Albion Rovers 2 v 3 East Stirlingshire

Attendance : 488

Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Wright (6, 30). East Stirlingshire : Ure (73), Kelly (84 pen), Simpson (90).

Rarely can the phrase "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" have been so apt in describing a football match but that's just what happened when Albion Rovers went from the verge of victory with six minutes remaining to losing 3-2.

East Stirlingshire started with a bang and could have grabbed the lead inside in two minutes when Kevin McBride put in a free-kick which Joe Savage stabbed straight at Scott when he should have scored.

In six minutes Rovers went ahead when a Jamie McKenzie corner went to the back post. It was pushed out to the edge of the box and was back into the fray for Kenny Wright to poke it home from all of five yards.

Sean Simpson had an opportunity from a free-kick in 18 minutes but fired it off the assembled Rovers wall, nobody in White being able to get to it. Then John McGeough was handed the ball by poor defensive play from 'Shire but it was launched over the crossbar.

Craig Donaldson followed by Carl Thywissen had failed assaults on Rovers goal before Kenny Wright grabbed his second by lobbing Darren Hill from the 18 yard line.

David King was gifted the ball in a decent position by Rovers defence and proceeded to miss the target. Next McGeough evaded the 'Shire defence beautifully only to see the fruits of his labour saved by Hill.

In 37 minutes Rovers were awarded a penalty when a David Dimilta pass put McGeough on course for goal. As the forward entered the box he appeared to be brought down by 'keeper Hill who said after the match that he was "Absolutely raging, it was never a penalty". No doubt because he was on a hat-trick it was Kenny Wright rather than the usual penalty taker Ciaran Donnelly who stepped up to the spot. Donnelly hit the ball reasonably firmly but close enough to the diving 'keepers left hand that he managed to stop it.

Kevin McBride trying to sneak a free-kick around Rovers wall only for Scott to react appropriately ended the first half.

Half-Time

'Shire captain Andrew Brand leaning back as he took a shot with inevitably was over the bar was the first noteworthy even of the second period. Dimilta was in a creative mood when he passed to Wright at the corner of the Falkirk sides penalty area and it resulted in an attempted lob into the "postage stamp" but it was marginally too high.

A series of errors followed when Paul Doyle mis-kicked the ball and it landed with McGeough who mis-kicked it himself to a 'Shire defender. A move by Cliftonhill gaffer John McCormack which raised eyebrows amongst home fans saw Wright being replaced by Pat Walker despite showing no obvious sign of injury. Former Rovers frontman Joe Savage then hit a curler from the edge of Rovers box which didn't trouble Scott.

In 73 minutes a Derek Ure cross from the far goal-line squirmed under Scott with some commentators attributing it to Donnelly as an own goal although it's inconclusive if he got a touch.

A Doyle free-kick headed into Scott's arms looked to be of no danger until the 'keeper fumbled it, Brand was in after the loose ball but tangled with the grounded stopper and the defence managed to hoof it clear.

A weak McBride free-kick rebounded off Rovers wall to the defender who proceeded to blast the ball wide of the target.

In 84 minutes a Brand cross into the Rovers box was stopped when Donnelly went down trying to kick the ball but instead his hand made contact and Mr. O'Reilly pointed to the spot once more. Gary Kelly slipped the ball into the net close to the 'keepers left-hand post.

Rovers now seemed to be panicking and some minutes into injury time East Stirlingshire took advantage by nabbing a winner. Simpson passed the ball to Kevin Struthers who immediately back-heeled it back into the path of the midfielder for him to slip it in between Scott and the inrushing Donnelly to send travelling fans into rapture.

Summary

Rovers lost this match and nobody saw it coming when they went two up and most agree that if the penalty had been scored it would have been a very different result. East Stirlingshire have been the bottom dogs for many years now but they showed that their 2nd place in the league table was no aberration.

Albion Rovers : Scott, Robert Walker, McGowan, Donnelly, Benton, Donald (Graeme Watson 30), Smith, McKenzie, Dimilta, McGeough (Chisholm 86), Wright (Patrick Walker 67). Subs Not Used : Reid, McLenaghan.

East Stirlingshire : Hill, Doyle, Kevin McBride, King, Thywissen, Kelly, Donaldson (Struthers 72), Brand, Savage, Simpson, Ure. Subs Not Used : Paul McBride, Moffat, Oates, Greg Mitchell.

Referee: Stevie O'Reilly

Man of the Match : Kenny Wright

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