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Stenhousemuir 1 v 0 Albion Rovers |  |
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Stenhousemuir 1 v 0 Albion Rovers | |
| Bell's League Third Division 28th February 2006 |
Attendance : 412
Scorers ~ Stenhousemuir : McGrillen (43).
Tuesday evening at a freezing cold Ochilview Park and Albion Rovers were looking to gain revenge for a perceived undeserved win by the league leaders 4 days previously in Coatbridge. It wasn't to be and Stenhousemuir were to win against the odds once more.
Both teams took a while to get going on the flat but rock hard pitch covered in sand and the first action of note was in the 9th minute. It happened when a long ball to the edge of the park caused a defensive mistake by the home side which gave trialist Armand Oné a chance which rebounded back off the 'keeper to the Frenchman only for the follow-up shot to go wide.
A Gibson ball upfield was slightly too strong for McGrillen to get and McGlynn gratefully picked up the ball at the edge of his area. McGlynn was called into action once more in 14 minutes when he saved on the edge of his box only to see the ball fall to a Warriors player. McGlynn kept advancing and the resultant shot came off the 'keepers chest 15 yards out of his area and away to safety.
Play quickly switched ends with a ball upfield from the half-way line to Oné at the edge of the Warriors box, the shot was weak and easily saved by McCulloch. Martin Bonnar was next to impress when he took the ball down the far wing beating a couple of defenders on the way, instead of continuing towards the goal or crossing he elected to put in a trundler which went past the post.
Colin Cramb laid the ball off for Andy Gibson to put a foot wide from the edge of the Rovers box. Rovers came close to taking the lead on the half-hour mark when Graham McGhee had a 30 yarder rebound off the junction of bar and post. Soon after much lead-up play culminated in an Oné header just missing it's target.
A long run from Andy Sim and an all too tight pass to Chaplain resulted in an eventual shot past the post by Donachy. John Paul McBride tried to put his side ahead when he put the ball across Rovers goalmouth but there was nobody in a position to score.
A minute later Stenhousemuir took the lead when that man McBride supplied the pass to McGrillen to loft the ball over the defence as well as McGlynn.
Half-Time
Oné started the second period by swinging in a strong ball from close to the corner, unfortunately the header from Martin Bonnar wasn't quite accurate enough.
In 54 minutes a Jamie Doyle free-kick from 30 yards curled to the side of the Stenhousemuir goal where Willie McCulloch was on hand to catch it. At the other end of the park Tommy Sinclair pirouetted on the penalty spot as Rovers defence dithered but nothing came of the attempt.
A speculative ball from 10 yards inside the Stenhousemuir half by Fallon tried to catch McGlynn napping but the No. 1 was ready for it. Some weak defending by Rovers led to Cramb seeing his poor shot curling out.
Cramb missed again before Doyle repeated his earlier long range free-kick which curled to McCulloch's waiting arms. A couple of minutes later Doyle had a go from 30 yards which failed to trouble the former Airdrieonians stopper.
A well judged pass from McBride to Sinclair gave the home side a chance to go further ahead but the low shot didn't trouble McGlynn. A couple of failed Donachy efforts preceded a beautifully judged long ball by Gordon Lennon to Oné near the Stenny box, the big man ran in only to be edged away by the awaiting defenders.
Rovers piled on the pressure towards the end of the match but just couldn't get the break they needed.
Summary
Once again Rovers did just about everything right except put the ball in the back of the opposition net.
Stenhousemuir : McCulloch, Fallon, McAlpine, McKeown, Henderson, McBride, Gibson (Templeton 66), Murphy, Sinclair, Cramb, McGrillen. Subs Not Used : Renwick, Mercer, Carroll, Fahey.
Albion Rovers : McGlynn, Friel, McGhee, Lennon, Donnelly, Doyle, Sim (Chisholm 68), Chaplain, Trialist (Reid 81), Bonnar (Selkirk 81), Donachy. Subs Not Used : Noble, Ewings.
Referee : John McKendrick
Man of the Match - Jamie Doyle
