Competitions

Raith Rovers over 50s Glasgow Cup Tournament: Match Highlights and Results

Raith Rovers over 50s made their third trip of the year to Glasgow on 14th July to take part in Glasgow Life’s Glasgow Cup. There was a bit of a last minute change when we arrived. Expecting to play five 15 minute games we were informed that, due to Dundee East pulling out late on Friday, we would instead be playing in a five team group and therefore playing four 20 minute games.

Back Row: Willie Carroll, Ritchie Malcolm, Ally Grant, Keith Jenkin, Malcolm (Pie) Wilson, Graham Allan
Front Row: Colin (Titch) Hardie, Charles Doherty, John Wylie

Due to the rearranged fixture set we were first up. A new opponent for us today in the shape of Ayr United. The game started well with Titch finding the side netting in the first minute. More pressing from Raith to no effect until the 6th minute when John Wylie has a shot saved. A minute later some good work down the right sees the play switched to Willie on his own to the left of the goal. With only the keeper to beat he blasts the ball over the bar. From the restart Ayr find a striker free in our half and he beats Keith low to his right. 0-1 Raith continue to press but fail to find the target. In the 13th minute a vicious slide tackle by an Ayr player brings down Ritchie in his own defensive area for which he is rightly booked. In 15 minutes a slick passing move down the left ends with the ball at John’s feet and he beats the keeper to tie the game 1-1. Raith go all out to win the game piling shots on the Ayr goal but to no avail. In the 20th minute with time running out Ayr get a free kick in their own defensive area. They make a mistake and in their confusion pass the ball to Raith and Titch slams the ball past the keeper to win the game 2-1.
And so continues our slow opening at tournaments. Fortunately this time we won but it should have been by a bigger margin and not in the last seconds.

The next two games see Winstanley Walkers, from Wigan, beat Hearts 3-1 and St Anthony’s Whites beat Ayr 6-0.

For our second game of the day we play Winstanley Walkers. The game starts well with a John Wylie shot that goes for a corner in the 4th minute. However within the minute a Winstanley player turns Ritchie and shoots low past Keith 0-1. In the 8th minute a wild kick at Titch from a Winstanley defender wide on the right is penalised with a penalty. John Wylie steps up but puts the ball just wide of the post and the score remains the same. Two minutes later a shot from the left beats Keith low again 0-2. In the 13th minute the game is effectively over when a double tackle on Willie sees him end up on the ground. The ref gives nothing and Winstanley score 0-3. Straight from the kick-off we move the ball up the pitch and Titch scores from the corner of the box 1-3. From then on Winstanley play possession football and ration Raith to very few shots or even touches of the ball and walk out 1-3 winners.

We have two games until the mid session break which see Hearts beat St Anthony’s 3-1 and Winstanley beat Ayr 2-1.

After the break we’re up against St Anthony’s Whites. We get off to a quick start scoring within the first 20 seconds after a through ball to Titch 0-1. It’s short lived as St Ants get a free kick and score from it to tie things up 1-1. Two goals and not a minute played. The game swings both ways without any more scoring until the 9th minute when a pass straight through the Raith team finishes with a St Ants player scoring 1-2. The game flows back and forth with no goals until the 18th minute when St Ants get a third and run out 1-3 winners.

Our chances of qualifying are still there but they are slim. But they soon disappear as St Ants beat Winstanley 2-0 after Hearts beat Ayr 5-1. This leaves St Ants on 9 points with + 8 goals and Winstanley on 9 points with +3 goals. We’re on 3 points so can’t progress but Hearts are on 6 points with + 4 goals so a win will see them through and Winstanley out.

With Hearts needing only to win we’re expecting a hard game but we take the lead in 4 minutes when Titch scores off a pass from John. In 6 minutes Hearts equalise with a shot from just inside our half but John Wylie regains our lead with a shot from right in front of the Heart’s goal 2-1. In 8 minutes John’s in the action again. This time he gives away a penalty with a tackle in the penalty area. Hearts score to even up the game again 2-2. In 11 minutes it’s John on the scoreboard again when a passing move between Titch and Ally finds him with the goal at his mercy 3-2. The “Wylie” show continues with his hat trick in the 15th minute when he gets past two defenders and beats the keeper again 4-2. Hearts manage a late consolation in 18 minutes and the game ends with neither team going through. John tries to claim the match ball at the end of the game but he is denied as it would most likely end up down at Inverteil Bridge again the following day.

In reflection two wins and two defeats is not too bad. However if we had played the way we played in the last game in all three games it could have been a different story.

Congrats go to fellow group mates Winstanley Walkers who went on to win the competition. Hope they grateful that we beat Hearts and enabled them to go through and win.

Exciting Matches and Fair Play: Raith Rovers at Walking Football Scotland’s Scottish Cup

Saturday the 22nd June saw Raith’s over 50s travel through to Glasgow Green for this year’s Walking Football Scotland’s Scottish Cup. This year they were joined by some of our younger players who were playing in the non-competitive Festival. An ideal baptism into tournament play and playing with real refs. Scores weren’t counted with the focus being on fun and playing in the right spirit and ethos of walking football.

Both squads

The main event saw the team in a reduced group of only five teams. Glenbuck and Douglas Valley, St Anthony’s, Dumbarton and Giffnock which, in turn, meant twenty minute games.

Back Row: Andy Allison, Willie Carroll, Davey Ramsay, Keith Jenkin, Ritchie Malcolm
Front row: John Wylie, Charles Doherty, Ian McMillan (Chillo), Colin Hardie (Titch), Haig Hutchison

Our group kicked off with with Dumbarton playing Giffnock with Giffnock running out as quite easy 3-0 winners. And next up was Raith V Glenbuck And Douglas Valley.

The game started well enough for Raith with numerous shots, on and off target, in the opening 4 minutes but with no ultimate end product. In the fifth minute Glenbuck were penalised for a third running offense and John Wylie stepped up to take it. The keeper guessed right and saved and less than a minute later the tables were turned and Raith were penalised for the third time and it was a Glenbuck penalty which was expertly saved by Keith Jenkin. The next ten minutes followed the same pattern of Raith raining shots in the direction of the Glenbuck goal with many not hitting the (small) target or being saved by the keeper. However the breakthrough goal game in 15 minutes when John Wylie found Titch with an inch perfect pass and Titch, finally, found the net. The game continued in the same vein for the final five minutes with Raith attacking and shooting and failing to find the back of the net.
Glenbuck and Douglas Valley 0-1 Raith Rovers

We sat out the next two rounds which saw St Anthony’s beat Dumbarton 2-1 and Giffnock beating Glenbuck and Douglas Valley 4-0.

And to our second game, experienced and streetwise St Anthony’s. Ant’s take an early lead in the first minute with a free kick passed to one of their forwards who backs in to the defence lays the ball back while spinning the defender blindsiding our keeper. In any other game it’s a defensive free kick but the ref disagrees and it’s a goal. The teams trade penalties in the 8th and 9th minutes with neither converting and a final failed penalty in the 15th. Raith press hard in the final minutes but St Ant’s hold on to win 1-0.
St Anthony’s 1-0 Raith

The final game before the mid session break sees Dumbarton beat Glenbuck and Douglas Valley 5-1. Then after the break St Ant’s and Giffnock play out a 1-1 draw which means we realistically need to win our remaining two games to progress to the next round.

And we’re on. A cagey start to the game sees Dumbarton take the lead in the 8th minute with a penalty for three running fouls. A second penalty is awarded four minutes later when the ref adjudges Ritchie to have been in the box despite the Dumbarton player leaning in to Ritchie and both player being side by side. It seemed like we weren’t getting any breaks. However we’re awarded a penalty for three running fouls a minute later which Haig takes and scores. We’re pushing Dumbarton hard and they’re penalised for another three running fouls three minutes later. Haig steps up and beats the keeper again. However our joy is short-lived as the ref decides that his standing foot had moved and disallows the penalty. Definitely not getting the breaks. Despite pressing and getting some shots off we fail to score and finish losing 2-1.
Dumbarton 2-1 Raith

The penultimate game had St Ants running out 3-1 winners against Glenbuck and Douglas Valley which leaves only the final game of the group stage.

And so to our last game. Nothing to play for except pride for us but a win for Giffnock would win them the group on goal difference. In the sixth minute we’re awarded a penalty after a third Giffnock running offense. Chillo steps up, keeps his standing foot firmly planted and beats the keeper. 0-1 Some slick passing between Chillo and John in the 14th minute. 0-2 In the nineteenth minute with time running out Titch turns on the edge of the box and beats the keeper. 0-3 It’s looking like a second clean sheet for Keith when with the last kick of the ball Giffnock score to finish the game 1-3.
Our last game of the day and we finally played like we could. Too late but good to know we can still beat one of Scotland’s best teams.

Meanwhile…..

Back row: Charles Doherty, Ally Grant, Ryan Ramsay, John Ross, Graham Allan
Front row: George Lindsay, Ross Paterson, Ian Farmer, Grant Buchan

Over at the non-competitive festival our “youngsters” are enjoying their football and banter with the other teams. They were first up and opening the Festival against today’s sponsors CHSS followed by games against Universal Wanderers, Dumbarton FC, Celtic FC Foundation Parkinsons, Stenhousemuir 24′ and Fort William. The team had a great day out experiencing tournament play, playing with refs but without the pressure of having to win.

To finish off the day the Festival team were awarded the Peter Collins Fair Play trophy. Matt Ramsay from Walking football Scotland said:

Walking Football Scotland were delighted to present the Peter Collins Fair Play Award to Raith Rovers for their outstanding support to the ethos of the game and conveyed true values that the late Peter Collins would have been proud of himself.

Unfortunately most of the team had left for the journey across country when we heard this so only four of the team were available (and in civvies) for the presentation by Rose Reilly. They had come to play and have fun never thinking about winning anything.

Copyright. Walking Football Scotland

On returning to our Monday night session Willie Carroll, East Region Over 50s assistant manager, presented the rest of the team with their medals and the trophy.

WFS East League Premiership 2024 Round 2

After last week’s disappointment in Glasgow we headed up to Dundee for Round 2 of this year’s league. Today we’re locking horns with Arbroath (last year’s champions), Oriam (last year’s runners up) Linlithgow Rose (last weekend’s Glasgow Trophy winners) and St James (perennial Premiership contenders).

Back row: Ritchie Malcolm, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Harry Gilfillan, Willie Carroll, Davie Ramsay
Front row: Kevin Henderson, John Wylie, Charles Doherty, Colin (Titch) Hardie, Haig Hutchison

Up first are Arbroath. We start well with a well worked goal with some slick passing between Kev and John allowing ‘Titch’ to get free on the right and fire the ball passed the keeper from a tight angle. 1-0. The lead is short-lived though as within two minutes we’re pinged for a third running foul and Arbroath are awarded a penalty which they score to tie things up. 1-1 However two minutes later it’s our turn as Arbroath turn sinners and we’re awarded a penalty. John Wylie steps up to slot it passed the keeper like he does so often but this time the keeper saves and the score remains the same. In the eleventh minute a goal-bound drive from Titch looks to have the keeper beat but he stretches out a hand and brings out a brilliant one handed save. A minute later though Titch manages to beat him again. Finding space on the right he shoots from a tight angle and beats the keeper. 2-1. From now on it’s game management, keeping the ball and starving Arbroath of any possession until the ref blows the final whistle.

Luncarty FC 1-1 Hearts
Oriam 1-2 Dundee East CSC
Raith Rovers 2-1 Arbroath – Maroon
St James 3-0 Tayport – Reds

Next up we face St James. We start well again opening the scoring in the second minute. John Wylie has the ball in a crowded corner but manages to flick it out to Chillo at the corner of the box, who controls it with his chest and fires past the keeper. 1-0. It’s tight for the next four minutes until Ritchie Malcolm steps up and beats the keeper with his trademark side of the foot screamer. 2-0. Two minutes later St James get back into the game as we’re pinged for a third running offense and they score with their penalty. 2-1. There’s very few chances after this as we again try to play the game out again. Keeping possession and frustrating St James for the last five minutes.

Linlithgow Rose CFC 1-1 Dundee East CSC
Luncarty 1-1 Arbroath – Maroon
Oriam 2-0 Tayport – Reds
Raith Rovers 2-1 St James

Our third game sees us playing Oriam, who we haven’t played since we met them in the final of their trophy in 2021. For the third time in a row, we start well. Titch gets the ball wide on the right in the second minute and, from distance, beats the keeper. 1-0. In four minutes, Oriam let us know they’re still in the game with a well taken shot that hits the post. A minute later, a mistake by Ritchie in midfield lets the Oriam striker through, but he fails to beat Harry in our goal, and the score remains the same. A minute later, however, Ritchie makes amends with a great shot. The keeper saves but only parries it out, and there is John Wylie standing at the front of the box to slap it home. The rest of the game Raith resort to playing keep ball passing about smoothly but unable to break down Oriam’s defence any further.
One thing to note in this game. No running fouls for either side.

Oriam 0-2 Raith Rovers
Linlithgow Rose CFC 0-0 Tayport – Reds
Luncarty 1-1 St James
Hearts 1-0 Arbroath

We don’t get off to a quick start in our final game. A lot of effort goes in to marshalling Linlithgow’s striker as he looks to get beyond our backline. The team defends well until the tenth minute when, trying to reach a ball in front of the Linlithgow goal, Titch is pinged for running. It’s a third offence so it’s a penalty to Rose. They score and for the first time today we go behind. 0-1. However we’re not behind for long as two minutes later the Rose keeper passes the ball directly to Davie Ramsay and, not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he skelps it past him to level. 1-1. There’s not much more direct action and the game finishes 1-1.

Dundee East CSC 3-1 Tayport – Reds
Hearts 4-4 St James
Linlithgow Rose CFC 1-1 Raith Rovers
Luncarty 3-3 Oriam

Final two games:
Arbroath Maroon 1-2 Dundee East CSC
Hearts 4-1 Linlithgow Rose CFC

And so we end the day unbeaten (over both rounds) and move up the table from fourth to second. All in all a good day out.

WFS East League Premiership 2024 Round 1

A new year and a new season sees Raith Rovers over 50s back where we believe we belong in the top tier of walking football in Scotland. Today we see ourselves playing the two teams that were promoted with us plus two teams from last year’s Premiership. We start with fellow promotees Dundee East (previously Dundee United) followed by Tayport, the also promoted team Luncarty before finishing against last year’s third placed team Hearts.

Back row: Neil Galloway, Davie Ramsay, Harry Gilfillan, Ritchie Malcolm, Willie Carroll (coach), John Wylie
Front row: Haig Hutchison, Kev Henderson, Colin ‘Titch’ Hardie, Ian ‘Chillo’ McMillan

With new rules around contact and walking this year, teams and refs are going to take some time adapting and so this proved in the first game with a lot of offences(?) committed by both teams that would have gone unpunished last year. A very stop-start, non-flowing game with a lot of whistling started well for Raith with a penalty for three not walking offenses going against Dundee in the first three minutes. After a bit of discussion John Wylie stepped aside for ‘Chillo’ to take the ‘no-step’ kick and score. In five minutes Raith had the ball in the net again with ‘Titch’ taking a step past his defender and shooting high past the keeper. However the ref had a different idea and adjudged the two steps he had taken to be not walking and awarded a penalty to Dundee which was scored. A couple of further goal scoring opportunities for Titch came to nothing and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Arbroath 3-1 St James
Dundee East 1-1 Raith
Hearts 3-0 Oriam
Linlithgow Rose 1-1 Luncarty

Our second game of the day turned out to be a very tight affair with Tayport. Despite raining shots on the Tayport goal from all of our forward and midfield players and even Ritchie getting in on the act we were unable to find any way past the Tayport defense or keeper. And with Tayport having no luck either this game ended 0-0.
Tayport 0-0 Raith
St James 0-3 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 2-3 Luncarty
Arbroath 2-0 Oriam

The third round of matched see us having a break and a chance to watch our next opponents before we play.
St James 3-1 Oriam
Tayport 0-1 Luncarty
Arbroath 2-0 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 0-2 Hearts

Next up we have fellow promoted side Luncarty. in our two games last season we came away with a one goal win and a draw so it promises to be a tight game. The game starts well for Raith with sustained pressure leading to quick corners in the second minute after shots from Kev and Neil. And in the fourth minute the pressure pays off with Kev passing from midfield to Davie. Davie turns and shoots and beats the keeper for a 1-0 lead. There’s more sustained pressure from Raith without any end product until the twelfth minute when a through ball finds a Luncarty player in midfield. He miss-controls the ball but manages to get a cracking shot off which beats Harry low to his right and the game is tied. A strange incident in the 14th minute sees the ref award a corner to Luncarty after the ball comes off the post and back into Harry’s hands. Puzzled looks all around from both teams but the ref is insistent. Sportingly Luncarty take the corner and put the ball out of play. And with that the scoring is finished. 1-1
Tayport 0-2 Hearts
Raith 1-1 Luncarty
Oriam 2-2 Linlithgow Rose
St James 2-2 Dundee East

And so to our final game of the day against Hearts. We’ve played Hearts a couple of times before, most notably beating them in the Scottish Cup final in 2019, but this is our first league encounter. Hearts start lively forcing Harry to save low to his left in the first minute. In the second minute John Wylie finds Titch with a precision pass but the keeper does well to save. Raith continue to press and a pass from Davie finds Titch again but once more the keeper makes a save. In the fifth minute an intercepted pass in midfield is fed to Titch and this time he manages to finally beat the keeper and Raith go one up. There’s a lot of back and forth for the next five minutes with the Hearts frontman getting penalised more than once for backing in. In ten minutes Raith increase the lead with an intricate passing move from the right flank as Titch finds Davie who slides the ball to John who hits it past the keeper. There is no more scoring in the game and Raith finish the day unbeaten.
Raith 2-0 Hearts
Tayport 1-1 Arbroath

And so we end our first day back in the “big” league in the top half of the table and unbeaten. After the first game we adapted pretty well to the new interpretation and enforcement of the rules so it all bodes well for a good season.

Christmas Cup 2023

Raith Rovers Walking Football regained their Christmas Cup with a comprehensive win in the final.

Raith Rovers beat Fairfield in the final of their annual Christmas Cup on Sunday (16/11/2023). Both teams had won their qualifying groups with Fairfield progressing to beat Hibernian and Raith beating Fife Wanderers in the semi finals to set up a repeat of last year’s final.

In Group 1, after an opening 2-2 draw Hibs and Raith, battled it out until the last round of games.  With both teams on 7 points Hibs needed to match Raith’s result and not give up a 2 goal superior goal difference to take the group.  However a 2-1 reverse to Dunfermline Dynamos and a Raith 2-0 win over Fife Wanderers saw Raith top the group and Hibs, in their first competitive tournament go through to the semis in second place.

In Group 2 Fairfield and the high scoring Fife Wanderers 2 progressed to the semis.  Fairfield swept through the group unbeaten while Wanderers only lost to Fairfield and managed to score 4 goals in two of their games.

The semis saw Fairfield take on Hibs and Raith, Fife Wanderers 2.  A tiring Hibs team fell to a vastly more experienced Fairfield team in a tight match which ended in a 2-1 victory to last year’s winners.  In the other semi another tight scoreline saw Fife Wanderers 2 lose to Raith 3-2 to set up a repeat of last year’s final.

In the final Raith scored early and then built up a 4-0 lead before a late consolation for Fairfield resulted in a 4-1 win for the Rovers and the cup returning to Starks Park.

Trophy presentation.
Scott Jackson, chairman of Kirkcaldy & Dysart FC, presents the trophy to Raith Captain Ian McMillan.

Finally a big thanks to all of the teams, players and officials who turned out and especially to the referees without whom we wouldn’t be able to have competitions like this.

Falkirk WF
RRCF

WFS East League Championship 2023 Round 4

And so we reach the final round of fixtures in this year’s league. We come into this round in third place in the league. Four goals ahead of Carnoustie Panmure in fourth and one point behind Luncarty FC in second. Dundee Utd CT sit in first place seven points ahead of us in third place and catching them is going to be a big ask. But we play them first today so have a chance to take something out of their lead but we really need other results to go our way as well. However we receive news that Saints in the Community are unable to field a team today so the four teams they will be playing will be awarded a 3-0 win. This will help us in our points gathering but unfortunately Saints are also due to play Dundee Utd and Luncarty so it’s a double edged sword.

Back Row: Haig Hutchison, Stephen MacCrimmon, Ritchie Malcolm, Charles Doherty
Front Row: Mikey Curtis, John Wylie, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Keith Jenkin

And so to the games. First up Dundee Utd CT and we really need to take the points here. The game starts well for us with pressure bringing a shot from Ritchie in the second minute that goes close. In five minutes a tackle from behind in the penalty area sees Chillo go down and the ref awards us a penalty. Dundee Utd protest vociferously (must be something in the Dundee water!) which ends up with their team captain, John, receiving a yellow card. After all the kerfuffle John Wylie steps up (just one step) and fires the ball behind the keeper and we have a one nil lead. From the restart United play the ball up the pitch and bring out a great save from Keith. In the eleventh minute Chillo blocks a cross from the corner and the United player seems to stumble. The ref awards a penalty and, despite our reservations, we accept the ref’s decision. A minute later a shot from the United left goes wide and the ref adjudges Keith has touched it before it crossed the line and awards a corner. From the corner Mikey clears the ball but his foot is adjudged to be hanging in the box so it’s another penalty to United which they score again. With three minutes to go it’s backs to the wall time for United as Raith press hard to try and equalise but to no avail and the game finishes two penalties to one for United.
Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Raith Rovers.

Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Raith Rovers
Dundee FC 3-0 Saints in the Community
Carnoustie 1-1 Tayport Yellow
Highland Utd 1-1 Montrose

So after the first round of matches Dundee Utd increase their lead at the top and Carnoustie move into second place on goals scored.

And so to our second game against now second place Carnoustie Panmure. It’s a tight game as expected with neither team giving much away and there is little to note in the first ten minutes except a lot of effort and no reward for either team. In the last five minutes Raith up the pace with first a shot from Stephen MacCrimmon and then a shot from Ritchie going close. In the fourteenth minute Mikey Curtis steps up with a shot followed by a John Wylie shot that goes for a corner. With time running out Raith are awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Carnoustie switch off and Mikey takes it quickly passing back to John Wylie who lets rip and smashes the ball past the keeper for a one nil lead with seconds to go.
Carnoustie Panmure 0-1 Raith Rovers

Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Luncarty
Dundee FC 1-2 Montrose
Carnoustie Panmure 0-1 Raith Rovers
Tayport Yellow 4-0 Highland Utd

And the table changes again. Dundee Utd stay at the top and are now un-catchable but we move into second, relegating Carnoustie and Luncarty to third and fourth respectively.


We sit the next game out as we are due to play Saints in the Community and are awarded a 3-0 win.
Dundee FC 0-1 Highland Utd
Carnoustie Panmure 2-1 Luncarty
Tayport Yellow 2-2 Montrose
Saints in the Community 0-3 Raith Rovers


With Saints due to play two fixtures in the last two rounds and that leaving Dundee Utd and Carnoustie free during the fourth round their game now replaces the United Saints game.
Remaining walkover matches:
Saints in the Community 0-3 Dundee Utd CT
Saints in the Community 0-3 Luncarty


So we go into the last match against Highland Utd knowing that only a win will secure second place in the league. A draw and a big result for Luncarty and/or Carnoustie Panmure could mix up second, third and fourth places.
The game starts brightly for Raith with a Ritchie Malcolm shot bringing off a good save from the keeper for a corner. A few more great saves from the keeper until the third minute when John Wylie collects a pass from Ritchie and finally beats the keeper for 1-0. Three minutes later it’s 2-0 when Chillo is set free by Stevie and finds the net. 2-0. In eight minutes we are awarded a penalty for three running offences and Chillo steps up to take it. And smashes it off the post!!! With five minutes to go we put the game beyond Highland’s reach when after a mix up in defence the ball lands at Stevie’s feet and he puts it between the keeper’s legs for 3-0. With two minutes to go Haig gets the ball in midfield and instead of passing it to Charles who is free at the corner of the box smashes it from 15 yards past the keeper for 4-0. With time running out Mikey Curtis takes the ball down the right wing and crosses. John Wylie steps over the ball and it lands at Charles’ feet. He controls the ball and places it low to the keeper’s right to round off the game 5-0.

Tayport Yellow 2-1 Dundee FC
Raith Rovers 5-0 Highland Utd
Montrose 2-4 Luncarty FC
Carnoustie Panmure 2-0 Dundee Utd CT

And so we end the league in second place and secure promotion to the Premiership. Back where we belong?

Congratulations to Dundee Utd CT for winning the league almost unbeaten and a huge thank you to all of the other teams in the league for what was, for the most part, a good season played in the right way. A huge thank you as well to all of the Raith squad for their commitment and for digging deep at times in all games and competitions this season.

One more competition to go this year, which we’ll have details of soon, the Raith Rovers Christmas Cup. Hope to see as many of our friends from the East League as possible.

WFS East League Championship 2023 Round 3

Sunday 27th August saw the penultimate round of fixtures in this year’s WFS East League Championship. At the beginning of the day Raith were sitting in fourth place, two points behind one of today’s opponents Luncarty FC. And with the three teams above Raith being guaranteed at least 3 points before a ball was kicked it was imperative we got as many points as possible today to keep up our challenge.

Back: Ritchie Malcolm, Haig Hutchison, Scott Jackson, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Harry Gilfillan
Front: Stephen MacCrimmon, Kevin Henderson, Charles Doherty, Keith Jenkin

First up we played Tayport Yellows who we beat earlier in the season 3-1. The game starts well for Raith as Haig passes in from the corner to Kev who coolly shoots past the keeper. In two minutes more Raith pressure leads to a shot from Stevie which hits the post and rolls out. Tayport have their first shot on goal in the third minute when some slack play at the back brings out a great save from Keith in goals. In eleven minutes a shot from distance from Ritchie is saved by the keeper but it’s not long until Haig gets on the scoresheet with a deflected shot which beats the keeper. With the game coming to a conclusion the referee blows for a third running offense against Tayport and awards Raith a penalty. Scott Jackson steps up to take it and, with almost the last touch of the game, shoots wide.
Raith 2-0 Tayport

Saints in the Community 0-0 Carnoustie Panmure
Raith 2-0 Tayport Yellows
Montrose 0-2 Dundee Utd CT
Luncarty FC 1-0 Dundee

Our second game is against Luncarty FC and one which we really need to win as we look to leapfrog them in the league. The game seems to start well for Raith with a shot from Stevie in the second minute but it was well saved by the keeper. However Luncarty head straight up the pitch and the referee harshly adjudges Chillo to have fouled one of their players in the penalty area and awards a penalty. Luncarty score despite Keith getting down well and getting near the ball. The game turns round in the fifth minute when an exquisite ball through the defence finds Chillo on his own in front of the keeper and he enthusiastically beats the keeper for the equaliser. Within a minute it’s 2-1 as Chillo turns provider this time passing to Stevie who beats the keeper. In the eighth minute the ref calls a second apparent running foul on Kev and a third for the team and awards Luncarty another penalty. This time the penalty goes low to Keith’s right and he gets a hand to it and saves. From here on it was possession football from Raith. Slick accurate passing and use of the keeper when we had the ball and hard pressing without the ball closing the game and Luncarty out.
Luncarty FC 1-2 Raith

Montrose 0-0 Carnoustie Panmure
Luncarty FC 1-2 Raith
Tayport Yellow 0-0 Saints in the Community
Dundee Utd CT 3-0 Dundee

Next up was an under-strength Dundee team who had done well to have a team for the day due to illness and injury. The first eight minutes of the game were largely uneventful bar a shot from Ritchie that went wide. In eight minutes a through pass to Kev allows him to shoot past the keeper for our opening goal. A minute later another pass finds Stevie free in front of goals and he scores to double his tally for the day (and the season). In the twelfth minute Haig hits the post but gets himself on the scoresheet within a minute to make it 3-0. In the thirteenth minute my notes say there was a good pass back to the keeper from Charles so it must have been good for it to have been written down. With the game coming to a close, a shot from Ritchie brings out a great save from Gavin in the Dundee goal to keep the score at 3-0.
Raith 3-0 Dundee

Dundee Utd CT 4-2 Tayport Yellows
Montrose 1-1 Saints in the Community
Raith 3-0 Dundee

And so we were on to the last game of the day against Montrose. With both teams having played three straight games before this, it was never going to be a classic. Both teams huffed and puffed but did little to test either keeper until in eight minutes a superb shot from distance on the Montrose right beat Keith for Montrose to take the lead. In the tenth minute though a third running offense by Montrose gave Raith a penalty which, after some discussion, Haig stepped up to dispatch past the keeper. The remaining five minutes brought a lot of Raith pressure but no goals and the game finished 1-1.
Raith 1-1 Montrose

Luncarty FC 2-1 Tayport Yellows
Raith 1-1 Montrose
Dundee 0-1 Carnoustie Panmure

And so we ended the day a point behind Luncarty but a place further up the league as Carnoustie Panmure drop from second to fourth. Our final games of the season in October see us play against top of the league Dundee Utd CT, the two teams directly below us in the league, Carnoustie Panmure and Saints in the Community, and newcomers Highland United. Realistically we need to get full points if we are to bridge the seven point gap to the top or the one point gap to second place and also keep Carnoustie Panmure from leapfrogging us.

But, “If we need ten…….”

Glasgow Cup 2023

The over 50s set off from Kirkcaldy this morning heading to Glasgow for this year’s Glasgow Cup with an unusually full squad. The group ahead of us included: Glenbuck &Douglas Valley, who we haven’t played before; Drumchapel United Reds, who we last played in last year’s Scottish Cup; Arbroath, from the East Premiership; Park Villa, who we played in this year’s Scottish cup and The Ants, a late addition from the St Anthony’s programme who were filling in for a late pull out.

Back row: Willie Carroll, Stephen MacCrimmon, Davey Ramsay, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, George Lindsay, Garry Cochrane
Front row: Haig Hutchison, Kev Henderson, Charles Doherty, Ritchie Malcolm

We sit out the first two games which see Drumchapel Utd beat Arbroath 1-0 and The Ants beat Park Villa 6-1.
And so to our first game against Glenbuck & Douglas Valley. We were desperate not to continue our competitive form with a slow start however we found ourselves struggling to score. Mainly due to the exploits of Glenbuck’s goalkeeper who was playing out of his skin. However a loose defensive ball was pounced on in the seventh minute by Kev and he shot past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Within a minute we were 2-0 up when the team pressed hard on the defense allowing Kev to again fire past the keeper. We were unable to stretch the lead however due to some great saves and finished the game winning 2-0.

The next group game saw Arbroath beat Park Villa 4-0.
We were next up against Drumchapel Utd. The game was pretty unremarkable except for a penalty given to Drumchapel for a foul in the penalty zone. However the Drumchapel penalty taker fired his shot wide of Garry’s right hand post. Both teams pushed for a winning goal but accuracy was in short supply in this game and it ended 0-0.

Our next game is against Arbroath who currently play in the league above us. However before we played them The Ants beat Glenbuck 4-0. Our game against Arbroath went as our games against them normally go. Tight! Both teams cancelling each other out. So much so that when Haig played a corner in from the right for Kev to score in the eleventh minute Arbroath equalised within a minute with a cracking shot from midfield. However with time running out in the last minute Stevie sets off after a ball down the right wing and cuts it back to Davey standing almost on the penalty spot who puts the ball past the keeper for a 2-1 victory.

There are two more games before we have a break for the refs. Glenbuck & Douglas Valley beat Park Villa 1-0 and The Ants beat Drumchapel 2-1. This leaves St Ants, who on closer inspection are St Anthony’s first team not a “filling in” team, lead the group on 9 points with ourselves in second on 7 points and Drumchapel on 4.

After the break Arbroath beat Glenbuck 2-0 and then we were up against “The Ants”. Things start badly for us against the team we lost on penalties to in the Scottish Cup semi as an Ants player loses his marker in the first minute and finds the goal to lead 0-1. In six minutes “The Ants” double their lead and in the tenth minute it’s 0-3 as a deflected shot flies past Garry. Despite fighting back Raith were unable to beat an inspired Ants’ keeper and lost 0-3.

We were now in a precarious position in our group. Three points ahead of Drumchapel we had one game to play whereas they had two games. We both had a goal difference of zero so whatever goal difference they racked up in their two games we had to match or better in the final group game.

The next game is Drumchapel against Park Villa. Drumchapel run wild scoring six unanswered goals to run out 6-0 winners. Next up “The Ants” beat Arbroath 2-0 before Drumchapel face Glenbuck. At this point we’re hoping for a Glenbuck victory or at worse a small loss to give us a chance in the final group game. However Drumchapel score three without reply to win 3-0 meaning we have to beat Park Villa by nine clear goals to tie Drumchapel on points and goal difference!

The game starts well with a passing move on the right in the first minute ending with the ball at Kev’s feet and he coolly slots it past the keeper. A minute later it’s Kev again and our lead has doubled. Despite pressure and shots, some actually on target, there are no further goals and it looks like our progress out of the group will stall. However we got a glimmer of hope in six minutes when Kev gets his hat trick. In eight minutes a long ball out of defence from Ritchie finds Kev who passes inside for Willie to blast the ball past the keeper for 4-0. In eleven minutes it’s Kev again as a defensive blunder presents him with an opportunity which he takes. 5-0. Another two goals in the twelfth minute, yes from Kev, take us to 7-0 with three minutes to get three goals. In thirteen minutes Davey puts the ball in the net followed by another Kev goal (his seventh in this game!!!) leaves us needing just a goal to go through. In the last minute of the game Stevie finds himself in space with only the keeper to beat but instead of shooting he passes and the ball is deflected out for a corner. The resultant corner comes in and Ritchie is on hand to slot it past the keeper for our tenth and our exit to the quarter final.

The quarter final saw us play against Giffnock Reds. A tight first 4 minutes ends with us losing the ball in midfield and Giffnock scoring. In 10 minutes we draw level when a pass from Chillo finds Kev who beats the keeper. The parity doesn’t last long as a Giffnock player gets beyond the defense and fires past Garry in the Raith goals. However in 13 minutes Stevie MacCrimmon finds Chillo with an inch perfect pass and parity is restored and we head to penalties.
We start the penalties with the first attempt and of course Kev scores. Garry saves the first Giffnock penalty and we have a 1-0 lead.
Chillo steps up next and scores as does the Giffnock player 2-1.
Next up Stevie’s shot is saved but Giffnock score 2-2.
Ritchie’s shot is also saved but so is Giffnock’s 2-2.
Willie steps up for our fifth penalty and scores. Garry saves Giffnock’s final penalty and we go through to our third semi final in three competitions this year.

The semi final against Hearts was a close affair. Both team’s defenses cancelling out the other’s attacks, both keepers pulling off saves and both team’s strikers failing to find the back of the net. Just as we’re heading for penalties the ref calls a third running infringement on Raith and awards a penalty to Hearts. Hearts score the penalty with almost the last kick of the ball and progress to the final.

Scottish Cup 2023

We travelled to Glasgow on Saturday for the Walking Football Scotland Scottish Cup and Festival to compete in the over 50s cup. We travel in hopes of emulating our 2019 victory but realistically hoping to get out of our group and into the quarter finals. We have a varied group consisting of:
Saints in the Community, currently 6th in WFS East Over 50s Championship
Falkirk Foundation, currently 7th in WFS West Over 50s Championship
Park Villa, newly formed and only playing for 6 weeks
Pollock United, currently 6th in WFS West Over 50s Premiership
Fort William, currently playing at Lochaber High School on Tuesdays between 7.30pm and 9.00pm

Back row: Ritchie Malcolm, George Lindsay, Keith Jenkin, Scott Jackson, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Wille Carroll
Front row: Kevin Henderson, Colin (Titch) Hardie, Shaun O’Donnell, Charles Doherty

The group session starts with Falkirk Foundation beating Fort William 5-3 followed by Park Villa losing heavily to Pollock United 7-0. The next game is our first and sees us play fellow East Championship team Saints in the Community.

The game starts well for Rovers with Kev Henderson scoring a well executed goal in the first minute to start our cup campaign in the best possible way. We continue to press and pepper Gary in the Saints’ goal but today he is inspired (with some help from the posts and the crossbar) and Rovers fail to convert again. In the ninth minute and against the run of play Saints score and despite more pressure from the Rovers we fail to regain the lead and the final whistle goes. Another slow start to a tournament and on balance of play two group points dropped
Raith Rovers 1-1 Saints in the Community

Game four sees Falkirk Foundation lose 2-4 to Pollock United.

In game five we play a new team for us in Fort William. Another quick start to the game for Rovers with a first minute goal with Titch scoring from the right. In the third minute Fort William equalise with the Fort player running past our midfield to get to the ball first and shoot. But the ref didn’t see it that way so the goal stands. In the seventh minute the ball falls to Scott Jackson just inside the Fort half and he unleashes a shot which beats the keeper and puts us back into the lead. Almost straight from the restart Fort equalise and within thirty seconds they’re in the lead. Stung by the quick brace Raith get back on level terms within a minute with a shot from Chillo from the right hand side. In the twelfth minute an infringement in the “penalty” area gives Fort a penalty. The Fort player steps up to take it but Keith saves and parity remains. But not for long. Fort are pinged for a third running foul and Titch steps up to put the ball past the keeper and restore our lead. The game continues back and forth for the next two minutes with no further scoring and we hold on to our first victory.
Raith Rovers 4-3 Fort William

Another short break for the team as Saints beat Park Villa 3-0

Our next game is another new team for us, Falkirk Foundation. Once again we start the game well with two goals in the second minute. The first from Kev following a great passing move between four players and then Chillo scoring after a pass in from the right hand side. In the sixth minute Kev battles in the corner and comes out with the ball and shoots. His shot only hits the post but rebounds out and Titch is on hand to stroke the ball into an empty net. Falkirk get one back in the next minute but within seconds the three goal lead is restored when a ball in from the left is dummied by Scott and lands at Shawn’s feet and he gives the keeper no chance. The game continues with chances for both teams but no more goals.
Falkirk Foundation 1-4 Raith Rovers

The morning session ends with two games before the lunch break and sees Pollock United and Fort William record 3-0 and 4-0 victories over Saints and Park Villa respectively.
After the break Falkirk and Saints fight out a 1-1 draw which guarantees us a quarter final place if we can beat Park Villa in our next game.

Again we have a quick start and are two up in the second minute. First Kev intercepts a ball across the front of the Park Villa box and scores. Within a minute Titch scores our second after he and Ritchie pass between themselves in the opposition half. In the fourth minute Titch is persisitent in chasing down the ball and manages to find Chillo who puts the ball past the keeper. Within 90 seconds a pass from defense finds Chillo and he adds another to his day’s total. In eight minutes a sweet passing play sees Titch finish well. We look to be heading to our first clean sheet of the day when a Park Villa shot beats Keith but fortunately comes off the bar and goes high. However Scott heads the high ball into the goal with Keith beaten. The referee says no goal. and instead awards a penalty to Park Villa. The ball was high but as it was high off the bar it was still in play and Scott’s header was with a live ball and inside the penalty area so a penalty it is. Park Villa score and the first clean sheet is gone. Just before the end a pass from Kev arrives at Shawn’s feet and he restores our five goal lead.
Park Villa 1-6 Raith Rovers

There are three more games before our final game of the group against Pollock United. Firstly Pollock beat Fort William 2-1 followed by Falkirk soundly beating Park Villa (but losing a goal) 8-1 and then Saints and Fort William sharing the points in a 1-1 draw.

With both teams through to the quarter finals this game will decide who goes through as winners and who will play the top side in one of the other groups. The game starts badly for Raith with Ritchie chasing a Pollock player towards the corner. He manages to steal the ball off the player with a quick prod at the ball from behind. However by the letter of the law that’s a foul and as it’s within the “penalty” area that’s a penalty to Pollock. The Pollock player steps up and misses! The deadlock is broken within a minute however as Pollock forward John receives the ball with his back to goal but manages a quick turn and shoot which beats Keith and gives Pollock the lead. It’s a play we expected, he scored two against us in the quarters last year in the same way, so it’s a sore one. However up steps Captain Fantastic, Willie Carroll in the fifth minute with a wonderstrike from the right wing to restore parity (He donated money to charity for those words so they’re obviously true). The game thereafter became a bit of a war of attrition with the Raith defense nullifying the Pollock frontman but our attack failing to beat the Pollock keeper. No further goals though so Pollock go through as group winners and Raith as runners up.
Raith Rovers 1-1 Pollock United

The quarter finals. We were here last year and got beat at this stage by Pollock. Can we go one further this time? Giffnock Auld Timers (Blacks) are the team we have to beat.
The game starts well once more with Chillo finding Kev in the first minute for Kev’s fourth goal of the day and a one nil lead. The teams seem to be evenly matched and neither giving up much until the ninth minute when a shot from Chillo comes off the post and Titch is there to slot the ball in and increase our lead. A minute later Titch makes it a brace in this game with a shot from the right which beats the keeper for a convincing three nil lead. In the thirteenth minute it’s Mr Hat-Trick as Titch controls the ball well and gives the keeper no chance to close out the quarter final four nil.
Giffnock Auld Timers (Blacks) 0-4 Raith Rovers

The semi final has us playing against St Anthony’s from Glasgow. Another new team for us to play. Been in the same tournaments a few times but our paths have never crossed. It’s a tight game. Both teams employing a neat and precise passing game and both keepers playing well. In the fourth minute a trip by a Raith player inside the penalty area leads to a St Ant’s penalty which they convert. St Ant’s now play possession football (with many well timed substitutions) stroking the ball around comfortably restricting Raith to snatched chances but making no real inroads on the Raith goal to try and increase their lead. This does backfire late in the game when, with the clock ticking down, Scott Jackson hits an unstoppable shot past Ant’s keeper to tie the game. November 1994 anyone? And so we go to penalties. 5 each and then, god forbid, sudden death. St Ant’s win the toss and we’re left to shoot first.
Rovers Score but so do St Ant’s 1-1
Rovers miss but so do St Ant’s 1-1
Rovers miss and St Ant’s score 1-2
Rovers Score but so do St Ant’s 2-3
Rovers Score but so do St Ant’s 3-4
St Anthony’s 2-1 Raith

St Anthony’s go on to play Pollock United in the final where they narrowly lose 1-0 despite having a penalty in the last two minutes allowing Pollock to retain the Scottish Cup they won last year.

Reflections.
A great day out with almost perfect weather (maybe a little too hot but we’re not complaining). Seven games with no defeats. 1-1 draws with both finalists. Six different scorers from the nine outfield players. One stage further than last year. All in all a very positive experience.
It is also worth pointing out that our group referee was possibly one of the best referees we have had the pleasure of playing with. And I use the word “with” deliberately. He spoke to both teams throughout every game. Advising players to slow down and penalising when they didn’t. Explaining his decisions clearly and being very approachable. Not only in the eyes of the Raith players but this was the consensus from all teams (who again were a great bunch who played in the right spirit with no (very little) talking back or aggression). Too often we only hear about how “bad” referees are perceived to be. On this occasion we can only say “More of this, please.” and well played sir.

On to next year!

Glasgow Life Trophy 2023

Raith Rovers over 50s made the trip through to Toryglen on Sunday for this year’s Glasgow Life Trophy. Last year we were unable to exit the group stage so were hoping to improve on that this year. In our group this year we were playing Pollock Thistle, Dunfermline Dynamos, Gretna 2008, Townhead Strollers and Saints in the Community.

Raith Rovers Walking Football team photo
Charles Doherty, Ritchie Malcolm, Haig Hutchison, Colin (Titch) Hardie, Pete Munn, Scott McIntosh, Kevin Henderson, Dave Fawcett, Colin McIntosh

The first game in the group saw Pollock Thistle and Dunfermline Dynamos contest a tight game ending 2-2.

We were up next against former Scottish Cup winners Gretna 2008. The game started well for Raith. In the second minute Kev intercepted a pass out of defence and found Titch who calmly slotted the ball past the keeper. In the seventh minute Titch was on the scoreboard again after Scott intercepted a defensive pass and squared the ball to him. In ten minutes Gretna almost got on the scoreboard with a deflected shot but Pete got his hands to it and kept his first clean sheet of the day. Gretna 0-2 Raith Rovers

The next game in the league saw Townhead Strollers impressively defeat Saints in the Community 4-0 despite the heroics of Saints’ keeper, Gary.

We were up next against Pollock Thistle. Raith took an early lead in the fourth minute when Scott once again intercepted an opposition pass and found Titch who hit the ball high past the keeper. Despite further Raith pressure there is no further scoring until the tenth minute when Pollock score despite the Pollock forward backing forcefully into the Raith defender. Almost straight from the restart the ball finds itself at Ritchie’s feet and with the Pollock defenders backing away he unleashes a shot from not far inside the Pollock half which beats the keeper low to his left. Pollock Thistle 1-2 Raith Rovers.

We sit out the next three games which see Townhead Strollers beat Dunfermline Dynamos 2-1, Saints in the Community lose to Gretna 2008 0-1 and Pollock Thistle lose to Townhead Strollers 1-2.

Our next game was against Saints in the Community who we played only last month in the league winning 3-0 with hopes for a repeat. A tight game ensued until the eighth minute when a great passing move featuring all of the outfield players resulted in another goal from Titch. A further goal in the tenth minute this time from a break away which saw Titch strike the post with his shot but Kev netted the rebound. Raith had the ball in the net again in the eleventh minute but the referee ruled it out for either a running foul or an attacker in the box. We’re still not sure. However the third goal wasn’t far away when Kev broke through the Saints defence and slotted past the keeper. Saints in the Community 0-3 Raith Rovers.

Another three games were played before the much anticipated Fife derby with Dunfermline. Firstly Gretna 2008 beat Dunfermline Dynamos 1-0, then Pollock beat Saints in the Community 3-0 and Gretna 2008 and Townhead Strollers drawing 1-1.

And so to the Fife derby. Another great passing move in the third minute ended up with Titch adding to his haul for the day. From then on it all seemed to go a bit wrong for Raith with two many passes going astray and players being regularly out of position. Two great saves from Pete in the fourth and sixth minutes kept Raith in front. In thirteen minutes however the slick passing re-appeared and ended with a goal for Kev. A minute later, with Dunfermline heads down, a pass from Dave found Titch who could do no more than score. Dunfermline Dynamos 0-3 Raith Rovers.

There were two more games in the group before the final important game. Pollock Thistle beating Gretna 1-0 and Saints in the Community losing to Dunfermline Dynamos 1-2.

And so to the last group game of the day. Townhead Strollers versus Raith Rovers. Both teams had, at this point, qualified for the quarters with only who would finish where in the league to be decided. A win or draw for Raith would see then progress as league winners. The game was tight with Raith passing well and pressing Townhead when they had the ball. Townhead’s striker, who had bossed other teams in the group was successfully marshalled by Ritchie all game. In five minutes Raith almost went ahead when Scott’s shot came off the post. However it was Townhead who went ahead against the run of play in eight minutes with a break away goal. The lead didn’t last long though with Kev finding Scott a minute later and Scott scoring for 1-1. Continued pressure from Raith brought off some great saves from the Townhead keeper and the game seemed to be settling for a draw. However with the last kick of the game a long, speculative shot, suspiciously close to being in the Townhead half, sneaked past the un-sighted Pete and gave Townhead the win 2-1.

And so onto the quarter final where we found ourselves playing North East England team Grangetown who won group A. The game started badly for Raith with a foul in the penalty area leading to the award of a penalty to Grangetown. The penalty taker stepped up and dispatched the ball past Pete. However the ref adjudged that the player had taken more than the allowed one step and awarded a free kick to Raith. Despite containing Grangetown in their own half for most of the game Raith were unable to convert the pressure to goals and so the game ended 0-0 and we went to penalties. Before the penalty shoot out took place however both teams had a masterclass on how penalties were to be taken from the referee and tournament organiser Matt Ramsay. Grangetown won the toss and decided to shoot first. They scored their first and the keeper then saved Raith’s first to put the pressure on the Raith kickers. However on the third kick Grangetown missed and Raith scored so the teams were back even. With scores being equal after all outfield players had taken a penalty it was down to the keepers next. Both keepers scored and so sudden death went on through the outfield players again. Everyone scored until we came to the tenth kick. The Grangetown player slammed the ball past Pete in the Raith goal but the ref hadn’t blown his whistle and a retake was ordered. The player retook and the ball rolled past the post. Titch was up next and he coolly put the ball past the keeper for a 9-8 penalty win.

Our semi final was against Oriam who we last played, and beat, in the final of their own tournament in late 2019. Oriam opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a long shot from just inside our half which beat the keeper. A minute later a pass in from the side from Titch to Scott sees Scott smash the ball past the keeper to even things up. In nine minutes a pass from the side finds an Oriam player who shoots round the Raith defender un-sighting Pete in the Raith goal for 2-1. In eleven minutes a slide tackle by an Oriam player in the penalty area leads to the ref awarding a penalty which Ritchie takes to level the game once again. Two minutes Oriam take the lead again and despite Raith pressure they hold on to win 3-2.

And so we ended with a semi final loss but great pride from having reached the semi final playing an attractive passing game when we had the ball and an aggressive, non-contact, pressing game without it, while only committing four running fouls throughout the seven games. If we can continue this style and form into the league next month we should see a nice crop of points.