Sauchie Juniors - Beechwood Park

Sauchie Juniors FC

Beechwood Park

Main Street

Sauchie

FK10 3AX

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Ground Number: 1280
Saturday 16th March 2024

Sauchie Juniors 3-2 Hill Of Beath Hawthorn

East Of Scotland Premier

SAUCHIE JUNIORS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Sauchie Junior Football Club began as Sauchie Juveniles in 1960, in a league for players up to 27 years of age. Sauchie Juniors have won the Scottish Cup four times. In 1962, they stepped up to Junior (non-league) football. Sauchie Juniors won the East Region St Michael's Cup twice, in 1972 and 1974. After winning the East Dryburgh Cup in Season 1983, the team beat the other Dryburgh winners (Sunnybank, East Kilbride Thistle and Auchinleck Talbot) to win the National Dryburgh Trophy. The furthest Sauchie has gone in the Scottish Junior Cup is the quarter-final, losing 4–2 away to Newtongrange Star in 1970, then again in 2004 when after a 0–0 draw at home to Glenrothes, Sauchie were defeated 3–2 in the replay. The SJFA restructured prior to the 2006–07 season, and Sauchie found themselves in the 15-team East Region, South Division. They finished second in their first season in the division. In 2011, the club won the East Region South Division to gain promotion to the Premier League. In Sauchie's first season in the Premier League, they won the league to gain promotion to the East Super League. After a best Super League finish of 5th in 2015, the club was relegated the following season but immediately gained promotion with a second Premier League title. In 2018 Sauchie were one of many clubs to move from the Junior leagues to the East of Scotland Football League.

Sauchie is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth and south of the Ochil Hills, within the council area of Clackmannanshire. Sauchie has a population of around 6000 and is located a mile northeast of Alloa. The place name means the place or field of the willows. The land originally belonged to Clan Campbell, being mentioned in connection with Cailean Mór and Gilleasbaig of Menstrie. In 1321 Robert the Bruce granted the lands of Sauchie to Henry de Annand, former Sheriff of Clackmannan. A tower was built in 1335, and the present Sauchie Tower is on the same site. The extant tower was built before 1431 when Mary de Annand, the co-heiress to the estate, married Sir James Schaw of Greenock. The tower is all that remains of the village which developed within its protective radius. In the early 18th century the Schaw family moved from the tower to the more comfortable Newtonschaw. The village developed a brick works by the River Devon which fell into disuse following the collapse of the local mining industry. The most famous person from the town is ex-Liverpool defender and Match Of The Day pundit Alan Hansen.

MY VISIT

Out of all the games on the Scottish Hop, this was the club I was most looking forward to visiting. They had been the visiting club at Tynecastle on last seasons hop and their ground looked very decent. The pub information provided by NLM Forum was also interesting. It got me wondering how bad the Gartmorn Lounge could be.

Sauchie have a bar area under the stand but it is small and may struggle to cope with an influx of visitors. It may well be members only on the night. About 5 minutes walk towards Alloa is the Mansfield Arms – pass the shops then take a right at the Bridge Inn Chippy. You’ll see “The Mansie” from there. This is the brew pub for Devon Ales. I’d suggest taking the right hand door into the Lounge Bar rather than the left hand door into the Public Bar. Always best to be cautious. If you have time in hand and are looking for food then the Mansfield is absolutely top notch and cheap. The other pub in Sauchie is the Gartmorn Lounge. Don’t bother, you’ll never be seen again.

From an enjoyable afternoon at Stenhousemuir, we made our way to Sauchie. We were in good spirits. Wycombe Wanderers had beaten Northampton Town 2-0 and Braintree Town had triumphed 1-0 at Weymouth. We had seen a nice ground and had dodged the 0-0 at Kinnoull on the groundhop. We were at the ground by 5.20 and popped in to get daylight photos. I also bought a drawstring bag from the club before heading into town. It was ten minutes to the Gartmorn and contrary to the forum post, it was a nice place for a pint of Dark Fruits for £3.90. From there, the Mansfield Arms was 15p pricier but it was another pleasant place to pass the time. It was a wet walk to the ground as the incessant rain refused to go away. £10 was the entry fee and I went to the bar to meet the others. There I had my cheapest pint of Dark Fruits yet at £3.50. I then had a black pudding roll for £2.50 which was excellent. As was the Scotch Pie I had later.

Sauchie Juniors were in 6th place and were unbeaten in four. Their last game saw them win 2-1 at Crossgates Primrose. Hill Of Beath Hawthorn were a place below in 7th. They were unbeaten in ten and had beaten Kinnoull 2-1 in their last game. The game eventually kicked off at 20:02 after fears it may be off. It was a great strike by Danny Smith that opened the scoring for Sauchie on 8 minutes. The weather was utterly abhorrent but it was 2-0 on 33 minutes, Smith with his and his teams second from the penalty spot. Their task was made harder when Ross Kavanagh was sent off for his part in a scuffle. However, Smith made it 3-0, completing his hat trick on the stroke of halftime. Hill of Beath started the second half well, pulling a goal back on 46 minutes with a close-range effort. The visitors dominated the second period and they pulled a goal back on 82 minutes with an excellent low shot that found the bottom left-hand corner. It was a testament to how well the pitch held up that we still had a game. We eventually finished, and unusually for a group of football obsessives, many were glad to hear the final whistle.

THE GROUND 

BEECHWOOD PARK is a great venue with a stunning backdrop. The elevated main stand holds a few hundred and offers great views. The covered area opposite holds around two hundred, otherwise, it's open standing. The club shop offers a great range of items. Nearby is the town with a great range of places to eat and

drink.