TT No.78: Mike Latham - Sat 15 March 2014: Scottish Junior Cup Q-F; Dundonald Bluebell 0-3 Hurlford United; Attendance: 450 (h/c); Admission: £6; Programme: £1; Raffle ticket: £1; FGIF Match Rating: 4*

Matchday images (26) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/DundonaldBluebellFC02

Cardenden, the home of Dundonald Bluebell, is a small former mining village in south Central Fife, not far from Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy. Moorside Park is situated at the end of a cul-de-sac that runs through a small housing estate opposite the miners’ welfare, built in 1924.

For such a small place the number of famous former inhabitants is impressive, including the crime writer Ian Rankin, the poet Joe Corrie and footballers John Thomson and Tommy Hutchison.

Thomson was a Celtic and Scotland international goalkeeper who met a tragic end, killed after an accidental collision at the age of 22 in an Old Firm game in 1931. His grave is in Bowhill just down the road from the ground.  Hutchison was a superbly talented footballer , most famously for Blackpool, Coventry City, Manchester City and Scotland who played at a high standard well into his forties.

Dundonald is the name given to the housing estate where the ground is situated and the local side, one of the most consistent and high-scoring teams in the third tier of the East Juniors had prepared well for their big day.

The ground looked immaculate, the playing surface well cared for, the perimeter fence neatly painted the grassed banks mown to perfection and with two small covered enclosures on the entrance side and another on the far side, where the dug-outs were situated.

In an elevated position, around 600 feet with some glorious sweeping views the ground opens out on to moorland on two sides.

Hurlford, one of the best sides in the West Juniors this season had brought a good number of supporters with them and they were all in good fettle as they looked forward to the game. One told me he was worried that his side had played so infrequently these past few months due to the weather that they might be under-prepared.

Bluebell had a large crowd of supporters, many coming from other districts of Fife. It’s a great thing in these parts I’ve witnessed that when one of the Fife teams reaches the latter stages of this competition supporters from neighbouring teams put aside rivalries and come to support them.

There was a real sense of occasion as the minutes counted down to kick-off, the small social club and mobile burger van doing a roaring trade to compliment the excellent pie hut from where the home- made soup and pies were very welcome on a bright but windy afternoon.

Coming over the Forth Bridge the warning sides prevented any high-sided vehicles or caravans from the crossing due to the high winds. And at Cardenden the wind was fierce, blowing end to end, but at least some respite could be gained by sheltering in the lee of the perimeter fence at the far end.

I’d seen Hurlford in an earlier round and knew they had a core of good, experienced players, several with Scottish League experience. But they had their work cut out against a home side that played with refreshing freedom in attack and created several good chances in the first-half. Battling against the wind Hurlford took an early lead from a corner after a defensive mistake and added to their lead when a shot from distance was deflected past the ‘keeper. When the home side hit the crossbar late in the half you could sense that it wasn’t to be their day.

Sure enough Hurlford sealed the tie with a fine third goal and though Bluebell never gave up the visitors took the spoils back to Ayrshire and can now look forward to a two-legged semi-final.

Andy McGregor, a great local sage and great supporter of Junior football augmented the occasion by producing a magnificent programme for the Club. This gave every piece of information that any supporter could have wished, including pen pictures of both sides and past results in the Junior Cup going back to 1950.

Another great day watching this splendid competition and well worth the long journey.

contributed on 16/03/14