Stirling Albion v Raith Rovers

Written by RedWeb

Saturday, 25 July 2009

Stirling Albion 2 (Andy Graham, David McKenna) Raith Rovers 1 (Allan Walker) Stirling Albion Scott Christie Kenny Feaks Ross Forsyth Sean Roycroft Andy Graham Scott Robertson Andy Gibson Paul Murphy David McKenna Michael Mullen Stewart Devine   Subs: Martin Grehan on for 9 Ross McCord on for 6 Nathan Taggart on for 7 John O'Neill (Unused) Myles Hogarth (GK) Raith Rovers David McGurn Craig Wilson Laurie Ellis Mark Campbell Grant Murray Iain Davidson Iain Williamson Stephen Simmons Gregory Tade Graham Weir Darren Smith    Subs: Allan Walker on for 11 Lee Bryce on for 9 Mark Ferry (Unused) Dougie Hill (Unused) Gary O'Connor (GK) Alba League Challenge - Round 1 Saturday 25th July, 2009   Forthbank Stadium Attendance: 713 With Wimbledon, The Open and Lions tour of South Africa now fading memories the only sport that really matters was back today as season 2009/10 kicked off at Forthbank. Some people may not be huge fans of the League Challenge trophy but making it the first game of the new campaign at least gets people more up for it than they otherwise might be. After the drought of football over the spring and summer months it's just good to get competitive action no matter the competition. As it was a decent encounter looked in store as last season's Division Two champs were in town. Raith weren't the flashiest of sides last season but they were very hard working and didn't give many goals away. They will certainly need to repeat that resolute defending if they are to stand a chance of surviving in the much choppier waters of Division One. For today's match they paid the Beanos the compliment of fielding their full first choice XI. For the home side team lines showed the same team as played against Dundee Utd with the exception of Michael Mullen replacing Martin Grehan who dropped to the bench. On a lovely July afternoon the Beanos kicked off the season shooting towards the Springkerse end of the ground. Sporting their new home kit the Albion were a tad slow out of the blocks and it was their full-time visitors who were quickest into their stride. An early loose ball from Kenny Feaks was pounced upon and a through pass picked out Gregory Tade who drove an angled drive across the face of goal and behind. An early scare for the Beanos and a warning that the strong running Gregory Tade could prove a tough man to handle. It was Rovers who continued to look the sharper in the opening quarter as Stirling struggled to get into gear. However, for all their possession the visitors weren't really threatening Scott Christie's goal. Indeed the next chance came in the Raith box when an Andy Gibson cross was glanced at David McGurn via the head of Scott Robertson. After a tentative beginning to affairs the Beanos were now much more into the match. Good play between Michael Mullen and Andy Gibson ended with the winger digging out a cross which Stewart Devine headed well over the bar. Gibson and Mullen combined again moments later and some fantastic footwork by the former Stranraer striker saw him skip past a couple of Raith challenges before seeing a shot from 15 yards blocked. From the corner that followed the ball was cleared before being played wide to Stewart Devine who dragged a low shot past David McGurn's left hand post. Raith were now being seen less in attack and a shot from Iain Williamson flew well over Scott Christie's bar with the keeper untroubled. The first yellow card of Stirling's season came when Andy Graham was booked after a foul on Gregory Tade. Looked to me more of a case of persistent fouling as it wasn't the big chaps first infringement of the afternoon. With the game moving towards the interval the Beanos continued to have the upper hand. That said a low scuffer from Williamson which trundled well wide of the target showed Rovers were still a threat on the break. Back up the other end Beanos skipper Ross Forsyth raced onto a pass only to see his fizzer tipped round the post for a corner by David McGurn. Stirling were not to be denied though. From the resulting set piece Scott Robertson nodded the ball back into the 6 yard box where McGurn flapped and ANDY GRAHAM was on hand to bundle in the opener. This proved to be the last incident of the opening period as seconds later the referee was blowing for the break. Therefore as the teams headed for the half-time watercress soup it was the hosts who held a just about merited one goal advantage. Half-Time:  Stirling Albion 1 Raith Rovers 0 Neither side made any changes at the break so it was the same teams who started the match to get things going again. As in the opening half the visitors were straight into the attack. Almost from the kick off a ball up the park saw Gregory Tade outmuscle Sean Roycroft only to see his toe poke blocked by Scott Christie. In Stirling's first raid of the second period they came close to extending their lead. An excellent Stewart Devine free kick was headed goalwards by Paul Murphy and it took a good smothering save from McGurn to stop the ball on the line when a goal looked likely. There was then a strange incident when Sean Roycroft got booked for being fouled. What happened was that Roycroft was clearly fouled by Gregory Tade and as he fell he brought Tade down. For reasons only the increasingly confused officials could explain they chose to ignore the first foul and pretend only the second one happened. As a result Sean was booked and Raith got a free kick which thankfully came to nothing. The referee was involved in things again when he booked former Hearts and Killie defender Grant Murray for pulling back David McKenna. Stewart Devine swung the set piece into the box, and with Raith struggling to clear, the ball fell perfectly for DAVID McKENNA to lash in a cracker of a volley which ripped past McGurn and into the top right hand corner. A stunner from Stirling's top scorer of last season and a strike worthy of the natty orange boots he was wearing. Raith needed a response and Williamson should have done better than head well over after a quickly taken free kick from the Raith left. Rover's manager John McGlynn couldn't have been too impressed with what he was seeing and so decided to hook Darren Smith in favour of Allan Walker. A deep cross from Craig Wilson gave Graham Weir a sight of goal but his header sailed high over the bar. With Stirling appearing to be in control both sides decided it was time for changes. Allan Moore in fact made two in quick succession as David McKenna and Scott Robertson were swapped for Martin Grehan and Ross McCord respectively. For Rovers the hard working Gregory Tade was hooked to allow Lee Bryce to enter the fray. It was nearly a third for the Beanos when the energetic Michael Mullen robbed a visiting defender of the ball before bursting into the box only to scuff a tame shot which was blocked. The hosts then made their third and final change as Andy Gibson was replaced by Nathan Taggart. Has to be said Gibson put in a tremendous shift on the right wing and showed the kind of application the coaching staff and fans appreciate. The newly introduced Nathan Taggart was involved immediately as he played a ball up to Martin Grehan whose well struck shot deflected into the gloves of David McGurn. Time was almost up as fans started to drift towards the exits. There was time for another Stirling booking though as a clumsy tackle from Ross McCord saw him earn a yellow card. There was also time for another goal, but unfortunately not in the Rovers net. Stirling failed to clear their lines and in the scramble that followed the boot of ALLAN WALKER drilled the ball inside Scott Christie's left hand post. Scrappy goal to concede but it wouldn't be the Beanos without a spot of late drama. Thankfully on this occasion there wasn't any time for last gasp disappointment for the home fans as not long after restarting play the ref was blowing for time. Therefore it was Allan Moore's second division side who progressed at the expense of their first division visitors. Decent effort from the Beanos and on the balance of play a deserved win. Maybe not champagne football from Stirling but plenty of effort with Ross Forsyth, Andy Graham and the strike pair of Michael Mullen and David McKenna particularly noteworthy. However, everybody played their part today and if we keep this level of play up there is no reason to fear the visit of 1st Division Ayr United in the League Cup next weekend.

 

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