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Archive Latest April
2004
(27/4/04)
Reserves
Gretna reserves won the league tonight at
Cliftonhill when they won 5-1 against a young Rovers side. Chris Silvestro
played for 60 minutes and looked comfortable on the ball, Marc McKenzie also
played as did Mathew Carr in goal. John McCaig was red carded for a "last
man" incident. One consolation was that our goal was the best of the night
although your humble webmaster didn't recognise the scorer.
(24/4/04)
Rovers Score 8 (Eight)
It didn't start (or finish for that
matter) as expected as 'Shire went
one up but Rovers got (what we believe was) their biggest ever league victory
away from home when they bagged eight. Rovers have only ever had four better
league victories, the last being against 'Shire at Cliftonhill in the 1958/59
season. The last time they scored as many was at home against Gala Fairydean in
the Scottish Cup in 1985, final scoreline 8-1.
As a result of the win Rovers leapfrogged next weeks opponents Queen's Park to take 7th place in the table. One strange fact was that Mark Yardley, despite being in the thick of the action didn't manage to score one himself. Marc McKenzie and Scott Crabbe scored their first goals for the club in competitive football into the bargain. A great result - well done lads, it's just what we needed to boost morale!
A full match report will be on the site tomorrow.
(22/4/04)
Youth & Reserve Update
Chris Silvestro played another 90 minutes
on Tuesday night (20th) in a reserve game at lesser Hampden v Queen's Park
(Rovers lost 2-0) and will play next Tuesday at Cliftonhill (27th) v Gretna
reserves k.o. 7.30pm
Youth Matches
U19s v Stirling Alb on Thu. 22nd at Cliftonhill k.o. 7.30
U14s v Ross County on Sun. 25th at Ham palace k.o. 2pm
Soccer 7s Festival on Sat 15th May All Day At Cliftonhill
Under 9s and 10s
Teams entered : Celtic, Hearts, St Mirren, Hibs, Aberdeen etc.
plus local 7s teams
McCaul
Graeme McCaul has recovered sufficiently
from his hernia operation and is about to restart training.
Playing Staff
Manager Kevin McAllister has started
talking to players he wants to keep next season. Although Paul McManus has been
the subject of speculation linking him with Falkirk nothing is on the cards for
him yet and he will be certainly be one of the first to be offered terms. In the
event he did leave, Rovers would be entitled to a fee as he is under 23
although it's unlikely to enough compensation for losing a class player.
Bus
Please remember the bus for Firs Park on Saturday leaves Big Owens at 2pm and
that the pub is currently closed for refurbishment so don't expect to get a
drink there before leaving!
(17/4/03)
Elgin Hoodoo Continues
The Elgin City hoodoo over Rovers at
Cliftonhill continued today when a goal by former Rover Jamie McKenzie and
another laid on by former Rover Ryan McMullan 3 minutes from the end grabbed all
3 points. Chris Silvestro didn't feature in the squad as strongly
suggested in the press although he did do the pre-match warm up as usual.
Chris Fahey in only his second start in six months injured his shoulder and was replaced by Neil Bennett early in the second half.
A full match report will be on the site tomorrow.
Stenhousemuir
Stenny were relegated to the 3rd division next season when they lost 3-0 to
Airdrie United.
(14/4/03)
Silvio
Chris Silvestro played the whole of a
reserve match against Morton last night, unfortunately the team lost 4-0! It now
seems likely that Chris will feature in the last two or three games of the
season.
Gretna
Apparently Gretna could be in trouble for
an incident which occurred at their home game against Cowdenbeath last Saturday.
One of their fans was charged with assaulting referee Cammy Melville (by no
means Rovers fans favourite whistler) at the end of the match at Raydale Park.
Gretna lost the game 1-0 having a player sent off and a penalty claim denied by
Melville during the 90 minutes.
The SFA have said that if the club is found guilty of having insufficient stewards and police at the game they face a large fine and/or having to play a home game behind closed doors.
(10/4/04)
Three Goals - No Points
Rovers scored three goals at home to
Stirling Albion today but came away empty-handed losing 5-3. Stirling went joint
top only behind Stranraer on goal difference.
A full match report will be on the site by Sunday evening.
(8/4/04)
International Call-up
Rovers player Andrew Bonner, son of Packie Bonner the
legendary Celtic 'keeper has been drafted into the under 19 Republic of Ireland
squad for a tournament in Portugal this week.
Player of the Year Awards
Youth supremo Jimmy Lindsay has asked us
to say that the club will be awarding trophies to a first year and a second year
apprentice at the end of the season. The club are looking for sponsors for each
of these, the cost is £100 apiece. The trophies shall of course bear the name
of the sponsor and be used every year and will be handed over at the sportsman's
dinner being held at Drumpellier Golf Club on Friday 7th May. You can contact
Jimmy at the club on 01236 606334.
On the same note this site is also looking for a sponsor for its own player of the year award, won last year by Chris Silvestro when the Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser provided the trophy and Champers. This trophy and any associated booze shall be awarded prior to the Cowdenbeath match on Saturday 8th May and will not be reused next year.
Shearer
Apparently Scott Shearer has impressed
Coventry City boss, Eric Black so much he has been offered a new three year
contract. This is no doubt related to his recent Scotland call-up.
(3/4/04)
Coatbridge Is The Blue Toon
Kevin McAllister made a bold move in
giving young 'keeper Mathew Carr his first start in a first team match. It
didn't pay off as a poor performance all round saw Rovers lose 5-0 to a
Peterhead side who are still holding on to the theoretical chance of promotion.
No doubt Crunchie didn't see the possible result as the only factor in his team
selection but fans who travelled weren't impressed.
A full match report is linked from the fixtures page.
(2/4/04)
Crunchie To Stay In Hotseat
Kevin McAllister's appointment as manager
was made permanent last night at the weekly board meeting. Crunchie can now
concentrate on building the squad for next season's campaign.
Crabbe Doubtful
Assistant manager Scott Crabbe is rated
doubtful for the match at Peterhead tomorrow as he has twisted an ankle.
April Fool
As the more astute of you will already
know the live TV deal story of yesterday was an April fool joke. It was nice to
see that ITV Teletext page 489 picked up on the joke which pleased Peter McClurg
whose name rated a mention alongside Ray Franchetti and Franz Beckenbauer. The
Herald, Metro and Scotsman newspapers also mentioned the jest.
Note to all journalist organisations - this is an unofficial website which doesn't receive funding from the club and all donations for the info you pick up here would be appreciated!
Fan Power
Our opponents this weekend, Peterhead have
signed midfielder Keith Gibson from Montrose. Nothing odd about that, but the
financing of the deal was far from ordinary. Most of the finance was supplied by
the Peterhead Supporters Club.
Silvio
Chris Silvestro's recovery from injury continues, he played 15 minutes in a
recent reserve match.
(1/4/04)
Live TV Deal
Irish satellite broadcaster Setanta have
signed a live TV deal with the Rovers which has the approval of the SFL. The company have
recently signed up exclusive live rights with the SPL and see the Rovers
as the ideal warm-up match for their Sunday football programme.
All Rovers home games will be switched to 1pm on Sundays with that weeks live SPL game kicking off at 4pm on the same channel. Although confidential the deal is thought to be worth around £5000 per match to Rovers with the visiting team getting about half of that amount. Cheerleaders, top pop acts and occasional visits by the Red Arrows are expected to liven things up further. The panel of experts for the first match had already been provisionally decided upon, it will comprise of Peter McClurg, former Rover Ray Franchetti and "Kaiser" Franz Beckenbauer.
The broadcaster is looking to sign up another 3rd division club to fill in when Rovers are away from home, Cowdenbeath are the frontrunners at the moment.