Why Me?!

Confessions of an Edinburgh Clyde Supporter (16/12/2006: Dundee at Broadwood)

What a game!! Every now and again, you come away from a game of football and you just know that something special, something a little bit different has gone on. Saturday was one such game!

The visit of Dundee was inevitably going to be a battle: both sides desperate for 3 points on a heavy pitch. Obviously, it being Broadwood, the supporters had to wear multiple layers to avoid hypothermia.

Apart from Andy McLaren’s pressing the self-destruct button not once, not twice, but about 12 times in the space of 5 minutes, we also saw Neil McGregor (best centre-half in Scotland) sent off for making two poor tackles, Gary Arbuckle continued to defy the odds by banging in the goals that will surely see him rewarded with a Scotland cap in the near future (!), two penalties, both of which were dubious and, last but not least, Alex Rae; who I thought was the Dundee player-manager, successfully add ‘refereeing’ to his CV. Did anyone else notice his ability to be near every incident, waving his hands and politely offering an opinion!? Interestingly enough, the match programme had Dougie McDonald listed as match referee; he must have been caught in traffic.

Aside from all this excitement though, Saturday represented another great 3 points, a continuation of our unbeaten run, and, most importantly, some improved performances. Andy Ferguson in particular, a player who is yet to capture the imagination of the faithful ran his heart out and was involved in some of our best attacking moves. Added to that, upon being reduced to 10 men, he battled manfully in a display that shows some encouragement for the future.

Saturday also saw the return of last season’s goal scorer supreme Alex Williams. There can’t have been many in the crowd who would have been unhappy to see him back in the famous red, white and black. A player with so much ability, work rate and goal scoring potential, he could turn many draws into victories. For me, if he sticks the ball in the net and gets on with his team-mates – as he seemed to be doing at the Cup Final! – then his return can only be a win-win situation. I do wonder though, if he fancies a bet with Arbuckle on who will finish top-scorer!!

On Boxing Day, it’s off to Perth and St Johnstone away. Hopefully this trip won’t be as painful as our last visit and we can carry on our great run. Onwards and upwards.

Mark Nimmo

> Pictures by Arron Barnes