Albion Rovers 1 v 2 Elgin City 
Division 3
6th September 2003
Albion Rovers 1 v 2 Elgin City
Division 3
6th September 2003
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Attendance : 394
Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : McManus (30). Elgin City : Martin (52, 83).
The Elgin hoodoo over Rovers is alive and well and living at Cliftonhill! That’s the inescapable fact which emerges from yet another extremely disappointing result against the men from the north. Since their elevation to the Scottish League, City have now played six matches at Cliftonhill - and have yet to lose.
Of course, there’s no such thing as a hoodoo - unless it’s in the mind - because a very ordinary City side was virtually gifted all three points from this one by yet another substandard display by the men at the back. For three successive matches now, slack defending has given the opposition something of a field day and it is clear that drastic action must be taken - and soon. Mind you, apart from signing a few world-class defensive experts, the choices open to manager Peter Hetherston are severely limited.
Early on, there was plenty of action to keep the crowd interested as a Yardley header caused problems for Pirie and an Alex Bone free-kick defected off the defensive wall into Chris Fahey’s arms. Then the visitors forced two corners in quick succession, but neither came to anything. Then City’s Kevin Steele fired wildly over the crossbar before a typically excellent cross from Kevin McAllister just eluded Paul McManus at the back post.
Rovers Joy
In 21 minutes, Rovers were dealt a blow when Jered Stirling was led off with a broken nose, and Kevin McBride came on. Having said that, young McBride turned out to be at least a partial success on the day. Although City continued to force the pace with another series of corners, it was Rovers who took the lead in 30 minutes. Yardley found the unmarked McManus ion the left about thirty yards out and much to the surprise of everyone, but especially Martin Pirie in the visitors’ goal, the striker simply took a couple of paces and let fly with a powerful shot which sped into the net. It was a goal to savour.
City’s Scott Murphy had a couple of opportunities before the interval, but his first was skied high over the top and his second, a free-kick, went straight into Fahey’s arms. Just on the whistle, John McCaig was booked for a clumsy tackle.
Elgin continued to impress at the start of the second period, with Murphy’s cross being just too near Fahey who plucked it out of the air with relative ease. At the other end, McManus tried again, but his drive skewed across goal and out on the far side. Then Cliftonhill was silenced as the visitors scored in 52 minutes. A diagonal cross ball reached Willie Martin out on the right and, virtually unchallenged, the former Queen’s Park man raced in to beat Fahey with a low shot which entered at the far post. While Martin and his colleagues celebrated joyfully, there were a number of guilty looks in the home ranks.
Elgin, now cock-a-hoop, stormed forward again, this time in the shape of Steele whose promising run was halted by Fahey’s last minute touch to divert the ball. Then Andy Paterson found Jim Mercer running through, but the big man could not control the ball before it ran out of play. In 62 minutes, it looked as if City had taken the lead, but Bone’s flick sent the ball just wide.
No Red-Card
Following a booking for former Rover Steve McCormick, Yardley, with a trade-mark header was unlucky to see his effort strike the crossbar on the way over. City’s Craig Campbell and Rab Coulter were next to have their names taken by referee John Fleming, the latter seemingly being extremely fortunate not to have been red-carded for deliberate handling.
With just seven minutes remaining, City struck the final killer blow when Martin, again left in acres of space, found time to net his second from a very similar position. Rovers did rally after this, but it was never going to be their day, with even a penalty-conceding kick on Yardley going unnoticed by the officials. Yardley and McCaig did have tries near the end, but a dismal day simply did not get any better.
Albion Rovers Man of the Match : Yet again, it has to be Kevin McAllister. The mercurial midfield maestro is simply a class above everyone else.
Albion Rovers : Fahey, Paterson (Skinner 82), Stirling (McBride 21), Farrell, Cormack, McCaig, McAllister (Diack 71), McCaul, Yardley, McManus, Mercer. Unused Subs : Smith, Swain.
Elgin City : Pirie, Hind, McMillan, White, Coulter, Murphy, Martin, McCormick (Ogboke 77), Bone, Steele (Gallagher 72), Campbell. Unused Subs : Teasdale, McMullan, Hamilton.
Referee : John Fleming.
Man of the match : Kevin
McAllister
