East Stirlingshire 0 v 1 Albion Rovers

Attendance : 263

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Chaplain (78).

Albion Rovers made the relatively short journey to Firs Park having lost both matches there last term and although it wasn't easy this time a 4th goal from Scott Chaplain in 5 matches this season was enough!

'Shire started the stronger of the teams and a move down the far wing with the ball whizzing in for Stephen Dymock whose touch caused the ball to come off a defender to some weak penalty claims from the home side. Steven Learmonth shooting wildly preceded Scott Chaplain being brought down for a free-kick which Graham McGhee hit from 30 yards only for it to be blocked before reaching the goal.

Jamie Doyle had an attempt go high and wide before teammate Joe Savage worked hard to give Chaplain the ball with which he turned to loose a shot to the feet of 'keeper Tiropoulos. Shortly afterwards Chaplain had another shot stopped by the 'keeper as did Martin McBride from distance.

A cheeky back heeler from Joe Savage close to the half-way line gave Chaplain the ball to run with, he in turn gave it to Felvus who took it to the 'Shire penalty area where Jamie Doyle's attempt hit the post. The ball rebounded to Savage whose own shot failed.

A long ball upfield found Paul Tweedie in space on the wing but any chances were denied by Gordon Lennon who eased the ball from his control. On the half hour mark Andy Brand had a shot deflected for what proved to be a poorly taken corner. At the other end good work by Felvus was foiled when his cross almost along the goal line was cut out before reaching a Rovers man in the middle.

An East Stirlingshire free-kick into Rovers box was missed by Jamie Ewings but proved fruitless in the end. Another move by the Falkirk side had Dymock rise to head a cross past the post then a weak kick into the side netting by Paul Tweedie ended his teams first half attacking role.

With 5 minutes remaining till half-time Joe Savage teed up the ball for Bryan Felvus but the resulting shot was blocked at point blank range by a defender.

HALF-TIME

Rovers took no time to get the second period underway and within 60 seconds a very strong McBride effort was only slightly wayward. Alan Ward who had plenty of space to play with will be disappointed that he just passed the ball to Ewings. An off-target shot from Felvus came shortly before Ewings was forced to turn a Brand blast out of the park.

Kevin Nicoll put a ball through for Chaplain but didn't judge it quite right and the prolific scorer could only just get a foot to it and posed no danger for Tiropoulos. A long 'Shire ball upfield by Learmonth was gifted to Ewings by Ward then East Stirlingshire came very close when a corner by substitute Derek Ure missed Brand and Ward both hovering a yard out from goal.

Paul Stewart looked troublesome when he set off upfield without any defenders interfering until Gordon Lennon caught up within Rovers penalty box to dispossess the man in white. Seconds later Rovers defence was in disarray allowing Tweedie to fire from close range missing the target completely.

A Ciaran Donnelly shot with suspected hand-ball by a defender inside the 'Shire box led to a corner which itself led to 3 shots by Rovers, any of which could easily have gone in the net but didn't.

In 69 minutes a McBride attempt almost sneaked in at the near post following a corner. A minute later a McBride corner had Donnelly jump to head over the crossbar. Another McBride corner gave Gordon Lennon a glancing header which was foiled by a single handed Tiropoulos save.

Sustained Albion Rovers possession around this time next showed itself when a Felvus blast from close range was saved following an upfield punt by McBride.

After much fouling East Stirlingshire had their first booking of the match when Blair kicked the ball away in disgust at having a free-kick awarded against him for yet another!

In 78 minutes Rovers went ahead when a move consisting of a 1 - 2 between Lennon and Felvus supplied Chaplain with the ball which he gratefully received and put into the 'Shire net.

Tweedie for the home side ad Lennon for Rovers had failed attempts in the countdown to full-time.

Donnelly of Rovers was also yellow carded during the match.

Summary

A tough match against an improved Firs Park outfit but Rovers deserved all 3 points for the effort put in alone!

East Stirlingshire : Tiropoulos, Smith, Learmonth, Thywissen, Brand, Nixon (Molloy 79), Dymock (Blair 64), Stewart, Ward, Tweedie, Adam (Ure 56). Subs Not Used : Livingstone, Nugent.

Albion Rovers : Ewings, Nicoll, McGhee, Lennon, Donnelly, Friel (Creaney 64), Doyle, Chaplain, Felvus, Bonnar, Savage (Chisholm 90), McBride. Subs Not Used : Clearie, Walker, Thompson.

Referee : Steven Nicholls

Man of the Match - Scott Chaplain

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