Stenhousemuir 0 v 4 Albion Rovers

Attendance : 389

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Chaplain (9, 28, 56), Walker (46).

Rovers travelled to Stenhousemuir with a side affected by virus, 'keeper Jamie Ewings was under the weather so had to watch from the stand while 19 year-old amateur Lee Thompson made his competitive debut having signed at the start of the season. This left Rovers with no sub goalie on the bench but that wasn't to prove a problem as the youngster coped admirably as his teammates ran riot at Ochilview.

The travelling Rovers support (oddly segregated for this match but not the same fixture 3 weeks beforehand) was boosted by a near full bus provided free of charge to fans by club commercial supremo Pat Rolink!

The first attempt on goal came from Adam Coakley on loan from Motherwell who had been linked with such a move to Cliftonhill but it was somewhat lacking in accuracy.

A wayward Mark Cowan pass which went straight to Rovers' Kevin Nicoll. The man quickly becoming a fans favourite immediately had a pop at goal from close range, former Airdrieonians goalkeeper Willie McCulloch blocking it on the line.

In nine minutes a through ball from Pat Walker gave goal machine midfielder Scott Chaplain the ball in space and he drilled it home from around 15 yards.

Other Motherwell on loan man Shaun Fagan shot woefully wide. A high ball into Rovers box to Coakley was nicely cut out by the head of Ciaran Donnelly then McLeish missed the goal shortly afterwards.

Walker was well up the park now and he passes the ball to Dave McFarlane at an angle from the goals, nevertheless he drove for goal only for it to be blocked by the 'keeper.

In 28 minutes it was two for Rovers when Nicoll crossed and McFarlane touched it on to Chaplain for a relatively easy tap-in from close range. On the half-hour mark Stenhousemuir were reduced to ten men when David Murie was given a straight red card for having a kick at Brian Smith much to the surprise of both sets of fans who'd only expected a yellow to be brandished.

Rovers could only dominate the match even more now and Smith shot to see it rebound to McFarlane who was in an offside position. The Warriors gaffer Campbell Money then brought on a couple of substitutes to try and stem the tide of Rovers' attacks.

Walker whizzed a ball across the home goal but it was to no avail as no colleagues were there. Stenhousemuir had a couple of last first half flings a corner landing in Rovers penalty area and the two waiting attackers getting in a fankle, in stepped Coakley to blast it well over the crossbar. The first period ended with Lee Thompson doing well to save a 30 yarder from McLeish.

Half-Time

Former Rover Iain Diack who'd scored against Rovers 3 weeks ago at the same venue came off the bench. Within 60 seconds of the restart Rovers were three up when Walker struck a low drive from the edge of the box giving McCulloch no chance.

Lee Thompson was called back into action when he stopped a strong McLeish attempt, Rovers trialist Bobby Thompson then put the ball inches too high. Scott Chaplain completed his hat-trick on 56 minutes when he drove home a shot after a rebounded McFarlane attempt fell to him.

McLeish blew an excellent opportunity when the ball found him in space and with time on his hands but it was another high and wide effort. Chaplain was replaced by Andy Sim in 60 minutes to rapturous applause from the travelling support.

Sim was in scintillating form running up the near wing jinking past tackles as he progressed, the resultant shot went to McCulloch. Some substitutions by Jim Chapman followed and Bryan Felvus crossed only for Martin McBride to direct the ball past the post.

Sim was on another run, around 80 yards this time again avoiding a tackle and indeed a near assault by Robbie Henderson, ultimately the move fizzled out.

Summary

A stirring performance by an Albion Rovers team with their third win on the trot leapfrogging them above the Warriors onto 6th place in the table.

Rovers statistics now make impressive reading with Scott Chaplain being the equal 2nd top scorer in the country and the club being the top scorers in the division despite their position in the table! This is Rovers largest away win since the 8-1 thrashing of East Stirlingshire on 24th April 2004. Scott Chaplains hat-trick was the first by a Rovers man since 10th May 2003 when Jim Mercer bagged 3 against East Stirlingshire in a game which could have gained the Cliftonhill men promotion had scores gone their way.

Despite the hat-trick Chaplain was not the only candidate for man of the match but on balance deserved it!

Stenhousemuir : McCulloch, Murie, Trialist 1, Tyrrell, Cowan (Murphy 35), Henderson, Coakley, McLeish, Hutchison (Diack 45), Fagan, McLaughlin (McBride 36). Subs Not Used : Dillon, Trialist 2.

Albion Rovers : Thompson, Moffat, Lennox, Lennon, Donnelly, Nicoll, Trialist, Chaplain (Sim 60), McFarlane (McBride 73), Walker (Felvus 70), Smith. Subs Not Used : Chisholm.

Referee : Steven Nicholls

Man of the Match - Scott Chaplain

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