Stirling Albion v Stenhousemuir FC

Stirling Albion v Stenhousemuir at Doubletrees Dunblane Stadium, Stirling on 2.1.12

Irn Bru Scottish Second Division               Att 578

Stirling Albion 3[Cook 54, Thom 68, Flood 90] Stenhousemuir 1 [Thomson 83]

 

Stenhousemuir started 2012 the same way that they finished 2011 with a poor performance that ultimately saw them lose by two goals. This was despite the respective opposition being at the opposite ends of the table with Cowdenbeath top whilst Stirling Albion were bottom prior to this victory at Forthbank.

 

The Warriors welcomed Brown Ferguson back into the team along with newcomer Jamie Campbell who has signed on loan from Partick Thistle for the rest of the season. With Sean Dickson also starting this meant that Paul McHale and Willie Lyle dropped to the bench whilst Eric Paton was missing from the squad completely.

 

It was not long though before Lyle made an appearance as he had to replace Stevie Murray in only 9 minutes after the winger was injured. Prior to this Murray had tested Callum Reidford with a free kick that Stewart Kean had just failed to get on the end of.

 

Decent chances were at a premium though through a poor first half and although Ally Brown was called into action in the 27^th minute to stop a Scott Davidson shot low down; it was not until the 43^rd minute before any real chances for either team came about.

 

In one of the few moments of football in the half Campbell struck a decent shot that Reidford stopped but the ball fell to Kean and his effort was pushed out for a corner by the Stirling keeper.

 

As seems to be the norm these days the Warriors were struggling to adjust to the wind and rain and as a consequence Stirling were rarely tested for the majority of the game. This must have given the home side confidence as they looked to end a sequence of five straight defeats. Under the stewardship of interim manager Greig MacDonald they looked better organised than before but still Stenhousemuir should not have let them settle into their game.

 

If the Stenhousemuir supporters were disgruntled at half time even worse was to come in the second period with manager David Irons calling the performance disgraceful and disgusting.

 

Stirling took the lead in the 54^th minute following some initial abject defending followed by a couple of blocks by Willie Lyle to try and restore the situation but when the ball broke towards Alan Cook he reacted quicker than anyone else and fired the ball into the net.

 

Worse was to follow in the 68^th minute when ex-Warrior Gary Thom struck the vital blow when he headed home a Darren Smith corner. Gary has always been a danger at set pieces and the marking on him for the goal was woeful to say the least. Ally Brown felt that he had been fouled but the only thing that came from his protests was the inevitable caution.

 

The Warriors did eventually get the ball into the opposition net in the 80^th minute but the goal was not given due to Andy Rodgers being marginally offside. If the pass to him had not been delayed fractionally he would have been ok but that was the way the game was going.

 

Stenhousemuir did eventually score two minutes later when a deft pass by Rodgers was played into Iain Thomson who picked his spot and dispatched the ball past Reidford. This gave brief hope but when Rodgers headed wide with two minutes left these hopes evaporated.

 

In time added on Stirling’s Josh Flood made sure of the points for the home side when he took advantage of Lyle losing possession and struck a fine shot into the net. This was a quality strike that to be honest seemed out of place with some of the play that had went on previously.

 

It is safe to say that the holiday period has not been the best for Stenhousemuir and they will need to raise their game sooner rather than later if they are not to start sliding down the table rather than climbing it.

 

Stirling Albion – Reidford, Fagan, Jacobs, McLeish, Allison, Thom, Smith, McSorley [Crawley 90], Davidson, Bonar [Nicholas 72] and Cook [Flood 67]. Subs not used – MacPherson and Cleland

 

Stenhousemuir – Brown, Corrigan, Dickson, McKinlay, McMillan, Thomson, Ferguson, Rodgers, Kean, Campbell [Quinn 80] and Murray [Lyle 9]. Subs not used – McHale, Lawson and McCluskey

 

Referee – Craig Charleston         Assistants – Gavin Duncan and Craig Young