More Ba photos

From New Year's Day.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers!

Another 2 Uppie victories today. A much longer - and colder - game than on Christmas Day, with a collapsed wall to add to the drama! More photos to follow tomorrow.

Christmas Day Men's Ba - part 2

The Ba moved relatively quickly off Broad Street and headed up Victoria Street. I spent a while taking videos - then moved back to some photos as it crossed the bottom of the Clay Loan and started moving along Main Street.

By this time there was a big crowd watching. I think it was maybe bigger than the usual Christmas Day crowd (the New Year's Day Ba generally has more spectators) - perhaps the dry and relatively mild weather brought more people than usual out to watch.

The Ba went over this wall - then back again. Kye was on the wall taking photos for a while before the Ba suddenly got put over - rapidly followed by a number of players!

The Ba soon came back over the wall.

It moved along Main Street towards the Uppie Goal, then back towards the Clay Loan. At this point I was on the balcony of the West End Hotel - this photo is looking back towards Clay Loan.

People who have houses (or hotels) along the Ba's route get a bird's eye view.

The Ba then moved back 'up' - here it's almost opposite the West End Hotel. The clouds of steam generally let you see where the Ba is in the tight pack!

The Ba finally reaches the Uppie goal at Mackinson's corner.

And touches the wall, to cheers from the Uppies and their supporters.

The fight to crown the winner of the Ba then begins.

Finally, the winner arises from the pack - holding the Ba aloft in victory.

Christmas Day Mens' Ba - part 1

The teams have gathered - and there's almost a party atmosphere at the start.

Almost 1pm, and ready for the throw up.

A good crowd has gathered to watch.

Almost 1pm, and the hands go up in readiness - a bit of jostling for position begins.

The Ba is thrown ...

Hands make a grab for it, and it soon disappears into the mass of players.

Play swirls around on Broad Street - seeming to move more rapidly than it has in recent games. The Doonies look like they have more stregth this year.

More play on Broad Street.

The Ba moves doon from the Mercat Cross - I think that's the furthest 'doon the gates' that we've seen the mens' ba go in the past few years.