After a difficult return to football in the Mearns following the winter break, it was a weekend of mostly positive scorlines for the local sides. Stonehaven Juniors are battling at the bottom end of the SuperLeague and Bervie Caledonian finally returned to league action with a thrashing of Alford.
Stonehaven are now level on points with Maud at the foot of the SuperLeague table. A 1-1 draw at home to East End allowed the Hive to pick up their first point in four games.
Last week Stoney coach Martyn Rollo told us:
“We’ve given ourselves a tough challenge”
“the bottom of the table is still very tight.”
“We will pull together and battle for every point. We have had some very tough breaks over the past few games but at times we play some entertaining football.”
With an away game to top of the league Bridge Of Don Thistle this weekend, Stoney will need to a fantastic result in order to continue their battle against relegation. They currently sit four points and a large goal difference away from safety.
Both Mearns sides from the Premier Divison were involved with cup competitions this past weekend, with opposite outcomes.
St Laurence have been knocked out of the ‘Soccer World North of Scotland Cup’ after a 2-0 loss to Stoneywood East End.
Despite the cup disappointment, St Laurence have been happy overall after promotion last term.
Earlier in the season NE98 spoke to coach David Easton.
Easton said:
“We are happy with how the season is going so far.”
“We’ve had a large number of injuries to deal with which has led to a spell of inconsistency but we are starting to come through this and our performances have gradually gotten better.”
Meanwhile, Premier Division counterparts Cowie Thistle have progressed into the fourth round of the ‘Rainbow City Taxis Aberdeen FC Trophy’. Thistle, who currently sit fourth in the Premier Divison thrashed Division One East side Beacon Rangers 9-2.
The flow of goals included a hat-trick for striker Irvine and a brace for substitute Nicoll.
Cowie and St Laurence will face off in a Mearns derby with the Laurencekirk side hosting the affair this weekend.
Elsewhere in cup action, Stonehaven Athletic were eliminated from the ‘Rainbow City Taxis Hans Fyfe Trophy’ by Divison Two North rivals FC Polska. A 7-3 win for Polska, who sit seven points ahead of Athletic in the league having played a game more, will be disappointing for Athletic who started the season so well.
After a long run of cup games, Bervie Caledonian finally returned to league duty in the Divison One North. Bervie, who have five games in hand over table toppers Newburgh Thistle – five games, which is all won would put Caley two points off of the summit – sent a message with a 5-0 win over midtable Alford.
Striker Frazer Cerretti netted a hat-trick, with Callum Main and Scott McKenzie also getting in on the act. A home game against Newburgh really does give Bervie an opportunity to continue to put pressure on the rest of the contenders for the league title.
Ac Mill Inn completed the successful weekend for Mearns sides with their 2-0 victory away from home against Ellon Thistle. Inn sit fourth in the Divison One East table. They’ll be facing off with Banchory Amateurs this weekend. Banchory sit just a point ahead of Inn in the table.
Bridge Of Don Thistle Vs Stonehaven, Aberdeen Sports Village, Saturday 1:30PM
St Laurence Vs Cowie Thistle, Memorial Park, Laurencekirk, Saturday 1:30PM
Bervie Caledonian Vs Newburgh Thistle, Booth Park, Gourdon, Saturday 1:30PM
AC Mill Inn Vs Banchory Amateurs, Jim Glennie Park, Stonehaven, 2:00PM
Abergeldie Vs Stonehaven Athletic, Inverdee, Aberdeen, 1:30PM
NE98 