Ainslie Park: Spartans v Elgin City (Saturday 19th August 2023)

Thank you very much for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video! Here are my thoughts on the day below:
Their 2nd home game in the Scottish League saw Spartans take on Elgin City at Ainslie Park.
A fairly modest start to the campaign for Spartans with two 1-1 draws with both relegated teams from last season’s Scottish League One, at home to Clyde and away to Dumbarton.
Meanwhile Elgin haven’t collected their first win of the campaign either nor scored a goal after two league games, with a 1-0 loss at home to Stranraer and a 0-0 draw away to Forfar Athletic.
This is Spartans first season in the SPFL system with promotion through the pyramid play offs at the end of last season. A win on penalties after a 3-3 draw on aggregate against Brechin City set up their matchup with Albion Rovers in which they scored the crucial goal in the second leg, after a 1-1 draw previously, to set up football at this level for the first time in the club’s 72 year history.
On the day, it was a hard fought affair with Spartans doing everything they could to please the fans in North-West Edinburgh. And Elgin doing their best to score their first goal of the campaign. Spartans with the best chance of the half hit the post on 18 minutes. I was very impressed by the togetherness of the Spartans team. They all understand how big this campaign is for the club and community and are willing to work hard for each other and perform to the best of their ability.
As I move into the seating section for the second half, it continued to be a back and forward game. Until two quick fire goals could Elgin off guard and put Spartans in a fantastic position. Firstly James Craigen and a smart finish across the keeper from Reece Armstrong (who assisted the opener) gave the Edinburgh side a two goal advantage.
From this point onwards Elgin attempted to be more aggressive and make an impact of the game after some average play in the opening twenty minutes of the second half. They got their reward on 77 minutes as Spartans veteran Blair Carswell kicked out a poor goal kick and Elgin took advantage with Russell Dingwall scoring to reduce the deficit.
That is how it finished with the fans and players impressed alike with a score line which perhaps surprised some but after victories against Dundee United and Peterhead in the month prior in the League Cup. It was no surprise to Spartans.
It was great to see a lot of youngsters supporting their local side and shows the importance of what sport does to a local community.