Premier Sports Cup Group D, Saturday 13th July
My second game of the 2024/25 season was actually a competitive fixture and not a pre season friendly, and it saw me make the six hour journey to just over the border in Bonnie Scotland for a Scottish Cup tie, known as the Premier Sports Cup, for a Group D clash between Annan Athletic & Inverness Caledonian Thistle. This was also only my second ever game in Scotland too, so that was nice as well.
This did also mean a 6am start too as me and two others, Martin Berry & Kerry Fairless, who I'd like to thank for allowing me to join them on this epic voyage, were heading there and back in the same day, madness for some, pure excitement for us!!! I can never turn down a trip to Scotland either, it's a beautiful part of the world as is the scenery you pass through to get there. Simply stunning, even if we drove through a lot of rain!!!
Annan is only twenty miles north of Carlisle, so it's only just over the border and just west of Gretna, and it's a lovely typical small Scottish settlement, and we found a nice café/chippy that served some nice grub, so after scoffing that for lunch we made our way to the ground, and what a lovely little ground it is too.
There is a lovely clubhouse with a bar, and also before you get to the turnstiles there is a portacabin which sells all the club merch you wish to want, entrance fee was either £18 for a seat in the very neat stand on one side of the pitch, or £16 to stand either behind the goal in the nice big covered terrace, or on the side on either side of the stand, if you are an away fan then you can either sit at one end of the stand, or stand behind the goal at the opposite end, which is an uncovered terrace.
The other side of the pitch has no stand as it is now just a three sided ground, apparently there used to be a terrace on that side too behind the dugouts, but since the upgrade to 3G, they got rid of that so that side is now just for the benches. Despite this, it's still a lovely little facility and more than enough for a club of Annan's size.
There is also a nice tea hut that serves quite a bit in terms of food and drink, and a nice area with picnic benches and tables for you to sit at and enjoy those, thankfully it had stopped raining by this point so we were able to do this without getting drenched, the rain did in fact stay away for the rest of the day so that was a bonus considering the forecast was for it to rain for the entire day. What do they know!!!
We managed to find a spot on the home side of the stand, and it wasn't a bad view, even if it was towards on end of the ground, but hey it was still a nice spot to watch a football match at, how would this contest go between two sides who would be playing in the same division this season, something that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.
That division would be the Scottish League One, the third tier of football in the country, Annan only just stayed in the division last season after drawing their huge relegation clash with second bottom Stirling Albion on the final day to survive on goal difference, whereas Inverness, who not that long ago won the Scottish Cup whilst being a Premiership side, fell out of the championship after finishing second bottom in it last season. They are now managed by Duncan Ferguson no less.
This was a new season though, and right now it was Scottish League Cup glory up for grabs and to see who could take the points and get their campaign off to a winning start, the first real chance fell to the hosts but saw an effort cleared off the line, before the visitors got in down the right but saw an effort dragged across goal and wide of the far post.
The deadlock was to be broken though just before the mid way point of the first period when Annan got their noses in front, it came after what looked like a free kick for the visitors in the middle of the park wasn't given, and after the ball was eventually played out to the right, Ryan Muir sent in a lovely cross for centre forward Tommy Goss to apply a lovely downward header into the far corner, cuing dance music being played over the PA system and the majority of the 427 crowd bursting into life to cheer their sides lead.
How would Caly Thistle respond? They should have levelled eight minutes after going behind when they got in behind the hosts defence, but keeper Jamie Smith, who had a brilliant game throughout, made a superb stop to deny them, before it was visiting keeper Jack Newman's turn to make a superb save to deny the hosts from going two goals ahead before the break.
So, Annan had a slender lead at the break, and tbh how they still had that lead early in the second half was beyond most of us as the visitors somehow failed to level when they struck the bar before the rebound struck the post and somehow stayed out, Jamie Smith then made another couple of decent stops to keep the visitors at bay, he really was having a superb game, as was hosts centre forward Goss, who almost scored a brilliant individual goal himself but was eventually denied at the near post by Newman.
Both sides were still playing on the front foot which was great to see, none of thos tippy tappy stuff you get at the top level, it was proper football this, Thistle missed another great chance when heading across goal and wide when it looked easier to score, Annan looked to put the game to bed themselves but were thwarted by a solid Thistle back line.
It had been a very good battle between two sides who looked to play football on the beautiful flat 3G surface, but that Goss goal in the 21st minute proved decisive in the end and handed Annan a terrific three points and a very hard earned win over their opponents who probably felt they should have got something from this game.
A very enjoyable visit though to the Galabank, a lovely club and hopefully they can go on and have a terrific campaign, I also wish Inverness all the best for the season ahead and hope their financial issues that have blighted them over the last few years do not see them fall further down the pyramid, so I wish them all the best too.
It was a superb day all round, a long one at that, as I eventually arrived home at 11pm, SEVENTEEN HOURS after leaving in the morning, but it was well worth it I can tell you, great company and a decent game too, what's not to love eh!!!
Full time Annan Athletic 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0
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