Home Defeat to Berwick Rangers

The final game of 2006 saw The Warriors defeated at home by in form Berwick Rangers to end the year in sixth place, 8 points behind leaders East Fife albeit with a game in hand. Campbell Money reflected on the game with mixed emotions. “Bitter–sweet is how I would describe my overall feelings on the defeat; I thought that we performed really well from an attacking point of view and some of our football was terrific but at the same time defensively we were poor throughout the team. Each of their goals were avoidable and down to defensive errors on our part; poor marking at the first was followed soon after by a catalogue of errors for the second, which was especially galling as it happened so soon after our equaliser. We needed to keep it safe until the game settled again but we made 3 basic errors in the build up to them scoring; the players are encouraged to play from the back and pass the ball but the players need to make the right decisions. The 3^rd goal came about as a result of a poor clearance, then we failed to close Greenhill down but Andy Carlin should have done better.

On a more positive note I was delighted that Gareth got on the scoresheet again after a great flick from Mark Cowan – just reward for all the hard work he’s put in over recent weeks. Shaun Fagan did really well to get into the box for our second and finished well to get us back into the game and I thought he was, by far, our best player in the second half once he settled down to the pace of the game. I’m sure there’s more to come from him over the coming weeks.”
 

Home to Albion Rovers–Sat 6 January

Following on from the disappointing but not unexpected postponement of The Shire game on Tuesday, our rearranged game with Albion Rovers is the first fixture of 2007. Campbell and Brian Hamilton held a training session on New Years Day followed by a squad match on 2 January before heading off to Cliftonhill to take in Rovers 2-1 victory over Queens Park. “Albion Rovers were impressive and deservedly won the game which emphasises how difficult the match on Saturday will be; they’ve now won their last 2 games and will no doubt be looking to extend their winning streak. They made a few positional changes from the last time we played them in mid December and they played the game with a great spirit and good skill level; they’re very much an improving team and we’ll need to be at our best to take 3 points from the game” 

On the selection front, Campbell welcomes back JP McBride to the squad following suspension whilst he is confident that both Willie McCulloch and Iain Diack will have fully recovered from flu to be added to the pool. Kevin McLeish is rated doubtful with a groin injury as is Andy Carlin with a thigh problem. David Templeton did some light jogging on Tuesday and will train again on Thursday before any final decision is made on his availability.

McCulloch, McBride and Diack - should all be back.
 

Transfer Window News

Campbell continues to work behind the scenes on new signings/loan deals so keep an eye on the new website for updates as the month progresses.

Warriors’ top scorer John Baird has decided to return to St Mirren at the end of his loan period at Ochilview. Campbell was quick to praise the youngster’s contribution of 6 goals during his spell “John wanted to go back to Love St in order to give himself every opportunity to earn a new contract at the end of the season. He felt that by going back, he had a better chance of doing so and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for his time here at Ochilview and  to wish him all the very best for his future career”

Following on from his debut at East Fife and subsequent appearance against Berwick Rangers, teenage striker Scott McManus has put pen to paper on an extension to his contract until May 2008. “As I said last week, Scott is one for the future and I’m delighted that he’s committed to the club for next season”

More next week.

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