Hill Of Beath Hawthorn - Keirs Park

Hill Of Beath Hawthorn

Keirs Park

Hill of Beath

Cowdenbeath 

KY4 8DT

07826 840020

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Ground Number: 1044
Saturday 19th March 2022
Hill Of Beath Hawthorn 3-1 Linlithgow Rose
East Of Scotland League Premier Division

HILL OF BEATH HAWTHORN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1975. They played in the Kirkcaldy and District Amateur league until 1982 when they joined the Fife Junior League. They won the Fife League eight times before becoming founding members of the East Region Super League in 2002. They spent all but one year in the Super League and finished runners-up three times, prior to their move to the East of Scotland League in 2018. In their first season, they were Conference A runner-up, winning promotion to the newly-formed Premier Division. The season was decided on a PPG basis but the club finished a very credible runners-up in their debut season here. 

Hill Of Beath Hawthorn made their debut in the Scottish Cup in 2019. They beat Blackburn United 2-0 before winning 2-0 at Threave Rovers. Their run ended in the 1st Round with a 1-0 defeat at Gretna. Hill of Beath Hawthorn's greatest honour came in 1990 when they defeated Lesmahagow 1–0 in the final of the Scottish Junior Cup at Kilmarnock's Rugby Park. Local cup honours include the East of Scotland Junior Cup in 2015, the Fife & Lothians Cup in 1996 and the Fife Dryborough Cup in 1986. They've also won the Fife & Tayside Cup five times, the Fife League Cup on five occasions, the Fife Junior Cup five times, the Cowdenbeath Cup on nine occasions, the Laidlaw Shield three times and the Kingdom Kegs Cup twice.  The club was managed by Jock Finlayson from their formation in 1975 until the summer of 2015. Hill of Beath a village near Cowdenbeath and is the birthplace of Rangers F.C. legend Jim Baxter and Scotland captain Willie Cunningham and the home town of former Celtic F.C. captain Scott Brown. Football managers Dick Campbell and Ian Campbell were brought up in the village.

MY VISIT

It was around 15 minutes from the last game at Dundonald to this one, plus a few minutes extra fir the coach to find a parking spot down the tight streets. I got off of the coach and headed straight for the local Chinese takeaway, the Peking House. Although it had the same name as my go-to Chinese Takeaway in Wycombe, it was not as good but was still fairly decent. I ordered salt and chill chips and Thai red curry for £9 and this was ready within ten minutes. I eat the chips walking to the ground and then the curry once I had a place to rest the container at the ground. I'd have liked a drink to go with it, but the local shop didn't sell booze and there was ni bar at the ground aside from hospitality. Later on, I bought a nice pennant from the merchandise stall for £5.

Hill Of Beath Hawthorn were sitting in 14th, one place above the relegation zone. They were not in the greatest of form, having lost their latest game in the League Cup, 3-2 to Edinburgh South. They'd also lost their last game 2-1 to Sauchie Juniors but had beaten Dunbar United 4-0 and grabbed a credible 2-2 draw at high flying Tranent Juniors. Linlithgow Rose were sitting top of the league and had won 5-1 at Blackburn United in their last game, albeit in the League Cup. They'd lost 4-3 at Dalkeith Thistle in the same competition. They'd beaten Whitehill Welfare 4-0 in their latest league game but had lost 2-1 at Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts before that. The hosts took the lead on 19 minutes, Ryan Connelly heading home from close range. It was all square on 34 minutes, Alan Sneddon with a low shot from a  square ball from six yards. Connelly got his second on 48 minutes, heading home after a clearance. Linlithgow showed why they were so high in the table by putting pressure on the hosts and they had a goal disallowed on the hour mark. Hill Of Beath Hawthorn sealed the game with the last kick of the game, a penalty awarded for a foul was converted by Ross Allum.

We got back on the coach after a four-game day and to be honest, I could have kept going for another. I cracked open a Strongbow and listened as Chris announced potential plans for a West Of Scotland hop in September. If the dates work out, I already have that time booked off of work and look forward to returning to Scotland. It was around 45 minutes back to the hotel, in which time I got my first blog of the day uploaded. I went straight back to m room when we got back and full of energy, I stayed up for a good few hours typing my blogs, sorting my photos and watching TV. With it being a later start on Sunday, there wasn't really any rush to get to bed and I was pleased to get up to date with things.

THE GROUND

KEIR'S PARK is an excellent venue for the level and has plenty of cover, both seated and standing. The ground has plenty of character and although there's no bar, the tea hut offered a decent range of items. The merchandise stall was very good also, probably the best of the groundhop so far. Even better was the programme, an excellent edition with plenty to read that was amongst the best that I have read. The ground is in a decent location and though parking is a bit limited, there are plenty of shops within walking distance.