Stranraer vs Stenhousemuir

Match Report

Stranraer v Stenhousemuir at Stair Park, Stranraer on 15.04.21

SPFL League Two

Stranraer 4 [Hilton 17, Orr 21, Paton 21, 73] Stenhousemuir 0

Stranraer – Fleming, Cummins, Sonkur, Robertson, Burns [Taylor 80][b85], Hilton [Josh Walker 76] McManus, Millar, Stirling, [Victoria 76] Orr [Yates 69] and Paton.

Subs not used – Duffy, Elliott, Devitt, Jamie Walker

Stenhousemuir – Martin, Corbett [Grigor 79], Brydon, Little [b33], Kane [Biabi h/t][b90], Hodge, Blair [Fairley 74], Tapping, Yeats, Docherty [McGuigan h/t] and Muir [Hopkirk h/t]

Subs not used – Erskine, Grigor, Collins, Halleran, Watters

Referee – Peter Stuart              Assistants – Graham McNeillie and Frazer Bushell

Another rare Thursday game saw Stenhousemuir on their travels for a trip down to Stranraer. There were a few familiar faces in the Stranraer ranks as ex-Warriors Greg Fleming, Sean Burns, Kieran Millar and Andy Stirling all started for the Blues [though they were wearing a white top and shorts on this occasion]

Stranraer took the game to the Warriors in the early stages and they had a claim for a penalty in the 6^th minute when Ruari Paton went down in a tackle from Callum Yeats but to the despair of the Stranraer players only a corner was awarded.

Stranraer took the lead in the 17^th minute when a pinpoint pass by Connor McManus picked out Paton who squared the ball to James Hilton to fire home from the edge of the box. Two minutes later Scott Robertson’s pass could have been blocked by Ryan Blair but was allowed to go through to Tommy Orr and he fired home. Two minutes later it was 3-0 when Paton was given too much time and he picked his spot to put Stranraer three up. At this juncture a change in formation occurred as the back three had been struggling and went to a standard four at  the back.

There was a chance to set back into the game in the 23^rd minutewhen poor play by Burns saw Docherty win the ball and pick out Tommy Muir but a heavy touch meant that Fleming was able to collect. Creag Little was booked for a foul on Paton in the 33^rd minute as possibly caught for pace.

Towards the end of the half Paddy Martin did well to keep the score down first with a save from Paton and then a one handed save to turn a Hilton shot round the post and then a long ball picked out Orr and Martib saved once again in a one on one situation. At the other end Fleming was effectively an observer as the Warriors failed to get going at all and most moves broke down in the early stages.

David Irons made three changes at half time but it was  the home side who came closest to making their mark when Paton struck the post from outside of the box. Ex-Warriors Millar and Stirling combined in the 56^th minute to set up Paton but Martin brought off a superb save and then he was able to stop the rebound from Orr.

There was a really good chance to get a consolation in the 70^th minute when a Callum Tapping free-kick was met by Little but it went wide with Fleming in no mans land. In the 73^rd minute though Stranraer made it 4-0 when Stirling picked out Paton to slot home.

There was no further scoring with Stenhousemuir a shadow of the team that played against Elgin with possibly the run of games catching up with them. This defeat means that Stenhousemuir will be in sixth spot going into the split.