Stenhousemuir 2 v 0 Albion Rovers

Attendance : 428

Scorers ~ Stenhousemuir : Motion (48), Diack (76).

Albion Rovers fans turned out in large numbers for this match considering they’ve not seen their team win in the last ten outings. They were to go unrewarded however as Stenhousemuir leapfrogged Annan to lay claim (at least until next Saturday) to the final play-off place.

The early exchanges were unspectacular and in 12 minutes a Willie Lyle pass found Craig Molloy in Rovers box, his attempt on goal was foiled when Michael McGowan blocked.

Evading the defence and a claim for offside former Rover Iain Diack surged goalward only to be blocked by the combined efforts of McGowan and ‘keeper Jamie Ewings. Seconds later Gary Thom was gifted a free header five yards out, Ewings wasn’t unduly stretched to save.

Rovers first real foray upfield came to nothing when Marc Pollock’s run up the wing and incursion along the touchline ended without a shot.

A poor header to Ewings was mishandled by the stopper but eventually cleared, allowing fans to catch their breath. McGowan was on hand later to halt the progress of Alan Brazil when he got too close to Rovers goal for comfort.

Motion pumped in a high ball towards his own goal, only for Scott Bennett to fumble it and gain Rovers a corner from which they gained nothing.

With a minute remaining in the first period Robert Love was advancing towards Rovers goal through the centre of the park. McGowan managed a small tug on his jersey which could have been why his shot a second later was wide of the target when it seemed easier to at least test Ewings.

Half-Time

A couple of minutes into the second-half Diack was again causing problems for Rovers, he outpaced the defence only to unleash a low and weak ball which was easily saved.

In 48 minutes Stenhousemuir were awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty area, Motion struck the ball past the wall and into the net as Ewings dived without getting close to preventing the goal.

Thom put a free header across Rovers goal before play switched ends. Rovers best chance of the match came in 54 minutes when Pollock ran up the near wing before cutting in and blasting the ball only to see it rebound off the junction of post and bar.

Brazil provided Robert Love with an opportunity but he fired a foot over the bar as Ewings looked to have it covered in any case.

A few minutes later Love evaded the attentions of Robert Walker, luckily Ciaran Donnelly was on hand to clear the danger.

Diack was ignoring taunts from visiting fans on the far side, Rovers ‘keeper came out to meet him and he tried a chip which was a tad too high.

Then in 76 minutes the seemingly inevitable happened when Diack went on a blistering run at the near side, Ewings backtracked as the striker closed in on goal and he struck a low ball into the net.

It was job done and Diack was replaced by Scott Dalziel a few minutes later. The Warriors then had a period where they encamped at the Rovers end of the pitch culminating in a Chris McLeod drive into the box which cannoned off Bobby Barr and out.

A low shot from substitute Andy Brand being scooped up by Ewings ended the game.

Summary

Can Albion Rovers manage a point in their two final matches? Indeed, can they score a goal in them? Some Rovers fans are already looking forward to next season in an attempt to forget the end of this one. 

Stenhousemuir : Bennett, Lyle, Reid, Thom, Smith, McLeod, Love (Brand 88), Molloy, Diack (Dalziel 80), Brazil, Motion. Subs Not Used : Stirling, Thomson, Renton.

Albion Rovers : Ewings, Reid, Fleming, Walker, McGowan, Donnelly, Crozier (Harris 75), McKeown, Pollock, Barr, Adam. Subs Not Used : Andreoni, McGoldrick, Ferry, Scott.

Referee : Tony Law

Fixtures/Results/Reports/Pics

Home  Latest  League Table