Normally the gaffers post match thoughts come through the medium of video however Ants TV didn’t get the chance to catch up with him after the match on Wednesday night on camera so we caught up with him on the phone later that night

ANTS TV – Sum up tonight’s match for us?

John Kelly – Tonight’s match was a typical end of season game where both teams really had nothing to play for, however I felt the level of our performance was not good enough. We set high standards in training and we try and take that into our games but tonight was well below par.

ANTS TV – Why do you think that was the case?

John Kelly – I think the game itself lacked any real quality if I’m honest, it was a very hard watch and was poor enough to make your eyes bleed. It was like both teams wanted to see who could kick the ball up the park the furthest and hope for the best at times which isn’t something we look for in our approach but again it’s been a long season and it did smack a lot of just wanting the season over, that meaningless game feel you get at the end of the season.

We had a decent backing tonight and I can only apologise to the guys who made the trip to Johnstone to support us

ANTS TV – One game left away to Newmains, whats the main aims in that one

John Kelly – We hope to go into that game and get a positive result, give some players who have been on the fringes extra game time,  but to be honest we are now looking at the summer and build on what we feel has been a positive first season for this squad.

#itsanendofseasonantsthing #forzaants

 

The fact that the Airbus A380 coming in to land at Glasgow Airport was one of the biggest talking points after the match could tell you everything you need to know about the match as a spectacle. An end of season match with nothing but pride to play for saw both teams fail to create many clear cut chances, although on the balance of the clearer cut chances Burgh maybe just deserved the three points.

The Ants almost got off to a flier after only 3 minutes when a corner was flicked into the path of Leszczynski at the back post but he was caught unaware and could only instinctively throw a leg at it which the ball hit and went inches past the Burgh keepers post. McCulloch then almost found the Burgh’s number 10 with a long free kick buttoo the striker failed to get on the end of it and the ball went out for a goal kick. Despite the tricky conditions under foot the Ants put together a nice move with Crawford and Smith linking up well before the ball found FItzpatrick in the box, he tried to square the ball across the six yard box but it hit an Ants player and was partially cleared to the edge of the box, McGarrigle and Lezczynski did well to create an opening for the Ants polish striker but his shot lacked direction and power and was held by the Burgh keeper. The Burgh’s best chance of the half fell to the number 10 when he was sent in on goal, beat the Ants poor offside trap and he raced in on the advancing Curran, but the Ants keeper stood tall and saved well when the striker eventually got his shot away.

HALF TIME – JOHNSTONE BURGH 0 v 0 ANTS

The second half got underway and within a minute of the restart we saw the appearance of a special guest as the Emirates Airbus A380 flew into view as it approached Glasgow Airport, a magnificent beast of a machine which took almost everyone’s eyes off the pitch for the minute or two it was in plain sight, the noise deafening, and then we turned back to the football and waited for something of interest to happen on there. The Ants fashioned a decent opportunity when Lezczynski and Smith combined well and found Crawford at the back post who fizzed the ball across the box but there were no takers and the chance was gone.  The match was getting a little stretched now and 11 fired over for Burgh when he should have hit the target, then Williams wild swipe at the back post saw his goalbound effort almost go out for a throw in but the ball was kept in play.  The Burgh then almost took the lead when their Keeper launched a free kick into the Ants box but it evaded everyone and Curran had to be alert to tip the ball over the bar and then from a free kick the ball was headed into the path of the Burgh’s number 10 who contrived to head over from 2 yards out.  The goal that won the game came in the 85th minute. The Ants had a corner kick and the ball was cleared long into the path of substitute MARK GARNER who raced through on Curran as Marshall tried to get back to stop him, and slotted the ball past Curran into the empty net sparking joyous scenes around Keanie Park from the home team fans and management. The Burgh Number 10 would be forgiven if he woke up in cold sweats last night as he spurned yet another great chance this time from a long ball by number 11 sent him through again on Curran but the Ants keeper was quick off his line and made a great tackle outside the 18 yard box to stop the Burgh doubling their lead.

FULL TIME – JOHNSTONE BURGH 1 (GARNER 85) v 0 ANTS

 

The Ants ended their home league campaign with a 3-2 win v Forth Wanderers when super sub Fraser Wheatley headed home on his home debut fifteen minutes from time to claim all three points.

The Ants were looking to bounce back from successive 5-1 defeats on the road to Lesmahagow and Vale of Clyde and Forth for their part aiming to build on a 2-2 draw with promotion chasing Ashfield as the sun shone down on a decent crowd at McKenna Park and it was the visitors who got off to a dream start when miscommunication in the Ants defence saw RYAN CHERRIE’S free kick evade everyone and sneak in at the back post with only 9 minutes on the clock. The Ants fans could have been forgiven for thinking not again given the previous two weeks but their despair turned to joy a minute later when Leszczynski flicked on a Litter throw into the path of STEVEN FITZPATRICK who showed great composure to lob the ball over the head of McPhee and into the net to bring the scores level.

The Ants had keeper Owen McCallum to thank for keeping the scores level in the 19th minute when he produced a great save from Boulbrachene after the forward had been sent scampering through on goal by Grenfell but McCallum stood tall and palmed the ball away one handed and the chance was gone. It wasn’t a game of many chances but Leszczynski fired over from the edge of the box for the Ants before the second goal which came in the 35th minute.  Good link up play by Leszczynski and Smith saw the latter break into the box and his square pass found Fitzpatrick who’s shot was only partially cleared by the feet of McPhee and straight to the feet of Williams who done well to get a cross to the back post where PAUL SMITH reacted quickest, reaching the ball with a diving header to divert the ball into the net and put the Govan side 2-1 up much to the delight of the McKenna Park crowd. Boulbrachene always looked dangerous when he got involved and he almost put Forth level just before the half time whistle but his shot lacked direction and went just past the post.

HALF TIME – ANTS 2 (FITZPATRICK 10, SMITH 35) v 1 FORTH WANDERERS (CHERRIE, 9)

It was a case of de ja vu for the Ants fans at the start of the second half as they saw their side lose another quick goal at the start of the half, In the 47th minute Former Ants man Tony Duffy found REDOUANE BOULBRACHENE with a through ball and despite suspicions of offside the Forth forward rounded Ants keeper McCallum and tapped the ball into the empty net to bring us level again at 2-2.  This sparked the Ants into life again Crawford had a free kick go wide, Conway’s flick from a Littler throw was held easily by McPhee and Leszczynski had a shot fly over as the Ants looked to go regain the lead, then Marshall’s free kick dipped just too late and went over.

The Ants introduced striker FRASER WHEATLEY for his home debut in the 63rd minute to give them a bit more height up front and 12 minutes  later the big man settled the match when he cushioned a fine header past McPhee and into the corner of the net from Littler’s throw in. The Ants had Marshall to thank in the 80th minute when he dispossessed Tobin just as the big sub was about to shoot when the ball broke to him free in the penalty area but it was the Ants who remained in front and claimed all three points.

FULL TIME – ANTS 3 (FITZPATRICK 10, SMITH 35, WHEATLEY 75) v 2 FORTH WANDERERS (CHERRIE 9, BOULBRACHENE 47)

 

A Scott Arthur strike in the 16th minute saw the Ants take all 3 points against third place Vale of Leven and it was a feeling of déjà vu as it was the strikers sole goal early in the earlier fixture at Millburn that got the Ants all three points on that occasion as well. Ants TV caught the match and the highlights are below –

Hello Ants, I hope you’ve had a great January!
How are your New Year’s resolutions holding up? I’d imagine better than mine
which has not lasted into February at all. In this issue of Ants Weekly I’d
like to take a look at a topic which has implications beyond football alone –
ticket touting. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the concept of ticket resale,
what with artists such as Ed Sheeran refusing entry to customers who’ve
purchased tickets from resale websites such as Viagogo. Many have seen this as
a positive move against the inflated prices from these companies and have
called for further action to ban this behaviour. However, it’s a more complex
issue than just banning it; did you know that even just lending your season
ticket to a friend qualifies as ticket touting?

Near the end of 2017, Celtic controversially
reasserted that fans should not lend a friend their season ticket. They claimed
that doing so risked compromising not only the club’s own safety measures but also
the SPFL’s regulations. Fans were outraged, and rightly so in my personal
opinion. While I do understand the rules by which a football club is bound,
more should be done to allow tickets to be reused in these situations, not to
fill the ground or even for the club to make money but just to give another fan
the chance to see their club play without engaging in an astronomical (not to
mention illegal) transaction. This topic signifies a fork in the road regarding
the sport’s continuing change towards commercialisation and it’s clear what the
right direction is.

For all except the most dedicated of fans, it’s
unavoidable to have to miss a game in a season. Maybe you’ve got to catch up on
some work, you’ve got a few errands to run or maybe you just don’t fancy a
freezing cold trip away up into the highlands. More and more clubs, such as
Liverpool and Wolves are offering a ‘ticket exchange’ system which allows
season ticket holders to inform the club of their non-attendance and allow
their seat to be resold. This scheme has been praised massively for ensuring
that stadia aren’t left half empty and is a positive move against ticket
touting issues. This contrasts with partnership deals that some clubs, such as
Manchester City, hold with the companies in question to allow trades between
fans to take place, usually at extortionate, inflated rates. With there being
no guarantee that season ticket holders will report their absences in time,
this is still very much a reality for many fans despite the ticket exchange scheme.

Football tickets for in-demand games are
especially prone to being touted. The Glasgow derby is a prime example.
Following cuts of away allocations for these fixtures to less than a thousand,
fans of the travelling side have been much harder pressed to find a ticket
which has led to supporters becoming left to scour resale opportunities. Some
opt to look for expensive hospitality options but the majority do resort to
this. There have been reported sales of around £1,300 for touted tickets for
the most recent derby at Ibrox on the 29th of December. The seller in question
also claimed to have around 6 tickets on twitter but details of this have been
removed online.

According to the Guardian, companies based off shore (of course this is to flout UK restrictions on touting) use software that ‘harvests’ tickets from specific football clubs purely to be sold on. Scarily, this software is free to use and readily available. Normal conditions don’t allow for a consumer to purchase more than a specified amount of tickets. This is usually a low but fair number and yet somehow hundreds of them appear online shortly after they go on sale. Be it up to the government to plug these legal loopholes or the club to see to it that no one overpays for a ticket, somebody needs to take action. £28 tickets for Arsenal vs Milan were recorded being sold for as much as £234.40 on Viagogo – over 8 times the original asking fee.

How do you feel about this? What would be your
solution to this problem? Get in touch at sjrussell23@outlook.com! Alternatively, email if you have any feedback or any other topic
you’d like covered in Ants Weekly. Thank you very much for taking the time to
read this, have yourself a fantastic week and I’ll speak with you all soon.

MON THE ANTS!!

The club are delighted to announce the signing of Goalkeeper Kenny McLachlan from Inverclyde AFC. Kenny has previously worked with Ants manager John Kelly in the past and John is sure that the experienced keeper will provide competition for Ants number 1 Owen McCallum, who is still out injured following a bad injury sustained in the 1-0 win over Ashfield. Speaking to the Ants website earlier today John said

Kenny is a player I know well having coached him when I was at Apex. He is a very strong and commanding goal keeper and his shot stopping is also very good.He will provide excellent competition for the keeper jersey at McKenna Park.

We look forward to seeing Kenny in action as he goes into the matchday squad for Saturday’s visit to Keanie Park

Welcome on board Kenny

The club are delighted to announce the signing of Welsh forward Frazer Wheatley following a successful trial with the club. Frazer joins the club having previously played for Welsh sides Llanwit Major FC, Bridgend, Llanelli Town AFC and Malvern Town. He is a bit behind fitness wise due to a lack of game time but manager John Kelly is sure it wont be long before he is pulling on the hoops, speaking to the Ants website he said

I am delighted to have got Frazer signed up. He has been training with us for a week now and we are very impressed with what we have seen. He played at a good level down in Wales and it was a no brainer to get him in the door. It will take a few weeks to get him up to full fitness as he hasn’t played much this year but he is a player with huge potential for the Ants.

Subject to international clearance he will be in contention for a place in Saturdays match day squad

Croeso ir clwb Frazer

The club are enraptured to note admission to the SPFL Clubs Statement League 2. It is an avowal of the hard work carried out by the club to keep it’s supporters and followers in the loop with the goings on within the club and the pellucidity of the statements provided by our wonderful admin team enable the message to be understood quickly and effectively.

It is surely these qualities that have led to our incorporation in the first ever Statement League 2 and we hope to ensure that going forward the club continues to provide clear and concise communication with yourselves and feel it would be foolish of us to repudiate this inclusion alongside such luminaries as Dundee United, our friends at Stirling Albion and the SFA/SPFL/Refs Union

For more information on the Statement League visit https://lewiscumming.wixsite.com/statementleague

ENDS

The club are delighted to announce that experienced full back Andrew Scanlan has rejoined the club following his departure at the end of last season.

Manager John Kelly has been busy trying to sort a natural left sided defender all day and speaking to the Ants website he said “After spending much of the day trying to get a player which is a natural left back, i am delighted to get to get the experience of Scanners back to McKenna Park, I briefly saw Scanners qualities last season and i think he will add a lot to the current squad and will give us a bit if depth in the full back position til the end of the season.”

Scanners himself is glad to be back in the McKenna Park dressing room “I am looking forward to getting back involved with the club and the dressing room have missed it over the past few months but circumstances have dictated or I would have still been there. After a good chat with John I was looking forward to getting back in about it till the end of the season and hopefully get a trial at Roma out of it 😂😂”

Welcome back on board Scanners its good to have you back