Annan Athletic vs Stenhousemuir

Match Report

Annan Athletic v Stenhousemuir at Galabank, Annan on 27.04.21

SPFL League Two

Annan Athletic 1 [Wallace 50]  Stenhousemuir 1 [Hopkirk 83]

Annan Athletic – Munro, Fulton, Love, Watson [Anderson 88], Douglas, Swinglehurst, Wallace, Hunter [b10], Smith, Fleming and Flanagan [Christie 86].

Subs not used – Mitchell, Sinnamon, Docherty, Currie, McCaw and Emerson

Stenhousemuir –Martin, Brydon, Kane [b42], Little [b78[, Tiffoney [b53][Halleran 69], Watters [Collins 56], Blair, Grigor [b90], Hopkirk, Biabi [Muir 69] and Hodge

Subs not used – Erskine, McGuigan, Shiels, McCracken and McQueen

Referee – Lloyd Wilson            Assistants – Gary Hilland and Brian Christie

For the second Tuesday in a row the Warriors made the trip down to Annan. In the previous game there was a goal flurry in the early stages with Mark McGuigan pouncing on an Owen Moxon error before the Annan made up for it by creating two goals all within the first ten minutes. Moxon was suspended for this game after being sent off on Saturday whilst McGuigan was on the bench.

McGuigan was one of five changes to the starting eleven for this game with Josh Grigor, Ryan Watters, Jonathan Tiffoney, Creag Little and Ryan Blair all starting. Tommy Muir joined McGuigan on the bench as the forward line was refreshed whilst Adam Corbett, Callum Tapping and Callum Yeats all had knocks.

The previous game was vital for Annan’s push to stay out of the relegation play-off and the subsequent results meant that this game was effectively a dead rubber. There was little goalmouth action in the opening exchanges and it took until the 19th minute for an opportunist attempt by Ryan Blair to create a glimmer of excitement.

Gradually Annan began to push more forward and they could have opened the scoring in the 27^th minute when Dean Watson headed over. Neither keeper had a save to make until the 38^th minute when Annan debutant Ross Munro saved a Blair effort with his feet after Tiffoney had initially won possession and whipped the ball into the danger area. A minute later a Josh Grigor strike took a slight deflection before hitting the woodwork. In the 41^st minute Swinglehurst split the defence and Nathan Flanagan effort was saved at close range by Paddy Martin.

Annan started the second half better and they were rewarded through a fine strike by Tony Wallace following a corner kick in the 50^th minute. That gave the Annan the lift that they required and began to cause more problems as the game progressed with Watson coming close on a couple of occasions. Flanagan was the key player creating opportunities and Martin thwarted him with a fine stop at close range.

As the game went into the latter stages though the Warriors drew level when ex-Annan player David Hopkirk fired a Thomas Collins cross from the left past Munro in the 82^nd minute.Collins had a real chance to put Stenhousemuir ahead when a loose ball from a Thomas Halleran free kick landed at his feet but a fresh air swipe meant the danger dissipated. In the last minute a Martin free kick was missed by Munro and the Matty Douglas  almost put the ball into his own net before managing to rescue the situation.

Interested spectators for the Warriors were the new manager Stephen Swift and backroom staff of Frazer Wright and Michael Moore.