who had been a great roommate and popular with others on our coach. I started my blog later than planned but was hoping to see at least some of the Brighton v Grimsby game (fingers crossed for the Mariners, although they were 2-0 down at halftime) to kill the time before we got home at around 11.30 PM.
THE GROUND
PENICUIK PARK is a very pleasant venue to watch football. Although there is no seating, almost two sides are fully covered although not much was concreted, showing the difference in ground grading between Scotland and England. Personally, I am with the Scots for the size of the crowds present. You can walk the whole way around, but it appears to be street parking only. There was no bar, but the highlight of the trip was the tea bar. Service was excellent and the kebab pie I had was superb value and delicious for the £2 I paid. The donut was also nice. The merchandise was good, only second behind Tynecastle this weekend in terms of range and value for money.
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