Albion Rovers 1 v 1 Stranraer 
Division 3
9th August 2003
Albion Rovers 1 v 1 Stranraer
Division 3
9th August 2003
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Attendance : 323
Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : McManus (25) Stranraer : Kerr (21)
Straightaway, let’s be quite honest - Rovers scarcely deserved to get a share of the points from a match in which for long periods they played second fiddle to an extremely competent Stranraer side. There, that’s it said!
Now, we’ll get down to the nitty gritty of this first match of the new campaign, and if the name of referee Eddie Mack crops up occasionally, well, so be it, for the man in the middle was at his controversial best.
Nevertheless, top billing goes to Rovers’ ‘keeper Chris Fahey for a series of stunning saves, culminating in an absolute peach of a stop from Michael Moore’s 87th minute penalty kick. If that one had gone in, there would have been no way back for the Coatbridge lads who seemed to have succumbed to the roasting temperature and were hanging on for dear life.
The visitors started brightly and it took some time for Rovers to realise that they were conceding just too much territorial advantage - and too easily. The blue-shirted guests looked very impressive at this stage and if anyone thought that they were flattering to deceive, well, they had another think coming. Allan Jenkins ballooned an early one high over Fahey’s crossbar and a few minutes later, deadly marksman Moore burst through the middle only to scoop the ball wide while under pressure.
It was not until the 17th minute that Rovers gave the fans anything to shout about, but Jed Stirling’s free-kick curled just beyond a post instead of inside it.
When Jenkins burst clear on the right wing in the 21st minute, his colleague Paul Kerr was clearly offside in the middle of the park. However, referee Mack allowed play to continue and nanoseconds later Kerr popped up in front of goal to prod the ball behind the helpless Fahey. In spite of the fact that protests never bear fruit, Rovers’ bench quite rightly and heatedly made Mr Mack aware of their feelings, earning a telling-off from the official who said that as the player (Kerr) had not been interfering with play, no offside was signaled. If scoring a goal from the same move is not interfering with play, then what is?
To their great credit, Rovers buckled down and within four minutes drew level. Having won a corner on the right, the trusty left foot of Stirling flighted the ball deep into the opposition area. Goalkeeper Andy McCondichie flapped to no avail, the ball got to the back post and Paul McManus outjumped many taller players to head the ball home from close in.
After Peter Cormack appeared to talk himself into a booking, there was a bit of a lull in the proceedings until Rovers’ David Farrell and Stranraer’s Tom McAllister had a bit of a set-to in the middle of the park. Although Farrell had fouled the visitor - and was probably rightly booked for doing so - McAllister, who had retaliated by raising his hands and pushing Farrell, totally escaped censure of any kind, when the least he could have expected was a yellow card. Once again, Mr Mack’s name was taken in vain!
Iain Diack almost became a hero within seconds after the interval, his low shot having McCondichie scrambling to turn the ball round a post. The, McManus showed great tenacity to win the ball and thread it through to Kevin McAllister who unfortunately shot straight at the ‘keeper. Within a minute, there was panic at the other end. Moore somehow found himself in the clear with only Fahey in front of him. As the ‘keeper advanced, Moore did the right thing by lobbing the ball over the stranded number one. Fortunately for Rovers the ball struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced just clear of the goal where Kerr was waiting for the simple job of tapping it into the net. However, he hadn’t reckoned on John McCaig being equally alert and the defender managed to do just enough to prevent total disaster.
The next incident of note came in the 64th minute when Jim Mercer came within the proverbial coat of paint of scoring a sensational goal. A home attack seemed to have broken down with the ball being cleared well away from goal. However, it reached big Jim about 35 yards out and he let fly. The helpless McCondichie stood and watched open-mouthed as the ball crashed off the junction of post and crossbar. What a goal that would have been from the Captain.
With time running out, both teams seemed to sense that the game was there for the winning, but with the home defence looking lethargic, the visitors looked favourites. Lee Sharp fired in a rasping long-distance effort which Fahey did well to save, and the ‘keeper was again on the spot to deal with a close-range shot from Fraser Wright.
Three minutes to go, and it all fell apart for Rovers as Jordan Smith and Murray Henderson clashed on the edge of the box. The Stranraer man fell and Mr Mack (there’s that name again!) pointed to the spot. Sure-shot Moore stepped up confidently and struck the ball firm and true towards the corner. It was a good kick - but not as good as the save produced by the flying Fahey who dived to his right to pull off the fantastic stop which broke the hearts of the Stair Park visitors. Then, right in the last minute, the ‘keeper put the icing on that particular cake by making yet another great catch to deny Moore.
Rovers’ Man of the Match nominations included the impressive Graeme McCaul who grows in stature with every outing, Paul McManus for his industry as well as his goal and surprise, surprise, ‘keeper Chris Fahey, surely one of the best in the Division. Chris earns the accolade for his last fifteen minute heroics.
Albion Rovers : Fahey, McCaul, Stirling, Smith, Cormack, McCaig, McAllister (Yardley 69), Farrell, McManus, Diack, Mercer. Unused Subs : Paterson, McBride, Selkirk, Swain.
Stranraer : McCondichie, Swift, Wright, Wingate, Henderson, Jenkins, Finlayson, McAllister (Aitken 62), Moore, Kerr (Turnbull 62), Sharp. Unused Subs : Cruikshank, Grant, Meechan.
Referee : Eddie Mack
Man of the match : Chris
Fahey
