The Castle Park - Craigielaw result (Sunday 27th October) has been chalked off, as it emerged the match was played at the wrong venue !

Craigielaw skipper Gordon Smith thought he had spotted an error on the fixture list, as he recalled making the trip to the Lammermuirs last season, so he contacted his opposite number to move the match to his own team's course.

But there was no error.  As league secretary Torquil McInroy explained, the Division 2 fixture list was re-shuffled to address an imbalance that became apparent last year.

"Teams in Div 2 play each other just once during the season, and the feedback was that amongst the 'big five' promotion hopefuls some enjoyed more home advantage than others.  So we've introduced an element of seeding.  This year the seeded teams are Tantallon, Royal Musselburgh, Dunbar, Haddington and Craigielaw, and the draw now ensures these five play twice at home and twice away in matches against each other.

But in making this change there was a knock-on effect which means several fixtures take place at the same venue as last season.  Normal service will be resumed moving forward, and in most (if not all) cases teams in Div 2 will play each other home and away in alternate seasons."

Unfortunately none of this came to light until last Sunday's match had been played (a 5-0 scoreline in Craigielaw's favour). The competitions committee ruled that the extra home match would give Craigielaw an unfair advantage if the result were to stand, so they ordered the game to be replayed.

The ruling means Craigielaw, who briefly appeared on top of the pile, now find temselves back in mid-table. So Smith's team must head for the hills once again this season, and they will have their sights set on a quick return to the promotion zone when the rearranged match takes place at Castle Park on Sunday 24th November.