East Stirlingshire 0 v 3 Albion Rovers 
Division 3
17th August 2002
East Stirlingshire 0 v 3 Albion Rovers
Division 3
17th August 2002
Attendance : 321
Scorers ~ Albion Rovers : Lumsden (46), Bradford (79, 89)
Three wins out of three, seven goals scored with not one conceded. At the moment, things don’t get much better than this for Albion Rovers who have had their best start to a campaign for a long, long time. Not only that, but they’re doing it in style with a brand of play which is a pleasure to watch and which is creating chances galore.
The only black spot on this excellent win was the ankle injury sustained by midfield maestro Chris Silvestro, something the youngster could well do without given the problems he’s had during the last couple of seasons. Hopefully it will prove less serious than initially thought and he’ll be back in his place before long. However, replacement Jim Dick showed that he’s raring to go and Rovers’ almost total control of the game was unaffected.
Rovers began by dictating matters and a 12th minute header by Jim Mercer from a Jered Stirling cross was easy meat for Scott Findlay in the home goal. Four minutes later, John Bradford headed a Stirling corner narrowly over and in a mazy run the same player then tried to beat just one player too many before losing possession. Midway through the half, Silvestro suffered his obviously very painful knock before Bradford was again in the picture, this time volleying over the crossbar.
In the 30th minute, it looked as if Rovers had finally made the breakthrough, but Findlay grabbed the ball on his line as a diverted corner looked a certainty. After Jim Mercer headed narrowly past a post, a rare Shire attack saw a Graham McLaren cross elude everyone but gain an corner and a Sean McAuley free-kick sailed straight through to Scott Shearer. Rovers finished the first period well on top and Bradford was again out of luck when his header struck the underside of the crossbar and was cleared.
With the interval Bovril still warm, Rovers roared into an immediate second-half lead when from another Stirling corner, Todd Lumsden dived full-length to head a great goal which Findlay touched but could not stop. However, any complacent thoughts were dispelled just three minutes later when McAuley hit a thunderous 30 yard drive inches past an upright. Bradford then hit a weak shot into the ‘keeper’s arms before the Cliftonhill men were awarded an indirect free-kick just inside the area. As usually happens however, the defensive wall came out on top.
Eleven minutes from the end, Rovers received a massive break when Bradford - in what seemed an offside position - was allowed to advance and calmly thump number two past the goalkeeper. When the same player again collected a great through ball one minute from time, he was sufficiently cool-headed to round the helpless ‘keeper and roll the ball into the empty net. That put the seal on an excellent performance which put Rovers proudly on the top of the Third Division table.
There were a few nominations for top player with Todd Lumsden and Jordan Smith among the front-runners, but for his two goals and his generally good positional play, John Bradford gets the nod.
East Stirlingshire : Findlay, Mauchan, Trialist, Reid, McGhee, Leishman, Struthers (Trialist 33), McAuley, Ure (Diver 69), Carmichael (Walker 65). Unused Subs : Trialist, C Todd.
Albion Rovers : Shearer, Paterson, Stirling, Smith, Cormack, Lumsden, McAllister (Coulter 80), Silvestro (Dick 23), Bradford, Diack (McLean 65), Mercer. Unused Subs : Carr, Fahey.
Referee : John Gilmour
Man of the Match : John Bradford
