Crashing Down To Earth

After such a convincing victory over Dumbarton, Stenhousemuir were brought crashing down to earth with an away defeat to Albion Rovers which effectively ended any slim chances of a play –off spot. Manager Campbell Money was despondent at the performance and result “We played so well the previous game and went into the match with exactly the same line up, formation and tactics but in the end we fully deserved to lose the game as we played poorly throughout. I was and still am bitterly disappointed at the performance and felt that the player’s poor attitude was a major contributory factor. I met with certain players before our friendly against Alloa for an open and frank discussion and they were left in no doubt that such displays were not good enough. Some of them used the excuse that the heavy schedule of matches had taken its toll and I’m sure there is some merit in this but we simply must do better. It’s very seldom that I don’t take something positive from a game but I admit to struggling after the performance that night”. 

We took on Alloa in a friendly last Friday night losing 4-0. “I used the match to give certain players a match and thought we were pretty decent in the first half with the only goal coming against the run of play. We played most of the second half without a recognised centre half and the enforced changes made it debatable whether it was a worthwhile exercise other than keeping fringe players match fit.”

Tuesday night saw a Scotland Junior Select visit Ochilview with the Warriors running out comfortable 2-0 winners with goals from Gareth Hutchison in each half. “We played some good stuff at times with Gareth doing really well throughout and taking his 2 goals well. I left Paul Tyrell out to give him a rest before Saturday and played Darren Henderson in midfield with Tommy Sinclair and Brian McLaughlin in wide positions and the balance seemed to work. It also gave Robbie Henderson a chance to regain match fitness and I gave left back Gary Wilson from Junior outfit, Pollock, a trial- he did OK and will be worth another look, probably in pre-season”
 

Hampden awaits . . .

Tomorrow sees us travel to the National Stadium to play Queens Park. “This will be another really tough match, their recent record says it all- unbeaten in their last 9 and no goals conceded in their last 5. They’re up there challenging for the Championship on merit and virtually guaranteed a play off place with an entertaining style full of pace and good quality players. We need to reflect on the last game there where I thought we should have won but ended up with a 1-1 draw. The players should get a kick out of playing at the National Stadium and it would be great to take something from the game; we play all top 4 teams between now and the end of the season starting tomorrow and it would be good to give our fans something to cheer about by winning them all after such a disappointing season.” 

On the selection front, Mark Cowan and Gordon Connelly again miss out through injury with John Paul McBride and Scott McCulloch suspended. Youngsters Robert Forde, Stephen Desmond and Gary Thom are included as Campbell continues to give youth a chance. “Robert has been involved in our last 2 matches and also featured on Tuesday night where he did well along with Stephen and Gary. I’ll wait and see how the matches are progressing but it would be good to give them some more first team experience over the next few weeks”

Sinclair Signs On For Another Year

Finally, Campbell confirmed that young midfielder, Tommy Sinclair has agreed a 1 year extension to his contract. “Tommy has done well in recent matches and fully deserves his new deal. He works hard and gives us a different option in the midfield, I’m sure he’ll continue to develop over the rest of  this season and next.”

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