Albion Rovers 1 v 2 Brechin City 
Division 3
3rd November 2001
Albion Rovers 1 v 2 Brechin City
Division 3
3rd November 2001
Attendance : 380
Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Silvestro (37). Brechin City : Bain (20), Black (71).
If ever there was the classic case of smash and grab, this was it! Brechin came to Cliftonhill as league leaders, were played off the park, survived more than one penalty claim and scuttled off back to Angus with the three points which should, by right, have boosted the home tally. For a Class One official, referee Garry Mitchell was, to say the least, a disappointment, missing several obvious incidents and misreading several others.
After the match, Rovers’ boss John McVeigh was almost speechless and at a loss to understand how his lads could have come out of this one with absolutely nothing to show for their sterling efforts. He had no complaints about their workrate, application or commitment - simply about the totally unjust result.
Rovers roared into attack from the off and Iain Diack almost made it a glory start with a low drive which City ‘keeper Mark Cairns was happy to turn for a corner. In a one-way traffic procession, it was not until the 11th minute that Brechin threatened, with Scott Shearer confidently holding a difficult free-kick from Kevin Bain. Much of the action in the next few minutes took place in the visitors’ half, with Young Player of the Month Mark Booth spreading good passes around before getting himself forward in an effort to open the scoring. He was an absolute jack-in-the-box throughout and with luck might easily have added to his already impressive goal tally.
In the 20th minute, and completely out of the blue, Bain latched on to a ball on the edge of the box and shot for goal. There appeared to be a slight deflection as it sped past everyone and nestled in the corner of the net to put the visitors ahead. Eight minutes later, Rovers were denied an equaliser by the athletic Cairns who leapt to touch a goalbound Martin Harty header on to the crossbar and away from danger. Rovers’ almost incessant pressure finally paid off in the 37th minute when Chris Silvestro took advantage of indecision in the Brechin defence to ram the ball into the net from close range. It was no more than the lads in yellow deserved and put them back in the game with a bang. As the first half drew to a close, Mark Booth had two more goes at scoring, but Cairns saved his header and he was then just unable to make contact with a long punt forward.
The second period began with Harty collecting a good through ball from Jamie McKenzie and outpacing the Brechin defence. Unfortunately for the young striker, his final touch was just too strong and the grateful back men deprived him of a scoring chance. City’s Paul Campbell was booked for a foul on Booth before both teams made double substitutions in an effort to freshen-up their attacks. Then, with Rovers certainly looking the more likely outfit, indecision at the back cost them a goal - and ultimately, the match. City’s Roddy Black worked his way up the left and seemed to have been well dealt with by Colin Waldie. However - and unusually for him - Waldie failed to complete the clearance and Black crashed an angled drive into the net from about eight yards. Although Rovers were obviously shocked by this reversal, they pushed forward again and again in search of another equaliser.
Substitute Charlie McLean should have done better that fluff his shot when close to goal, Paul Bonar tried a low drive which was turned for a corner and a Todd Lumsden hitch-kick was not too far away. Jamie McKenzie then was unlucky to be booked for a tackle which seemed to be no more than wholehearted. With only nine minutes remaining, Brechin’s on-loan Irishman George O’Boyle - with virtually his only flash of skill in the whole match - created space on the edge of the box and drove in a fine shot which struck the junction of post and crossbar before coming off Shearer and bouncing away to safety.
In spite of strenuous attempts to gain at least a point, Rovers’ efforts were thwarted and Dick Campbell’s men had won a match which they should not have done.
Albion Rovers : Shearer, Smith, Lumsden, Hamilton, McKenzie, Booth, Waldie, Silvestro, Harty (McLean 62), Diack (McMullan 62), Bonar. Unused Subs : McKenna, Easton, Fahey.
Brechin City : Cairns, J Smith, Fotheringham, Bain, Ewart, Black, King (D Smith 90), Campbell (Riley 62), Honeyman (Templeman 62), O’Boyle, Clark. Unused Subs : Donnachie, McKeown.
Referee : Garry Mitchell
Man of the Match : Mark Booth
