Annan Athletic v Stenhousemuir FC

 Irn Bru League Three                          Att 805

Annan Athletic 1 [MacBeth 32]     Stenhousemuir 1 [McLeod 48]

 

 

For the third time this season the spoils were shared between Stenhousemuir and Annan with there being little between the teams. Going into this game Annan had borrowed covers from Queen of the South to protect their ground and this had the desired effect in allowing the game to go ahead when it would have been off otherwise as the tempretures dipped last night.

 

It is safe to say though that the underfoot conditions were not the best and both teams struggled at times to cope with the gluepot conditions.

 

Stenhousemuir changed their formation from a 3-5-2 the previous week to a more conventional 4-4-2 with Craig Molloy making his first start for the club and the starting eleven also featured Iain Diack who looked as if he would miss out after injury the previous week.

 

The Warriors started brightly and Annan keeper Craig Summersgill was called into action in the third minute of the game to save an Iain Diack effort with his feet. Annan though were soon to cause danger at the other end and top scorer Mike Jack burst through the middle of the Stenhousemuir defence but a combination of a Scott Bennett tackle and the ball holding up meant that the danger was cleared.

 

As the game progressed it was the home side that looked the more lively as they were winning the midfield battle getting to the ball first on a number of occasions  and they saw Lee Hoolickin head just over from 12 yards in the 20^th minute then a Jack free kick saved by Bennett in the 27^th minute.             Stenhousemuir responded with a Jordan Smith glancing header from a Kevin Motion corner that went just past the post in the 31^st minute.

 

Stenhousemuir were unable to build on thqat play though as a minute later the Galabankies took the lead. Jack curled a freekick from inside the ‘D’ to Bennett’s left hand post and although the keeper did well to get a hand to it he was unable to prevent John MacBeth following up to tuck the rebound into the net. This was no more than the home side deserved at this time as they were beginning to open up the Stenhousemuir defence too often.

 

With two minutes of the half to go Stenhousemuir should have equalized but Andrew Brand missed the target with a header from close range.

 

In recent games the Warriors have been caught out at the start of the second half but this time they started fully focused and almost scored in the 47^th minute when a run by Chris McGroarty took him past three players and when his cross was only cleared to Iain Thomson the midfield player hit a first time effort that Summersgill did well to push over the bar. From the resultant corner the Warriors did actually equalize when once again the ball was only cleared to the edge of  the box , this time to Chris McLeod and the center half fired a shot into the net off the post for his second goal in two games.

 

Annan brought out the best in Bennett once again in the 72^nd minute when he brought off a brave stop at Jack’s feet and seconds later tipped a powerful Graeme Bell effort round the post.

 

Although much of the play was at the wrong end of the park for Stenhousemuir they almost made the crucial play in the 84^th minute when Scott Dalziel though the effort of perseverance somehow managed to get inside the opposition box and from the byline cut it back towards debutant Alan Morgan but Derek Townsley made a very timely interception.

 

In time added on the Warriors had a decent shout for a penalty after a defender handled the ball but the appeals were waived away by referee Mike Tumilty and the whistle blew seconds later to draw the game to a close.

 

Annan Athletic – Summersgill, Watson, Hoolickin [Inglis 76], Townsley, Neilson, Jack, Sloan, Cusack [Adamson 66], Bell, Dunbar and MacBeth [Muirhead 63]. Subs not used – Storey and Calder

 

Stenhousemuir – Bennett, Lyle, McGroarty, Smith, McLeod, Molloy, Thomson [b68], Brand, Dalziel [b37], Diack [Love 84] and Motion [Morgan 81]. Subs not used – Shiira, Ovenstone and Renton

 

Referee – Mike Tumilty           

Assistants – Des Roache and Don Robertson