Club 13/279 – Dundee St James

Match: Dundee St James v Forfar United
Date: 04/09/2021
Venue: Fairfield Park, Dundee
Competition: Midlands League
Entry Fee: £6
Travel: £28.80
Miles completed today: 178
Total miles remaining: 41907

Welcome to Dundee, where a ball is a ba, a pie is a peh and a sub is a subbie. These are just some of the things I heard at the game. I’m not slagging it, I love it. Dundee St James weren’t part of the old junior leagues and therefore a new name at this level.
This is my first trip into the Midlands League in it’s first season on the pyramid system – I had no idea what to expect.
I chose a bus as the mode of transport this time as Scotrail wanted almost £50 from Glasgow to Dundee. A Megabus/CityLink was half the price and just as quick.

Preview

Dundee St James Last 5 (League)
WLDLL

Forfar United Last 5 (League)
LWLLW

Odds:
Dundee St James 7/10
Draw 4/1
Forfar United 2/1

St James can describe themselves as a mid-table side. They’re way off the top but comfortably away from the bottom too. As it’s their first season they’d probably take that. Forfar United were only 3 points behind going into this one and a win would put some distance between themselves and the clubs below.

The Ground

Fairfield Park is easy to miss. It’s tucked away behind a small residential housing scheme and seeing only a fenced off building site before getting to the park I wasn’t convinced I was going the right way.
The ground itself is basic with a ringed fence around the pitch and a pavilion with the dressing rooms, a kitchen area and toilets.
The pitch was well maintained and in great condition. Admission was the standard £6 and they do a cracking steak pie for £2.

The Game

The first half was mainly two sides trying to gain control of the game but with limited success. There was a lot of fouls (in both halves) but neither side were able to assert any dominance. St James created a couple of good openings but decision making in the final third let them down. Forfar opened the scoring as the young Dundee keeper dropped a routine cross at Forfar #11’s feet who was all too happy to tap home for 1-0. The young lad in goals will be disappointed but things would work out just fine.
In the second half Dundee St James were much better and put their opponents under constant pressure. They got their equaliser as one of their forwards were quickest to react to a rebound and it looked as though they’d kick on from there.
Forfar were unwilling to go down without a feet and regained the lead a few minutes later with an excellent free kick into the bottom corner from their #8.
St James piled even more pressure on and every attack looked like it’d end up in the back of the net. They did get their reward as their #11’s shot was saved by the keeper but the ball fell back to him and he made sure the second time. He also had to come off injured for his troubles.
We had another 2 red cards – one for each side. I didn’t see anything outrageously bad but a culmination of yellow cards were catching up with the players.
The game was almost win in controversial fashion as Forfar’s keeper lay on the ground injured but the referee allowed play to continue. A good 10 seconds must’ve went by before one of them tried their luck. A long range shot from around 30 yards came back off the bar with the goalkeeper still injured on the deck. After the ball went out of play there was a fair amount of arguing between the players and and spectators and in the end the keeper had to be carried off and replaced.
The game was won with a spectacular goal. Forfar thought they’d cleared the danger but with the ball around 25 yards out and with hit back to goal Dundee’s #17 tried his luck with an overhead kick which looped over the keeper and into the top corner.

Dundee St James deserved the victory in the end as the second half was one way traffic for the most part.

Full time: Dundee St James 3-2 Forfar United

MOTM

I’ll pick a MOTM each game I attend. This isn’t the official MOTM, just who I feel was the standout player.

Dundee’s #7 takes the title for me today. He didn’t get on the scoresheet but the winger carried the ball well and he was involved in most of his side’s attacking play. He’s got plenty of pace about him and a decent final ball.

Afterthoughts

Dundee St James are a club still finding their feet and things are going pretty well for them. After this result they find themselves 11th in a 19 team league and are above a lot of sides who have been round the block in junior football. I’m unsure of the clubs ambitions for this season but I imagine they’ll be pleased with how things are going. I’d like to see the Midland League split into two divisions as the gulf between the top few sides and the bottom sides is pretty considerable in terms of points.
As there’s currently no relegation and only a limited shot at Promotion it means most of these sides will be playing the same opponents each year with nowhere really to go.
It’d be interesting to hear the opinion of those involved.