Club 19/279 – Dalkeith Thistle

Match: Dalkeith Thistle v Tweedmouth Rangers
Date: 02/10/2021
Venue: Kings Park, Dalkeith
Competition: East of Scotland Conference A
Entry Fee: £7
Travel: £8.66
Miles completed today: 112
Total miles remaining: 41193

Groundhop weekend. The time of year where these nomadic and extremely keen punters make their way up from the depths of England to take in some Scottish games. An advantage of this is that everyone else gets to tag along too!
I learned a lot about groundhoppers in Dalkeith. There’s the type who walk round the pitch with a clicker to count the crowd, there’s the type that obsess over the teamlines, goalscorers and programme and those who (and I’m not joking) draw the ground with a birds eye view in a notepad with rough dimensions added.
I also learned that I don’t feel like one of these people. I have no critcism of groundhoppers, I believe everyone should be able to take in a game in whichever way they see fit. For me, it’s purely about the football and everything else is secondary.
I didn’t know much about Dalkeith apart from it’s near Edinburgh and Darren Fletcher hails from there.
This was the first of 3 games on the same day for me and Dalkeith’s opponents were Tweedmouth Rangers.

Preview

Dalkeith Thistle Last 5
DWWLW

Tweedmouth Rangers Last 5
LLLWW

Odds:
Dalkeith Thistle 4/6
Draw 21/5
Tweedmouth Rangers 2/1

Dalkeith have had a steady start to the season and had picked up some good results of late. If I’m honest I thought the odds on a home win would’ve been a little shorter. Tweedmouth have had an admittedly tough start but have picked up two wins on the bounce v Edinburgh South & Thornton Hibs.

The Ground

Kings Park is pretty easy to find – it’s inside a larger named Kings Park. There’s a car park round the side but I missed this completely and headed through the park itself catching 10 minutes of a youth rugby match in the process. The ground is a good set up – so much so that they’re SFA fully licensed and therefore qualify to compete in the senior Scottish Cup. There is one sheltered area behind the dugouts which can house a fair amount of spectators but the whole way around the ground is accessible. The groundhoppers were well accommodated with an array of badges on sale. The tunes over the tannoy felt like they came from my personal Spotify playlist and I’m going to make a claim at the end of this post regarding their steak pies.
Overall – what’s not to like?
I noticed some Bonnyrigg fans take advantage of the early kick off along with the vast array of groundhoppers. I reckon the crowd as around 300.

The Game

I’ll be completely honest and say that I didn’t expect much from Tweedmouth but they proved me wrong as they move the ball very well. They often beat Dalkeith’s press and whilst they didn’t always create a chance at the end of a move, they were always going to get a few playing this way. They took the lead twice in the first and both goals were initiated by composed passing in the midfield.
Dalkeith were arguably the better side and looked dangerous every time they attacked. Their forwards were stronger and more physical than the Rangers defence and it looked as though they could score with every attack. Still, Tweedmouth led at the break 2-1.
Nobody in the ground could’ve foreseen the second half’s events. A red card for an elbow (I didn’t see it, I’m going on others word) shortly after the break left the away side a man down and they suffered a catastrophic collapse afterwards.
Dalkeith hit 7 in the second half without reply and hit the bar 4 times throughout the match. On another day, it could’ve been more again.
There’s no doubt Dalkeith upped their game, but I’ve never seen a red card affect a team as much as it did here.
It was an excellent attacking display from the home side and the first time I’ve seen a team score 8 on my travels.
After a scare, Dalkeith were clear and deserved winners.

Full time: Dalkeith Thistle 8-2 Tweedmouth Rangers

MOTM

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

In the first half I was suitably impressed with the home side’s Burrows & Tweedmouth’s Cummings. Dalkeith had a host of players who played well, but for me the standout was Ryan Weston. Ryan scored two of the eight goals but had a hand in most of Thistle’s forward play. His pace and strength was devastating and the Tweedmouth back line couldn’t cope. I recall one instance where the defender had about 5 yards on him and still came off second best. His only disappointment will be not completing his hat trick before being subbed late on but if that’s your only grumble, you’ve had a pretty good afternoon!

Afterthoughts

Dalkeith were given a scare but on reflection performed much better than their opponents as the score line suggests. As a team they press intensely led by a manager who will accept no less as I heard from behind the dugout throughout the game. Their pace and power up top will be a handful for most teams and Tweedmouth learnt that the hard way.
They’re a friendly club and the groundhoppers were well accommodated.
It’s also worth mentioning that in Dalkeith’s last 5 games, there has been 35 goals. I’m not sure where else in Scotland you’ll find that. Entertainment value here for sure.

I always say that every club has a unique selling point and for Dalkeith I’m claiming that they have the best steak pie I’ve ever tasted at a football match. Don’t believe me? Head down and try it.