Stenhousemuir vs Arbroath

Match Report

A historic flag day for the team and a return to League 1 football was brilliantly topped off with a warrior’s victory.

We faced off with Arbroath for the first time in five years with both teams aiming to round off opening day by bagging three points.

The Warriors dominated the first half and gave Arbroath very little to work with, but ultimately had nothing to show for our determination.

Matty Yates had a great chance in the 17th minute to open the scoring, but his low shot from outside the box was palmed away but Arbroath’s McAdams.

Yates turned provider just 5 minutes later when his delivery from a corner met the head of Jacobs, however he headed just over the target.

We went into half time with the bulk of possession and our fair share of corners, but missing that all important goal. Our fortunes changed in the second half though, and we turned in our most dominant performance yet, which saw us wrap up three points.

Ross Taylor’s effort broke the deadlock ten minutes after the restart to get the Warriors on their way. An inch perfect through ball found Taylor whose original shot was saved, but on his second attempt, he fired the ball in off the bar to catapult us into a well deserved lead. 1-0.

Just 3 minutes later, we doubled our lead through Kyle Banner. Another corner swung in by Matty Yates found the highest riser, Banner, who powered his header into the top corner, gaining his first goal for the club. 2-0.

The visitors made an effort to pull themselves back into the game in the 88th minute with what must be described as a wonder goal, however, it was against the run of play. A free-kick awarded outside the box far on the left side allowed Coulson to size up a shot. He arrowed his effort with pinpoint precision towards the far post to claw one back for the visitors. 2-1.

A more than deserved victory on flag day for the Warriors saw us register our first three points of the new league campaign. We face Kelty Hearts next Saturday aiming to continue today’s form.