This morning as the senior (?) team (the ones that get paid to play) headed to Airdrie for the cup final the over 50s squad headed to Dundee for round 2 of this year’s walking football league. A condensed squad this month due in part to the cup final and partly due to injuries.

We sat out the first round of games.
Montrose 0-1 St Andrews & East Neuk
Arbroath 2-0 Dunfermline Dynamos
Fife Wanderers 0-5 St James
Dundee Utd 3-0 Saints in the Community

Our first game this month was against St Andrews and East Neuk. Missing the first round of games the team came into this one cold. And if you’ve ever been in the RPC Dundee you’ll understand why. A nervy first six minutes with Raith creating, and missing, many chances we finally got the breakthrough goal in the seventh minute. A move started by Martin Page in the Raith goal with every outfield player passing the ball ends with a through ball from Kevin Henderson to Scott Jackson and Scott slotting past the keeper for our first goal of the day. Two minutes later Willie Carroll steps out of defence and fires a vicious shot goal wards that rocks the crossbar. Raith continue to pin St Andrews back but it’s not until the fifteenth minute that an interception from the St Andrews defence allows Scott Jackson the chance and he bags his second of the day.

Crieff Juniors 2-3 Dundee Utd
Raith Rovers 2-0 St Andrews & East Neuk
Carnoustie Panmure 1-1 Dunfermline Dynamos
Montrose 1-4 St James

Another quick break for the team
Arbroath 1-1 Fairfield
Fife Wanderers 0-2 Tayport
Saints in the Community 0-1 St Andrews & East Neuk
Crieff Juniors 3-0 Dunfermline Dynamos

Next up we played St James. In the third minute a slick passing move between Haig Hutchinson, John Wylie and Kevin Henderson finishes with Kevin scoring his first of the campaign and Raith go one nil up. The next six minutes see Raith press St James hard stifling any chance of fluid play from last year’s champions. Then in the tenth minute a momentary lapse allows St James to get a man free on their left and he shoots past Pagey to bring the teams level. The game settles again into a tight battle with very few chances to either side until a carbon copy move has a St James player one on one with the keeper until Willie Carroll brings him down and the ref awards a penalty. The penalty is converted and despite pressing hard for the remaining minutes the match ends 2-1 to St James.

Raith Rovers 1-2 St James
Carnoustie Panmure 0-0 Fairfield
Montrose 0-1 Tayport
Arbroath 4-1 Fife Wanderers

Our final game of the day was against Carnoustie Panmure and we really needed to get something from this game to stay in the hunt. In three minutes John Wylie plays a one two with Scott Jackson and slots the ball past the Carnoustie keeper for a great start to the game. However that lead lasts less than a minute as Carnoustie equalise almost straight from the kick off. The game ebbs and flows backwards and forwards with both teams squandering chances but Raith looking decidedly more tired. And then disater in the thirteenth minute as Carnoustie score and go 2-1 up. Raith attempt to press for the final minutes but were unable to convert the pressure to a goal.

Dundee Utd 1-1 Dunfermline Dynamos
Carnoustie Panmure 2-1 Raith Rovers
Creiff Juniors 5-3 Saints in the Community
Fairfield 2-0 Tayport

And so we finish the first quarter of the league mid table and still in touch with the top of the table. The big lesson learned from today that this is a squad game and we need, if not the full ten man squad, at least a squad of eight to be competitive.