Raith Rovers - 1st - Champions
In a season where they look about as convincing as Tony Blair at Chilcot, Raith Rovers’ full-time status is eventually enough to see them crowned Champions. On the rare occasion when they’re all on the pitch together Kyle Benedictus, Grant Gillespie, Nat Wedderburn, Lewis Vaughan and Chris Duggan prove unstoppable - gifting the Stark’s Park side their most comfortable nine points of the season. The rest of the year is a slog. After starting the campaign well they go into their traditional post-daylight saving slump, winning just twice over the Christmas period and suffering a shock 2-0 home defeat to Stenhousemuir that leaves them eight points adrift in third. A belting seven game unbeaten run - where they only concede two goals - is enough to see them eventually take the title on the penultimate weekend. What will definitely happen: A fan will blame their new Astro pitch for a poor run of form. Top Scorer: Lewis Vaughan (18) Dumbarton - 2nd Dumbarton’s early season optimism will be drained by a 3-1 defeat to East Fife on the opening day, followed by an uninspiring goal-less draw with ten man Forfar Athletic. They pick themselves up though, eventually becoming hated by opposition fans up and down the country and accumulating an abnormally high tally of bookings for dissent. Of the high profile new signings Michael Paton and Ross Forbes prove the most important, as the Sons score an inordinate number of goals from dead balls. The highlight of this is Ross Perry’s header in a 1-0 victory against Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park. At that stage they are tipped as having won the title, but their form tails off badly in March and they eventually only just manage to pip Arbroath to second spot. What will definitely happen: A Sons fan on Facebook will describe Ross Forbes as ‘a luxury we can’t afford’ and claim he ‘just doesn’t run enough for me’. Top Scorer: Calum Gallagher (14) Arbroath - 3rd Nobody’s really noticed Arbroath this summer, which must be quite pleasant for them. Dick Campbell has quietly gone about keeping the core of his team from last year (albeit minus the outstanding Scott Martin), whilst the return to action of Steven Doris can only help their cause. If you don’t support them then you’ll feel like you don’t play them very often, mainly because the games end in uninspiring 2-0 defeats that are quickly forgotten. They actually get the better of Dumbarton and Raith Rovers over the course of the season, but are undone by defeats in away derby matches. What will definitely happen: All the League One hipsters will name them as their team of the year at the end of the season. Probably including myself. Top Scorer - Steven Doris (12) Forfar Athletic - 4th The battle for the final playoff position will be a closely fought one between everyone who isn’t Stenhousemuir and East Fife. Eventually Forfar win it though after a tense final day victory against Montrose. Key to their form is John Baird who, despite getting on a bit, finishes nearly everything sent his way by Dylan Easton. Easton himself infuriates the Division’s Da’s with his mercurial brilliance (and tendency to, perhaps, slightly over exaggerate contact). After starting the season in unplayable form he vanishes between November and March, before rediscovering his spark just in time for the playoffs. Top Scorer - John Baird (14) What will definitely happen: A small collection of elderly Loons will spend the entire season berating Dylan Easton for not tracking back enough and jumping out of tackles. Despite him being involved in 40% of their goals. Airdrieonians - 5th Everything seems rosey at the Excelsior (or Penny Cars stadium to be more precise), but this is Airdrie. So that can’t last. The Diamonds’ strikeforce of Dale Carrick and Daryll Duffy start the campaign in great form, and by Christmas have scored 70% of the team’s goals. Unfortunately Carrick’s hamstring goes. A week later Duffy is stretchered off and faces eight weeks on the sidelines. In their absence, and over a period where midweek games start to be played, they take just four points from a possible 27 and start to hurtle towards a relegation battle. Carrick and Duffy return though, and they end the season strongly - only just missing out on the playoffs. Top Scorer - Daryll Duffy (15) What will definitely happen: Sean Crichton will score a thunderzing against Brechin City. Stranraer - 6th I really like Stranraer. Despite the fact that we always get beaten at Stair Park. I’ve absolutely no idea what to think of them this season though, so I’m making all this up. Stranraer spend the season in mid-table. They occasionally look like being relegated, but pull a few wins out the bag, and occasionally look like bothering the playoff places, but then get hammered at home a few times. Isaac Layne flicks between being a matchwinning bulldozer of a centre-forward, smashing everything including defenders into the net, and being a sulking enigma with a weird Twitter account. His nine goals come in two spells. Four in five games, nothing for 20, then five in the final seven. Defensively they’re utterly unpredictable, shipping five goals three times but also keeping eight clean sheets. What will definitely happen: Their name will be used when fans are expressing their displeasure with their sides’ current form. “No chance I’m ‘trekking’ to Stranraer next week to watch more of that” will be the phrase of choice. Top Scorer: Isaac Layne - (9) Montrose - 7th I’ve never been to Links Park, so on a personal level I was delighted to see them join the All Angus League this season. Montrose spend the campaign as the embodiment of ‘hard to beat’. Stewart Petrie’s reputation continues to grow as his plucky side - which is really without any superstars - defy the odds to eventually stay up relatively comfortably. That doesn’t mean it's pretty mind you. They concede just 41 goals all season, but score just 31, with Martin Rennie proving that diamonds can be found playing for Lochgelly Albert. What will definitely happen: Chris Templeman will get better and better the longer their woes in front of goal continue. “Can’t help but feel we’re missing a guy like Sanny” will be said at every single home game, and 14 of the 18 away games. Top Scorer - Martin Rennie (11) Brechin City - 8th I recently looked at Brechin City’s last 50 results. They have managed three wins. Three. Even one of them was in the Betfred Cup on penalties, so that doesn’t really count. Anyway losing breeds losing, and with Darren Dods clinging onto his job by God knows what’s left of his fingernails City continue on a downward spiral. Their summer business has done little to reignite hopes. In fact it reminds me quite a bit of ours last season. Random, rushed and risky. Their form looks remarkably similar to Sons as they plummeted from Division One to Division Three under Jim Fallon too. Don’t fret though Brechin fans, it does get better. You win a league game this season. In fact you win nine. Dods is finally put out of his misery in early October and form sort of picks up (just as a back five becomes a back four, who’d have thought it...). It’s not enough to avoid a nerve-shredding relegation battle mind you, but hey - at least it’s better than last season! Top Scorer - Callum Tapping (7) What will definitely happen: Dougie Hill will end the season as the most booked player in the league. But without a single red card to his name. East Fife - 9th If I asked you to name all ten teams in League One this season East Fife would be the one that you’d forget. Unless you support them, in which case that would be unforgivable. East Fife sleepwalk into the playoffs with a season where they’re totally unconvincing, but don’t really look in danger until it’s too late. Defensively they’re solid, and actually concede considerably fewer goals than Brechin, however they’re about as sharp as an IKEA spoon offensively. Something that eventually proves their undoing. Do the fans turn on Darren Young? Yes. Is he still in charge for the playoffs. Yes he is. Top Scorer - Scott Agnew (6) What will definitely happen: Darren Young will not take to the tannoy at half-time in a game against Stenhousemuir. Stenhousemuir - 10th It’s dead easy to write off the playoff winners, but unfortunately Stenny’s pretty consistent run of being too good for League Two, but not quite up to League One continues. Keeping Mark McGuigan whilst adding Graeme Smith and Seb Ross means that they aren’t cut adrift, but ultimately their squad lacks the quality to stay in League One. It’s not that they ‘do a Brechin’, in fact Brown Ferguson’s side are pretty consistent - but with them averaging one win every six games it’s little surprise when playoff chasing Forfar Athletic send them down with two games remaining. On the positive side ‘Mr Goals’ McGuigan is at it again, albeit in less prolific form, with his double against Raith at Stark’s Park a definite high point in the campaign. Top Scorer - Mark McGuigan (11) What will definitely happen: After his double against Raith, Stenhousemuir fans will find their lives dominated by Rovers fans enquiring about his contract situation.
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April 2020
CategoriesAuthorI'm Fraser, 22, Sons fan who is now living the dream of reporting on Dumbarton for the Lennox Herald. |