retired_destiny1124

26.12.06
East Stirling (1) Peterhead (0)
This certainly was an 'ugly' win, but it was a win nevertheless and one that we needed badly. The lone goal in the match came when James Flood was in the right place to snap home a rebound shot for his 10th goal of the season after Richard Sanna parried away Lee Wilson's shot. We received a penalty kick shortly after as Nicholas Greenhouse handballed in the area. Despite my gesturing for Flood to take the penalty, Danny Black stepped up and missed another one. Frustration got the best of Danny, because less than 2 minutes later *he* was called for a handball in the area. Fortunately, Craig Tully drilled the penalty kick off the post. The second half featured a lot of possession on our part, but continued inability to put the ball in the net when it was there for the taking. Keiran Lee and Lee Sichi both missed sitters that would have made the end of the match more comfortable. Instead we had to sweat it out until the final whistle sounded on our 1-0 win.

Division 2 Table- 20 matches played, 16 remaining
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1- Morton 44 pts (+25)2- Raith 43 pts (+24)3- Partick 35 pts (+15)4- East Stirling 35 pts (+14)5- Stranraer 30 pts (+3)6- Stirling 20 pts (-12)</pre>

retired_destiny1124

30.12.06
Forfar (1) East Stirling (3)
We closed out 2006 on a good note as we dominated last place Forfar in route to a comfortable 3-1 win at Station Park. Steve McDonald lost a goal in the opening moments to an offside call, but made up for it midway through the first half as he split two defenders on a counterattack and drove a low shot past Michael Brown. Forfar got a glimpse of hope when Michael Warwick evened the match as they punished us for not getting back on a counterattack. We stormed back and took the lead when Lee Sichi tapped in a looping cross at the far post to put us ahead going to halftime. James Flood then added a goal in the second half as he burst past two defenders before smashing a shot past Brown. We kept the pressure on them and never gave them a hope of rallying as we closed out the 3-1 win.

retired_taraski

Nice story so far Fara, how many ex Man U academy players do you have on your books now?

retired_destiny1124

Hmm- pn75, not real sure how many I had at that point (right now several years beyond)

***

1.1.07
The opening of the new transfer window allowed me to complete two small transfer purchases to help the club. Joining us, both at a cost of 1K, were 20 year old AM/FC Michele Lombardi from Ross County and 21 year old MRC Kevin Markey from Airdrie. Of the two, Markey is likely more significant as he will push Ross O'Donoghue for a central midfielder role. Markey originally joined Airdrie from Motherwell and is a well balanced player, though maybe not as creative as O'Donoghue. Lombardi, who came to Airdrie from Aberdeen, is not the explosive forward I had hoped to add, but still has a lot of talent and just needs a chance to show it. His addition will likely result in little used Iain Diack moving to the Reserves.

I also had made a decision on leftwing, we simply had too many of them on the squad and it was difficult to find playing time. With my preferred pairing of Lee Sichi on the left and Kenny McLean on the right, that left Kieran Lee, Andrew Reilly and Kevin Howe available to play the left side. With Lee also able to play in the central midfield, that left me with a choice of Reilly or Howe. Both are close in ability, but Howe had drawn a lot of transfer interest last season, so he wound up being the one offered to clubs. As a small part-time club, we can't afford to keep oodles of depth on the roster, so though I would prefer to keep Howe- it was time to offer him to clubs.

retired_destiny1124

"I don't know Bob. If Dickinson doesn't score, then we don't- at least it seems that way of late."

"Not for the lack of chances, to be sure."

"No, plenty of chances- mostly just putting the ball on the net."

retired_destiny1124

13.1.07
East Stirling (3) Alloa (2)
We were finally back into the league schedule and we certainly looked a bit rusty on defense, but our offense was clicking well enough to propel us to a 3-2 win over Alloa at Firs Park. They took the early lead when we failed to mark Warren Hunt closely enough and Steven van der Deyl missed his 25 yard blast inside the left post. We equalized when James Flood hit a pretty half-volley on a nicely timed pass from Kenny McLean. McLean was the architect as we gained the half-time lead with a cross that picked out Steve McDonald. McDonald stopped the ball and ripped it past Sam Ashton into the left side of the net. We kept the pressure up on them to begin the 2nd half and it paid off when Derek Ure, on for a slightly injured Flood, was on the doorstep to knock in a rebound after Ashton parried McDonald's initial blast. We could not coast out of the match though, as ex-mate Mark Batty found space and fired a well-placed shot past struggling van der Deyl. We held on after that to finish off a needed win to begin the New Year.

retired_destiny1124

14.1.07
I was pleased to hear the news that Motherwell had paid 45K to purchase Partick's Steve Nicholas. Nicholas was a very difficult forward to deal with and I welcomed the news he was leaving the Division. This also diminishes Partick's firepower and with the two of us even on points at this juncture- that was also welcome.

***

18.1.07
Gretna came calling today. They wanted to swap Gavin Skelton for Mick O'Brien and Julian Watts for Adrian Nevins. I turned them down flat on both accounts, we would not be better off with the players they were offering and Mick and Adrian are two of our best players and both under advantageous contracts with us.

***

19.1.07
We now face a critical three match stretch of the season that will likely decide how we will finish in the Division. First up is 5th place Stranraer at Firs Park. They trail us by 9 points and absolutely need to win to have a chance to overtake us for 4th. Then we face Morton at Firs Park and Raith on the road. Without good results against those two, we will be out of the chase for the top spot in Division 2, though we are barely in the chase at this point.

retired_destiny1124

20.1.07
East Stirling (2) Stranraer (0)
One hurdle crossed for us as we played a solid, not sensational match and sent Stranraer home unhappy with a 2-0 loss. Mick O'Brien gave us a big boost with his 1st goal of the season in the 2nd minute as he drilled a well placed shot from just beyond the edge of the area after taking a pass from Kenny McLean. The rest of the first half was poorly played by both sides, but luck kept us from a couple more goals as Danny Black hit the crossbar on a free kick and O'Brien drilled another shot off the outside of the post. The second half saw us play much better and we were rewarded when James Flood made a deft pass that Steve McDonald deflected past Alex Hards. Stranraer desperately tried to rally, but Steven van der Deyl was back in fine form and earned his clean sheet with a pair of good saves in the last 10 minutes of the match.

***

25.1.07
With the January transfer deadline almost upon us I talked to several of the lower Division 3 clubs about offers. I made offers that were accepted on both Gareth Gwillim and Martyn Fotheringham, but neither player was willing to come to our club- I guess our latest success still hasn't overcome our poor previous perceptions among players. With those turned down and no one on the shortlist (at least those willing to come here according to Brendan O'Connell) that would really help us- it is time to worry about finishing out the season with our current roster. Our fitness has been improving of late and all of our injured Senior side players are back with the return of Hugh Davidson. We appear to have plenty of depth to handle our stretch run and depending on what happens with our next two crucial matches against Morton and Raith- I may try to start getting some of our key players a match or two of rest.

We had several offers- four clubs inquired about Adrian Nevins- but I turned them all down as we need those key players for our future.

retired_nadiya

well Faramir ive been glued to this thread for the last half an hour now looking back from the very start! Its Brill! You must be some kind of journalist? or you should be!! Why do you do these storys as I guess this is not the 1st! I would be worried nobody was reading them, but you must get alot of pleasure writing your story from your game? I think its great and cant wait for the next part of the story, hope you get promoted! And how are your reserves and u-19s doing? Do you ever give many a achance in the 1st team if they do well? Would be very appreciated if you could answer all ive asked in this message!!

simonp

great read :thup: