Damage in the Box!: GRETNA FC 2008 (Raydale Park)

Today was meant to be a visit to Annan to take in their home game versus Dumbarton, but a few weeks ago something happened that was a lot more interesting...Gretna were returning "home" to Raydale Park. This seemed a better proposition as it was a ground I'd missed visiting when they were in the Unibond League and when they were rising through the Scottish Leagues. There was also the fact that this was a game that actually mattered and was no end-of-season dead rubber.

The meteoric rise and fall of Gretna has been well documented http://sport.scotsman.com/gretnafc but the long and short of it is that the original Gretna were liquidated at the end of last season and, from the ashes, a new club was formed. This new club had to start again at the bottom, the bottom being the East of Scotland league division one. Gretna 2008 were accepted into this league at the start of this season but because of issues over ground ownership had to play their "home" games at the Everholm Athletics Ground in Annan.

These issues were resolved just over three weeks ago, following negotiations with all parties concerned, and the club were allowed access to Raydale. It remains to be seen how long this agreement is in place. In just two weeks, volunteers have got the pitch into a playable condition. This was an amazing achievement when you consider that the ground has stood empty since the last competitive game there two seasons ago, as last season in the SPL Gretna had to groundshare at Motherwell because the ground did not meet the SPL minimum requirements.

Gretna 2008's debut season in the East of Scotland league has been a successful one so far as they are in with a shout of promotion. They currently sit fifth in the table on 34 points but with 5 games in hand. The opposition today, Civil Service Strollers from Edinburgh, are currently second on 40 points with three game to play. The leaders are Tynecastle (who Gretna play next week) with 45 points and three games left to play. Today's match is a vital game to both teams in terms of the promotion shake-up, especially for Gretna who really need a win, especially after last weeks anti-climactic 1-1 draw with Gala Fairydean in the "homecoming" game.

The pitch wasn't in the best of nick but, as touched upon, there can't be too much complaining about that as, after two years of neglect, to have it in any sort of playing condition after just a few weeks is remarkable. There was also a huge downpour just before kick off and combined with the strong winds it made the playing conditions rather tricky. In all honesty it was a very poor first half but the home team still managed a 1-0 interval lead, through a Dan Carmichael shot after 16 minutes.

The second half was much better as Gretna, with the wind behind them, took control of the game and simply blew (no pun intended!) the Strollers away. They played some great football and scored four more goals. A Tony Nicholson volley made it 2-0 on 61 minutes, just three minutes later a Curtis Wood free kick from the touchline caught the wind and sailed over the keeper into the top corner. Nicholson scored his second on 77 minutes before a Ross Johnston header in stoppage time made it 5-0 to complete the rout.

Enjoyable day out, despite the weather, and it was great to see the old ground brought back to life. Long may it continue.