Gretna 6 v 2 Albion Rovers

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Attendance : 627

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Aitken (45 o.g.), McManus (62). Gretna : Gilfillan (17), Deuchar (20, 46, 53, 82, 89).

It wasn't likely to be easy for Kevin McAllister's boys visiting the league leaders having gained only 1 point from their last 8 outings and so it proved. Following the departure of Jamie McGowan the Cliftonhill gaffer signed Paul McLaughlin who started the game as did captain Jim Mercer returning after injury.

Only a small fraction of last week's 2200 at Gretna braved the bitter cold for the game. It was Albion Rovers who started the stronger with Marc McKenzie shooting over from distance in 2 minutes. Jamie McQuilken had the first shot of note for the home side in 9 minutes when he also shot over the bar.

Gretna were by now edging ahead and had a shot stifled then cleared to safety before Chris Fahey stopped David Bingham in his tracks by knocking the ball away from his feet, and then beating him to the loose ball. A long ball into Rovers 6 yard box caused McQuilken and Fahey to tangle in the air resulting in the ball going out for a goal-kick.

Jered Stirling lined up a 25 yard free-kick but it was low and wide of the target. In 17 minutes Gretna took the lead when Bryan Gilfillan scored with a looping header from a Mark Birch cross.

In 19 minutes Gretna were denied a strong penalty claim when their advancing man was apparently brought down near the Rovers penalty spot. The home fans didn't have much complaining time before their team doubled their advantage. It was just 1 minute later that referee Winter gave Gretna a free-kick for no apparent foul, Bingham took the kick very quickly which caught Rovers off-guard allowing Kenny Deuchar to nip past the defence and slot home with a deflection off the goalpost.

Deuchar was on fire and managed to blast the ball over Rovers bar from 2 yards and mishit a shot straight to Chris Fahey. Fahey was on hand once more to save, this time from a Ryan Baldacchino attempt. Rovers came close when a good move involving McLaughlin and McKenzie ended with Paul McKenzie narrowly missing the goals.

In 32 minutes Mr. Winter had fans scratching their heads in disbelief once more by not awarding a penalty when McLaughlin appeared to pull down Ryan McGuffie well inside the Rovers penalty area. Gretna were still pressing forward with Deuchar working well to cross the ball into the box for Baldacchino, luckily the midfield dynamo missed the ball which found its way to Chris Fahey.

Skelton headed past the Rovers goal followed by Deuchar jumping with Fahey for the ball which was grabbed by the Cliftonhill stopper. Following a Mercer shot with too much altitude Rovers pulled one back deep into injury time when a Jered Stirling 25 yarder was deflected into the Gretna net by Andy Aitken just missing the hand of 'keeper Mathieson.

Second Half

It only took a minute from the restart for Gretna to double their lead when Deuchar headed home following a stramash with 'keeper Fahey. The visiting players thought a free-kick should have been awarded for a foul on Fahey and there was doubt whether the ball had actually crossed the line, but the assistant referee said it had.

In 53 minutes Deuchar bagged his hat-trick when a McQuilken shot from 30 yards rebounded off the bar, Rovers defence stood transfixed as the qualified doctor clinically scored. In 61 minutes Mr. Winter was once more to confound fans by denying the homesters a penalty for was looked like an obvious jersey tug in Rovers box.

Just a minute later Rovers pulled back another goal when Paul McManus zipped past the Gretna defence to fire a low shot into the net. Within seconds Deuchar had a low shot of his own tipped round the post by Chris Fahey.

Stirling pumped a free-kick into the box once more, a Gretna player seemed to head it inches past his own goal but the referee awarded a goal-kick. Mark Birch then skelped the ball over the bar following a free-kick on the edge of the box. A long Stirling ball into the home box which seemed destined for the head of Paul McManus was cut out by the defence.

In 82 minutes Deuchar scored his 4th and his teams 5th when Bingham supplied the ball for the hitman to stroke a low ball into the Rovers net. With seconds remaining that man Deuchar completed the scoring when he hit home a Skelton pass.

Summary

For the third time this season Gretna scored 6 goals against Albion Rovers and despite that score against the "millionaires" Rovers showed an improvement on Rovers recent performances. The return of Jim Mercer certainly helped. How Mr. Winter could deny the league leaders 3 apparent penalties and the same time not book any of their players for diving remains a mystery.

Gaining points at home to Elgin City (a team who've never lost at Cliftonhill) next Saturday is essential otherwise Rovers could find themselves bottom of the league by 4.45 depending on the East Stirling score.

Chris Silvestro, Paul McLaughlin, Jim Mercer and Danny Black of Rovers and Andy Aitken of Gretna received booking during the match.

Gretna : Mathieson, Birch, McQuilken, Gilfillan, Aitken, Irons, Baldacchino, McGuffie (Townsley 78), Deuchar, Bingham, Skelton. Unused Subs : Wake, Cosgrove, Holdsworth, Main.

Albion Rovers : Fahey, Paterson, Stirling, Black, McLaughlin, McLaren, McKenzie, Silvestro, Bradford, McManus, Mercer. Unused Subs : Selkirk, Crabbe, Boyle, McCaul, Peat.

Referee : Brian Winter

Rovers Man of the Match - Paul McManus

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