Albion Rovers 2 v 2 Elgin City

Attendance : 262

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Crabbe (58), McLaughlin (78). Elgin City : Dickson (35), Martin (57).

Albion Rovers gained their first league point for over two months against a team who've never lost at Cliftonhill. Jordan Smith made a welcome return to first team action after injury as did Kerr Potter who started on the bench.

The first action of note came in 6 minutes when a low shot by Patrick Vigurs from the edge of the box skimmed the foot of Rovers goalpost. After a weak attempt at goal Rovers came close when Jordan Smith headed a Jered Stirling corner over the Elgin crossbar.

When Stirling took position to take a free-kick outside the Elgin penalty area everybody expected one of his wonder strikes but instead he passed the ball to Scott Crabbe inside the box, unfortunately this only lead to an unproductive corner. Crabbe had the ball again in the opposition box but he was leaning back when he struck the ball and it was too high.

Yet again Crabbe had the ball when he went on a long run goalward but missed some chances to pass and the move came to nothing. Elgin hit back with Dickson passing the ball across the goal to Willie Martin in space but Fahey did well to block the resultant shot with his legs.

In 25 minutes Paul McManus had an inventive shot from the far touchline forcing 'keeper Renton to save. 3 minutes later Fraser Bremner received what would later prove to be a significant booking for a foul. Adam Nelson was next to shoot at the Rovers goal but his 30 yarder was inches wide.

After a Marc McKenzie shot went wide Elgin took the lead, a corner from Andy Roddie was headed into the Roves net by Hugh Dickson who outjumped the defence. McKenzie was on the attack again when he shot over and a couple of minutes later had an effort go wide of the target. With seconds till half-time a Crabbe free-kick found its way to McManus on the Elgin goalpost but nothing came of it.

Half-time

Rovers started the second period brightly when a lot of build-up play led to Jim Mercer fluffing his shot. Scott Crabbe was then up to take a free-kick from 30 yards but it was deflected for a corner.

In 55 minutes Fraser Bremner was shown another yellow card immediately followed by a red card for a further rash tackle. Instead of struggling with 10 men it took City only 2 minutes to double their advantage. Vigurs' shot was well saved by Chris Fahey but Willie Martin was there to tap in the rebound.

Before the ink had dried in reporters notebooks Rovers pulled one back. Scott Crabbe hit home with a low shot from 25 yards which inflamed the visitors as it came after an alleged 2 footed tackle seconds earlier which referee Boyle saw nothing wrong with.

This may well have been the spark that caused Elgin to completely lose their marbles. A quality move involving Crabbe and Mercer saw a McCaul shot almost ricochet off an Elgin player into his own net. Willie Martin picked up a yellow card after a virtual assault on Graeme McCaul in 62 minutes.

Jim Mercer came close with a header before play quickly switched to the other end of the pitch where a Vigurs shot rebounded off Chris Fahey. Andy Roddie was the next City player to have his name taken by the referee for time wasting, interfering with the return of the ball to Rovers. A few minutes later Kaczan joined him in the Refs black book.

In 78 minutes Rovers got a well deserved equaliser when new boy Paul McLaughlin scored his first ever goal in senior football. He blasted the ball netbound from inside the box after a long range effort was parried by Keiron Renton.

More dubious tactics by Elgin saw an unidentified player in Black and White booked in 81 minutes for a foul after play had been allowed to continue as Rovers were in possession.

Rovers were well in control now and surging forward to grab a winner. Paul McManus ran up the wing but his shot was disappointing. With just 3 minutes remaining Jim Mercer provided the ball to Scott Crabbe whose shot rebounded off the post. In 89 minutes a shot by substitute John Bradford was blocked and turned out for a corner.

In injury time Willie Martin left the pitch very slowly when being substituted by Gary Melrose with what was perceived by the home support to be a simulated limp. Deeper into time added on Melrose was tackled by the advancing Chris Fahey 35 yards out from his goal-line and although not perfectly judged the result was the same - the attack failed.

No Albion Rovers players were cautioned during the match.

Summary

A definite improvement on recent performances by Rovers against a team determined to frustrate them at every opportunity by means legal or otherwise. Next week is the proverbial "6 pointer" which would see Rovers bottom of the league if they lost by 3 clear goals or 6 points clear of their opponents East Stirlingshire.

Albion Rovers : Fahey, Paterson (Bradford 73), Stirling, Smith (Potter 66), McLaughlin, McCaul, McKenzie, Silvestro, Crabbe, McManus, Mercer. Subs Not Used : Boyle, Selkirk, Peat.

Elgin City : Renton, Cumming, Harty, Kaczan, Higgins, Dickson, Bremner, Nelson, Vigurs (Napier 84), Martin (Melrose 89), Roddie.
Subs Not Used : Allison, Wood, Pirie. 

Referee : Chris Boyle

Man of the Match - Scott Crabbe

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