Club 101/285 – Tranent

Match: Tranent v East Kilbride
Date: 28/10/2023
Venue: Foresters Park, Tranent
Competition: Scottish Cup – 2nd Round
Entry Fee: £10
Travel: £15.40
Miles completed today: 126
Total miles remaining: 30188

If there’s one thing I’ve missed this season, it’s the Scottish Cup. The early rounds are my favourite and I love seeing fixtures that you’d never see anywhere else. With that being said, I’d chosen a game with familiar opponents. Two of the front runners of the Lowland League face off for a place in the 3rd round.
Both of these will fancy themselves to have a cup run but for one, the dream ends today.

People from Glasgow are Glaswegians and Dundee are Dundonians but people from Tranent are referred to as “belters”. I know you’re looking for the joke but there isn’t one, it’s bizarrely true.

At the start of the season, I predicted that these teams would be 1 and 2 in the league. In fact, I tipped Tranent to triumph but unbeaten East Kilbride are sitting pretty at the top. This is the cup of course, and anything can happen but Tranent have never actually beaten East Kilbride before…

There are giant killings to be had elsewhere in the cup but I’m here because I can’t call this one – and that’s exciting. Tranent have won 8 games on the spin but East Kilbride have lost 1 game since april, and that was to Hamilton in the Challenge Cup. No shame in that!

Odds:
Tranent 3/1
Draw 16/5
East Kilbride 7/10

The Ground

Foresters Park and the surrounding area has undergone huge changes in the last few years. If you look on Google Maps street view it’ll take you back to 2010 when you could easily saunter into the ground and the grass park next to it. As I turned up, this has been replaced by a 4G astro cage and the ground is now fenced off and not visible at all from the outside. Scotland has been battered with rain and the pitch looks a wee bit heavy but certainly playable, unlike some of the other games in the area that’d been called off. The covered stand has been there for years, but seating has been added to part of this and a disabled section has been built. It’s one of the most accessible grounds I’ve seen on my travels. The main feature is a massive wall that’s been painted in Tranent colours. It reads “Tranent F.C. Lie Forrit.
Lie Forrit is the town’s motto and trying to work out what it means has proved a nightmare. I found an article stating that fans had shouted this at Tranent FC for over 100 years but that poses more questions than answers.
The Tranent ‘ultras’ are among the best in non league. Singing and drumming non stop from about 20 minutes before kick off right until the final whistle. Top class support from the youngsters.

The best way to describe the ground is ‘aesthetically pleasing’ and there’s a big crowd in to watch. Oh, and of the 101 clubs I’ve visited Tranent have a top tier steak pie.

Are you ready to read about one of the craziest games of football I’ve seen?

The Game

I predicted a tight game. Turns out I was miles off it and so were East Kilbride. Mick Kennedy’s soldiers of love were simply blown away in the first half. As good as Tranent were, EK were desperately poor and their non existent defending led to the first goal. Sean Murphy played in Cammy Ross with a simple pass that seemed to completely bypass East Kilbride’s back line and Ross finished emphatically.
Scott McCrory-Irving put a decent ball in behind EK’s defence and Broque Watson, who played for EK assistant Simon Ferry’s Broomhill last season, came back to haunt him cutting inside before lashing the ball home. As I was taking a quick note of the second goal, Tranent scored a third – two in a minute!
Kieran Somerville got down the left and crossed into Ross who scored his second of the afternoon.
He then had his hat trick as he headed a Higginbotham free kick back across goal and into the top corner before adding his fourth and Tranent’s fifth after converting a Higginbotham corner.
5-0 at half time. Wow. Everything Tranent touched turned to gold but East Kilbride were wasteful in possession and second to every ball. It sounds like I’m being harsh but the scoreline was entirely deserved.
Surely EK would be better in the second half? Nope. Watson made it 6 shortly after the restart.
East Kilbride then had their first ‘real’ chance of the game when a short back pass was latched on to by Keir Samson but his shot was saved by Kelby Mason in the Tranent goal.
The final goal of the game was the best. Higginbotham cut inside at the edge of the box and wrapped one over the keeper and into the top corner, bar and in.

Final score: Tranent 7-0 East Kilbride

MOTM

Do you really need to ask? Cammy Ross scored 4, and before half time. A 1 on 1 finish, header and two close range finishes. I’m fairly sure he scored every shot he attempted. Lethal!

Summary

The ground deserves more of a mention than I’ve given it, but Tranent have beaten East Kilbride SEVEN-NIL! One of the Tranent amaetur team, who were playing on the astro next door, wandered in part way through the second half. He had East Kilbride on his coupon and the look of astonishment when he found out Tranent were 7 up probably summed up how we all felt – but they deserved it.
I’ve seen EK play a few times and they were desperately poor by their standards but Tranent were absolutely magnificent and this’ll go down as one of the finest results in their history, no doubt about it.
For the pie, the performance and occasion, this was a wonderful trip and the Big T are simply massive.
Good luck in the next round troops!