Camelon 5 Edinburgh United 1: Mariners ease to win over capital club

Groundhop UK organised their fifth annual trip to Scotland, and six East of Scotland games were on the menu.

The Mariners, whose game kicked off at 11am to accommodate the hoppers, served up an early morning treat.

Despite having four first team players unavailable due to suspension, in top scorer Kieran Anderson, Greg Skinner, Jason Deans and Ryan Kane, the Mariners brushed aside their struggling capital city opponents in convincing fashion.

Goals from Alan Sneddon (X2), Conor McKenzie (X2) and Alan Docherty had the game won on 46 minutes, with the visitors scoring courtesy of a dubious 39th minute penalty.

Manager Gordon Herd was delighted to entertain loyal supporters and day-tripping groundhoppers alike.

“First half we were excellent with some really good individual performances – especially given there were four guys suspended,” he said.

“I was quite surprised with the crowd as I was a bit sceptical at first about the numbers that we were going to get.

“But it’s a great thing, the groundhop day, and we were getting a lot of compliments too about our ground.”

The victory moves Camelon above Jeanfield Swifts and into third in the league, with a crunch match between the two to come in a fortnight.

“We have been stuck in fourth most of the season, but it’s up to the boys to go and cement third now,” Herd added.

“The game at Jeanfield will be massive in deciding who finishes highest up the league.

“Third is great and we want to finish as high as we can.”

Before that trip to Perth, however, it’s League Cup action for Camelon as they face Crossgates Primrose in Fife this weekend. There will again be a couple missing through suspension but Herd knows he can rely on youngsters like Ryan Inglis, who made his debut on Saturday.

He added: “It’s good that we can look to the 20s to add to our bench and it’s good for the young boys to get a run out in front of such a big crowd.”