>Hiya all
>
>Parscelona, Erin Hibs, AC Celtic and Ayr United congregated at the Jack Kane
>Centre in Edinburgh, on Saturday to fight it out for Stramash '99. The
>conditions overhead were perfect for sunbathing, less so for football, as it
>was hot and humid. Who says the sun never shines up here? Parscas
>pre-tournament training week in Brazil had done them no harm at all it, in
>fact it had acclimatised them for the conditions. The fact that the pitch
>had no lines drawn on it  and there were piles of mown grass everywhere was
>just a minor inconvenience.
>
>And so we played some footie. Parsca were missing seven of their Leicester
>squad but nevertheless, strolled to a 3-0 lead against Hibs, with Stuart
>'Eva' Holland (drive from the right hand side of the penalty box), Cameron
>Wilson (glorious header in the six yard box) and wonderkid Grant
>Cotter all making the scoresheet. After a bit of sloppy defending it was 3-2
>but sealed the win with Grant Cotter getting a brace to make it 4-2 to
>Parsca. Three points to Parsca, looking like Champions already.
>
>Celtic and Ayr United were next, and I'll leave the details to them but
>Celtic won 2-1.
>
>Next, the mighty Dunfermline took on Celtic, who we had never beaten before
>but a combination of great defending and another goal from Grant Cotter saw
>Parsca as winners, 1-0 the Pars, we only needed a point to secure the title.
>Afterwards, Dunfermline celebrated the win over Celtic with a traditional
>Fife 'huddle' which went down very well with both sides :-)
>
>Hibs beat Ayr United 3-1 in the next game, as champions elect Dunfermline
>sportingly cheered both sides on.
>
>And so to the decider, we only needed a point, but we're nice folk you know,
>so we decided to give away an early penalty, before equalising. Ayr scored
>again but the glorious Pars equalised again. For some reason Celtic and Hibs
>were supporting Ayr at this point - can't think why. We could have gone and
>won the game of course, but that would have left Ayr without a point and we
>knew this would sap their confidence for future games.
>
>And as the newly crowned Stramash '99 Champions celebrated with a few beers,
>Celtic and Hibs played the remaining fixture, which Hibs won 2-1.
>
>And so, dehydrated, starving and sunburnt, there was only one to do, and
>that was to go and get blootered. Everyone had refused overtime on Sunday,
>many had phoned in sick - 'heat exhaustion' 'hay fever' 'migraine' were the
>most popular excuses so it seemed. Started in Bannermans on the Cowgate,
>tried to go to The Green Tree only to find it had been bulldozed, so went to
>the Firkin, erm, memory loss is kicking in now, ah yes, The Tron and then
>Legends. I do recall dancing away with Donaldo of the Hibees to Dancing
>Queen and Saturday Night Fever amongst others - shake that ass tootsie!!
>Don't remember all the details (alleyways, building site, kebab shop) but I
>woke up with a skinned knee this morning and a bashed head, I'm sure someone
>will remember how it happened.
>
>Thank you to the Hibees for organising the whole thing, it was a great day
>out and really good fun I'm sure you'll agree. The downside of being a Pars
>fan is that you never win anything, or see any victories - the last time I
>saw ANY Pars team win was February, and it was nice to win a few games and
>regain the faith in football.
>
>Up the Pars
>
>Lynne
>x x x