Whitton Park

Broughty Athletic 3
Russell 21
Craik 29
Farquharson 40

Dundee U19 0

Lyall Murdoch Memorial Tournament
Saturday 25th July 2009
Kick Off: 12.00pm
Attendance: 96 (head count)
Capacity: 2000
Admission: £4
Programme: £1
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Ratings (out of 5)

Value for money ***** £4 covered both games
Grub ***
Ground ***
Atmosphere **
Entertainment *** Home side were excellent
Referee ****
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I made the decision to head North over the Forth Road Bridge today and attempt a 'Dundee double'. With the Lyall Murdoch Tournament providing a 12.00pm kick off in the city it opened up a number of opportunities to get to a second game afterwards. I decided to head to a 2.00pm kick-off at Downfield Juniors which I found out was just along the road; more on this in later though.

Broughty Athletic were hosting the first ever Lyall Murdoch Memorial Tournament and had invited along three teams to compete. First up was a match between the hosts and local First Division club Dundee. With the Dens Park side already hosting Aberdeen in a friendly match the club had agreed to send along it's Under 19 team for some valuable experience against 'grown up' opposition.

Next up was Highland League Fraserburgh who were drawn to face local side Broughty Amatuers. The tournament followed the standard preseason format of two semi-finals on the Saturday followed by a third place play-off and final on the Sunday.

The journey took just over an hour and fifteen minutes and I found the ground by following the A92 across the Tay Bridge and through the City. I was pleased to find a good sized car park right next to the ground and there were a few spaces left. Entry was a very reasonable £4 which covered both games and the club had printed plenty of programmes priced at £1.

I got talking to the brother of Lyall Murdoch here and I managed to find out a bit about the man. Lyall sadly passed away suddenly on 15 November 2006. After a Short playing career at Dundee Violet he became club secretary during the late 1980's and 1990's. His highly regarded skills saw him appointed as President of the Tayside Junior League and he went on to become involved with the SJFA, was president of the East Region SJFA as well as being a long established secretary of Broughty Athletic. He is obviously sadly missed by many and three years on the club have set up a fitting tribute to him.

Whitton Park is a fairly basic ground and features pretty much all grass standing with no cover. There is a clubhouse with pie shop included and portacabin at the car park end. The pitch is railed off by the almost standard wonky fencing at Scottish Junior grounds. There are floodlights at Whitton Park with six wooden posts (if my memory serves me correctly) with halogen lamps on top.

Having watched a few U19 sides taking on non-league sides a number of times in the past few years they provide interesting games. A stern physical test for the younger players and one in terms of stamina and skill for the older players. This one was to break the mould in some ways though as the Junior outfit were to prove themselves superior in most areas. It wasn't really a contest and they cruised into a three goal lead.

Dundee were unable to pass through the midfield and got punished time and time again. They had a real lack of height all over the park and they were very lucky not to be even further behind. It is perhaps unfair to focus only their negatives though as Broughty were outstanding. Broughty have came very close to promotion in both of the last two seasons and with only one promotion spot available from the East Region North Division they seem to have been somewhat held back.

On my travels I find that the odd player every now and then stands out and anybody who knows anything about Broughty Athletic will know who I am about to mention! Bobby Brown the clubs centre back and captain is still going strong at an amazing 49.

I wouldn't say it to his face...but he looks every year of his age however on today's evidence he certainly doesn't play like it and he was a rock at the back. As with most friendly matches the managers made numerous substitutions but not Bobby Brown! He played the full ninety and I don't blame the home manager Kenny Cameron as I wouldn't have had the guts to take the man mountain off either.

A crowd of just under 100, by my headcount, was enjoying the game and the summer sunshine. As the second half wore on fans and some players from Fraserburgh and Broughty Amateurs began to arrive which swelled the attendance. A ball went into the houses behind the goal and a young ball boy sent to fetch it. He returned a few minutes later to tell the Broughty manager that it had gone. It turns out that one of the residents has taken to keeping any stray balls and apparently that was the 22nd one that had been taken. At £50 a time that was more than £1000 that this had cost the club to date the ball boy was told.

The young Dundee side did manage to trouble the home goalkeeper in the second half, an improvement on the first, however success eluded them. Broughty's substitute Perera was guilty of missing two gilt edged chances and the photo below shows a tame shot of his cleared off the lane.

Shortly afterwards the referee blew the final whistle to confirm Broughty's place in the final.

I had positioned myself at the car park end of the ground to aid a quick exit to the second part of my Dundee double. As I made my way out of the ground the Fraserburgh team bus was reversing in and threatened to block in my car. I just managed to squeeze out, narrowly avoided running over a few players as they collected their bags from the luggage hold, and I was on my way to Downfield.

Club Websites:
Broughty Athletic
Dundee