St Andrews United boss Robbie Raeside gives his thoughts on floodlight failure postponement at Newtongrange Star

After having five league matches postponed earlier this season due to bad weather causing unplayable pitches, St Andrews United had yet another game put off on Wednesday night – but for an altogether different reason.
By Craig Goldthorp
Published 25th Apr 2024, 10:04 BST
Saints boss Robbie Raeside sends on substitutes James Murage and Tobias Davies-Browne during Saturday's 8-1 cup win at Ormiston PrimroseSaints boss Robbie Raeside sends on substitutes James Murage and Tobias Davies-Browne during Saturday's 8-1 cup win at Ormiston Primrose
Saints boss Robbie Raeside sends on substitutes James Murage and Tobias Davies-Browne during Saturday's 8-1 cup win at Ormiston Primrose

Robbie Raeside’s second-placed side faced a key midweek East of Scotland League first division encounter at fifth-placed promotion rivals Newtongrange Star, but the scheduled 7.45pm kick-off at New Victoria Park was postponed due to floodlight failure.

“It sums up this season in terms of postponements,” Raeside told the Herald and Citizen. “It’s just been unbelievable.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"But we had some boys struggling to get down there from work and a couple of the boys coming back from injury. My assistant manager (Garry Wright) was also struggling to get down there because of a work thing he had on.

New Victoria Park, home of Newtongrange Star (Pic by Scott Louden)New Victoria Park, home of Newtongrange Star (Pic by Scott Louden)
New Victoria Park, home of Newtongrange Star (Pic by Scott Louden)

"So I’m not going to lose any sleep over this. It would have been nice to get the game out the way and have one less game between now and the end of the season, but it’s not the end of the world, we just have to get on with it.

"I think Newtongrange had offered to bring the kick-off forward to 7pm, but it was late afternoon and we had half the team coming from two hour journeys. You can’t change to a 7pm kick-off at a couple of hours notice.

"The good thing is that it’s not like we’ve had a bad spell of weather and we’ll not have another game. We’ve got another game on Saturday, against Newtongrange ironically, at home, in the King Cup fourth round.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"At least we’ll have a game to keep the fluidity going and we’ve got four league games within 10 days after that.

"That’s brilliant, because it’s a chance to really seal our fate for the season.

"It’s in our own hands, it’s up to us. If you want to get promotion you’ve got to do it yourself."

On last Saturday’s 8-1 King Cup third round win at Ormiston Primrose, Raeside added: “It was really pleasing. James Murage came on and scored a hat-trick so it was good to see what he could do. Young Tobias Davies-Browne also did well and it was good to get Scott Reekie game time.”

United also have a home league game against Blackburn United next Wednesday, May 1, kick-off 7.30pm.

Related topics:St Andrews UnitedVictoria Park

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.