In terms of competition and the desired exercise in teamwork, Albion Rovers had an extremely productive visit to Dublin at the weekend, with one win and a draw from their two matches.

While boss Peter Hetherston was clearly satisfied with the results, he was also more than delighted with the attitude and commitment shown by his charges during the mini-tour.

Belgrove 0 - 0 Albion Rovers
Darkening skies and the real threat of thunder and lightening brought a premature end to Friday evening’s 0-0 draw with Belgrove, and although a scoreless draw might not seem too great, it was a good result for Rovers considering the quite difficult travelling problems they experienced on the way to the Republic. Although somewhat under par, Rovers played well enough and Iain Diack and new striker John Bradford came close on a number of occasions. The other newcomers also played their part in this match against a strong City outfit.

Team : Fahey, Paterson, Stirling, Smith, McStay, Lumsden, Dick, Silvestro, Bradford, Diack, Coulter Subs : McCaul, Carr, Weir, McCauley, Shearer

Raheny United 1 - 4 Albion Rovers
Twenty-four hours later, and well-rested, Rovers took on Raheny United and overwhelmed the locals by an impressive 4-1 scoreline. This was a good performance by Rovers who took a first-half lead thanks to a penalty by Jered Stirling. The second period was only four minutes old when the tireless Iain Diack doubled the advantage and the same player netted again in 57 minutes with a splendid header from an exquisite John Bradford cross. When Chris Silvestro blasted in a grounder just thirty seconds later, the result was completely secured.

In 70 minutes, Raheny were awarded a penalty which Scott Shearer reached but could not stop, and with six minutes remaining the referee again gave the home team the chance to score from the spot. This time, however, Shearer guessed correctly and pulled off a good save.

All in all, it was a useful exercise and the new lads - John Bradford, Andy Paterson, Jered Stirling, and Jim Mercer - gave indications that they will have a big part to play in Rovers’ promotion push this season.

The team was the same as Friday except for Mercer replacing Dick.

Youth Team
The Under-18 squad (including 1 or 2 older players e.g. Scott Shearer) was also in Rovers’ party and the youngsters played a couple of matches against rather older opponents, drawing one match and losing the other by just a single goal. Gary Robertson snatched a draw with a last-minute strike against Dublin City Under-21’s and although the Cliftonhill babes played splendidly and dominated the match with Raheny Under-21’s, a scrappy goal by the homesters was enough to gain the win. Nevertheless, there was much to be pleased about and the lads often displayed a level of skill and maturity beyond their years.