retired_destiny1124

28.1.06
East Stirling (1) Albion Rovers (1)
A match that we should have won easily, but we were undone by our poor finishing. Albion managed only one shot on goal for the match, but it was their first one and Lee Sichi deflected a cross past an out-of-position Derek Jackson to give them the early lead. We equalized late in the first half when Graham McWilliam deflected a Kenny McLean corner past Nick Baxter. Baxter stymied us after that- as he saved every one that we put on net. It was a rather disappointing draw as we played superbly in attack today.

retired_destiny1124

29.1.06
Our only addition before the transfer deadline was the free transfer purchase of 16 year old AM/FC Stephen Hindmarch from Carlisle. Bob Pearson thought the world of him when he scouted him and I am impressed with both his skill set- at his age- and his versatility. It also speaks well that he had been playing fairly regularly for Carlisle and had acquitted himself well despite his youth. Our main challenge may be to get him under contract when he turns 17 at the beginning of April.

***

1.2.06
Now we start our most challenging stretch of matches remaining in our schedule. We have 3 consecutive road matches, beginning with a hugely important visit to face local rival Stenhousemuir. We follow that with a trip up to Elgin and then a tangle with Queens Park. How we do on this stretch will likely have a large impact on where we wind up at the end of the season.

retired_perilousfaith

And another excellet story by Faramir

KUTVGW! :thup:

retired_destiny1124

Thank you Flying_Fin The kind words are appreciated...

***

4.2.06
Stenhousemuir (1) East Stirling (4)
We kicked off our road travels with a sensational performance as we handed Stenhousemuir a stinging 4-1 loss. We controlled large swaths of the match and we grabbed a 2-0 lead midway through the first half. Steve McDonald struck for a precision placed 10th goal of the season from 20 yards out as he threaded it past Chris Fahey inside the right post. Less than 3 minutes later James Flood added an exclamation point with a strong header past Fahey on a cross from McDonald. Stenhousemuir struck back quickly after Flood's goal as Craig Marr did a nice job shedding an attempted tackle from Danny Black and then blasting a shot past Steven van der Deyl. The match stayed that way until halftime, but the second half belonged to us. Flood made it a brace of goals when he flicked a header on a Black free kick past Fahey midway through the half. John Adam, on for a tiring Mick O'Brien, then capped the scoring with a superb deflection of a Kenny McLean corner to send the Ochilview Park faithful heading for the exits.

retired_destiny1124

11.2.06
Elgin (3) East Stirling (4)
It was with pain that I watched us let Elgin back into the match in the late stages, after it appeared we had them well and truly buried with a 4-1 lead. We survived their rally though and held on for a deserved 4-3 win. James Flood and Steve McDonald keyed our efforts again today with their seamless play. Flood had a brace of goals and McDonald had one as they gave the Elgin backline fits. Kenny McLean had our other goal with a wicked 25 yard blast. With the 4-1 lead, Danny Black stunned everyone when he passed the ball right to Henry Brown in front of our net and Brown easily slipped it past Steven van der Deyl. Then Graham McWilliam, who had played a stellar match to that point, made an ill-advised trip in the area and the ref was quick to point to the spot. Kevin Gilligan converted the penalty kick and our once comfortable match saw us hanging on by the fingernails. We dodged a last moment bullet when Brown scored his 2nd goal in injury time, only to find he had been ruled offside and the goal was waved off. The final whistle was a huge relief to all of us.

retired_destiny1124

18.2.06
Queens Park (0) East Stirling (0)
I never enjoy playing to draws, but I was happy to at least get a point out of this match. The only way to explain it is that Queens Park had the jump on us the whole match. They were quicker to the ball in most every case and that meant we had virtually no time on the ball since we weren't finding space in their formation. We managed one excellent chance, but Nathan Freeman made the save on Steve McDonald. We also had a golden opportunity to open the second half, but James Flood waited a hare too long and Ashley Fickling made the saving tackle on McDonald when it looked like he had a sitter. On the flip side, we played very good defense and though Steven van der Deyl had to make some saves to keep the sheet clean, we didn't allow them any very good chances. It was a fair result for us on a day when the other side appeared clearly better. Minor injuries affected several of our players and McDonald will now likely miss the key Arbroath match next week. Derek Jackson also slipped and hurt his knee and might be out most of the remainder of the season.

retired_destiny1124

25.2.06
East Stirling (2) Arbroath (1)
Unlikely heroes are the reasons for successful seasons and we certainly celebrated one today. With Steve McDonald out with a minor injury, Lee Wilson was back into the lineup to pair with James Flood up front. We held sway over the flow of play through the first portion of the first half, but luck was against us. Flood saw Gareth Bough make a superb save on him and then Kenny McLean fired a shot off the crossbar. Our Firs Park faithful were groaning when Flood crossed to Wilson and Bough snared his header on a terrific stop. We kept on pressuring them in the area and it paid off when Wilson was in the right place to drive home a loose ball after a poor clearance attempt from Ian Dodds cost the visitors dearly. With the 1-0 lead, we were playing more conservatively in the second half, but I could not get my defensive line to stay back- despite specifically instructing them to back off. Their lack of listening cost us when Alan Brazil was there to deflect a cross past Steven van der Deyl as Danny Black was caught out of position. I wanted this win badly and so did the boys. Wilson stepped up again and did the brace with a low shot past Bough after Mark Batty's good pass found him with space. This time I didn't bother to instruct them to play defensively, instead I told them to just play hard. They had a couple genuine chances to even things, but van der Deyl stopped them. We had a couple chances to put the match away with another goal, but Flood missed a sitter and Wilson's shot was wide. The final whistle found us relieved as we had pulled off a 2-1 lead over 3rd Division leader Arbroath in a key matchup.

retired_destiny1124

4.3.06
Montrose (1) East Stirling (1)
We could not buy a break in this match, and it cost us a better result as we were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw. Montrose Keeper Matt Hodgson earned his MOM honours- especially in the first half as we peppered him with good scoring chances. Hodgson stopped James Flood and Lee Wilson from close range and also benefitted from a kind net as we hit a crossbar and a post. They took the lead early in the second half, mostly due to my bad management choice. Graham McWilliam was hobbled in the first half by a slight ankle injury. I was loathe to remove him and let him start the second half. That turned costly when Danny Byrne made a quick move past him with the ball and fired it past Steven van der Deyl. We showed heart as we jumped right back to the attack, led by Derek Ure, who came on for Wilson. Ure missed just wide and then created a free kick just outside the area. Stuart McGrady blasted a rising free kick into the upper right corner of the net for the equalizer. I was pleased that we didn't back off at that point and we tried for the win. It wasn't to be for us as Ure earned a penalty in injury time, but Hodgson somehow got a hand on Danny Black's penalty kick and kept it out to save his side a point. We have had little luck with penalties this season and it has cost us some points in the standings- today being another case.

retired_destiny1124

11.3.06
East Stirling (2) East Fife (1)
As we continue on the final stretch of the season, this appeared to be the last match where I might buy the regulars a breather. East Fife came in having lost 3 in a row and were dead last in Division 3 play. I especially wanted to get Steven van der Deyl a breather as I am expecting to play him the remainder of the matches. I also wanted to get James Flood a match off. That looked like an unwise decision at halftime. Despite having played well in the first half, we went to the dressing room behind when Danny Black made an awful decision to try and pass it Aaron Gillespie with Ross Harrison parked right in front of him. Gillespie compounded the bad choice by challenging and Harrison deflected it past him for a disheartening goal. Having shown they could handle our offensive set in the first half, I decided to show the visitors something new and we came out in a very attacking 22132 formation. That change seemed to fluster them. Black redeemed himself with a terrific free kick that Iain Diack deflected past John Dodds for his 10th goal of the season to equalize in the opening moments of the second half. We kept after them with the same formation and it again paid dividends six minutes later as Steve McDonald- just back from injury- slipped a pass through and Diack took it around Dodds to get his brace. With the lead, we moved back to a more conservative approach, but it almost cost us as the backline failed to cover John Bradford. Fortunately, his header went over the bar. A couple minutes later a botched throw-in on our part allowed Andrew Windross in free on Gillespie- but he also missed over the bar. We survived until the final whistle for an important 2-1 win.

retired_destiny1124

12.3.06
I felt sorry for Jim Moffat, as our win over East Fife cost him his position. Greg Shaw was named to take his place.

Paul O'Brien suffered a strained back in training today. We will be without one of our key leaders for the next month as he is treated.

***

18.3.06
Berwick (1) East Stirling (2)
I tried to have the boys ready for a difficult match and they responded well. We took the play to them in the early going and that paid off when Steve McDonald found enough space to fire a well placed shot past Stephen Mason from just inside the edge of the area. We came close to adding to the lead several times as we missed inches wide twice on golden opportunities and also saw Mason tip Kenny McLean's shot over the bar. I was much more comfortable when McDonald struck for his 2nd goal of the match early in the second half, as he deflected a free kick from Danny Black past Mason. The referee changed the complexion of the match when he sent Carl Laurie off with his 2nd yellow card shortly after the goal. We did a nice job of limiting their chances and Steven van der Deyl was very sharp in trying to maintain a clean sheet. They managed to convert a corner kick as Clark Keltie deflected it past van der Deyl in injury time and we were back to nervous waiting. The final whistle found us clinging to the lead and with another important road win in the book. Laurie's one-match suspension will cause problems with Paul O'Brien out- we don't have much cover at fullback at the moment.