Stirling Albion v Stenhousemuir

Written by RedWeb

Tuesday, 18 August 2009

Stirling Albion 3 (Michael Mullen, Scott Robertson, David McKenna) Stenhousemuir 1 (Scott Dalziel) Stirling Albion Scott Christie Andy Graham Ross Forsyth John O'Neill Sean Roycroft Ross McCord Andy Gibson Scott Robertson Martin Grehan Michael Mullen Stewart Devine   Subs: David McKenna on for 10 Paul Murphy on for 4 Craig Young on for 6 Liam Corr (Unused) Myles Hogarth (GK) Stenhousemuir Scott Bennett Willie Lyle Steven Thomson Gary Thom Chris McLeod Iain Thomson Robert Love Andrew Brand Iain Diack Andrew Stirling Kevin Motion    Subs: Scott Dalziel on for 3 Craig O'Reilly (Unused) Craig Molloy (Unused) Pat Scullion (Unused) Chris McCluskey (GK) Alba Cup - Round 2 Tuesday 18th August, 2009   Forthbank Stadium Attendance: 275 Stirling's run of home cup ties continued this evening as the Warriors of Stenhousemuir visited in the second round of the Alba Cup. The Ochilview club have made a steady start to life in Division Two and on the evidence of the match at Forthbank 10 days ago they would provide another tough test. On Saturday the Beanos recorded a win at Clyde in a match which most will remember for Allan Moore opting to play a rarely seen 3-5-2 formation. Not everybody was convinced by the way the team was laid out and tonight gave the manager another chance to convert the doubters. Team lines showed just the once change from Broadwood as the cup-tied David O'Brien was replaced by Ross McCord. For the visitors a few of their starters slipped to the bench as John Coughlin gave two or three of his fringe players a chance to impress. On a rainy evening at Forthbank the Beanos kicked off shooting towards the Monument end of the ground. In front of a disappointingly but perhaps not surprisingly sparse attendance the game started slowly as the players struggled to adapt to the morgue like atmosphere inside the ground. With the Beanos still coming to terms with their new 3-5-2 formation it was Stennie who had the best of any early attacks.  A cross from Andy Stirling was looped towards goal by the head of Iain Diack but Scott Christie held the ball with ease. Diack was in again moments later but Andy Graham slid in to block the ball behind for a corner. Stirling had little to offer in the early going and a Ross McCord strike which flew past the left hand post was about as good as it got. Stennie continued to push forward and after Scott Christie punched clear the ball was lobbed goalwards by Kevin Motion but ended up well over. As the game moved on the home side finally managed to get into some sort of forward gear. Decent play by Michael Mullen saw him work space before drilling a low shot across the face of Scott Bennett's goal. Martin Grehan then set up Ross McCord for a 20 yard curler which flew a couple of yards over the bar. The home attacking continued when Andy Gibson crossed into the box from where Scott Robertson made room for a shot which was blocked for a corner. Stennie had been pinned back for a few minutes but in their first attack for a while they so nearly hit the front. Iain Diack shrugged off the attentions of Ross Forsyth to dink a shot over Scott Christie, which appeared netbound, until the right hand post intervened. Looked like Diack may have fouled Forsyth in the build up to his effort but the ref was having none of it. Having come close to going behind the Beanos got back on the front foot. A ball across the face of the Stennie box fell perfectly for John O'Neill but the assistant manager tugged his shot well wide. Moments later though Stirling made better use of a sight of goal. A ball into the Warrior's box was controlled by MICHAEL MULLEN, who cut inside a Stennie defender, before drilling a low shot across Scott Bennett and in at the right hand post. Crisp finish from Mullen who bagged his first of season 2009/10. Stennie tried to hit back straight away but Iain Diack's scuffed effort from the edge of the box was never going to seriously test Scott Christie. The last chance of the opening 45 fell the home side's way as a Ross McCord shot took a wicked deflection and looped just wide of a stranded Scott Bennett's goal. Seconds later the ref was blowing for time as so as the teams trooped off for the half time processed ham it was Stirling in the driving seat. Half-Time:  Stirling Albion 1 Stenhousemuir 0 The visitors made a change at the interval as Scott Dalziel replaced Steven Thomson. It was Stirling though who made the better start to the second period and within a couple of minutes they had doubled their lead. A ball down the Albion right found it's way to Martin Grehan who hooked it over his head and directly into the path of SCOTT ROBERTSON to slide in his first ever goal in professional football. This goal could easily have knocked the stuffing out of the visitors but instead they blasted their was straight back into the match. Despite Albion appeals for offside, Robert Love was able to fire in a cross from the Stennie right which was tapped home by SCOTT DALZIEL. Having looked all over the match was suddenly once again up for grabs. Slack play by Stennie gifted Michael Mullen a chance to restore Stirling's two goal lead, but having intercepted a stray pass, Mullen blazed over. After the two goal burst the game started to get a bit scrappy and everybody knew that the next counter could be vital. Stirling could have had it, but after good link up play with Martin Grehan, John O'Neill trundled a tame side footer at Scott Bennett. The first yellow card of the game arrived when Andrew Stirling was booked for lunging into Ross Forsyth. Remember this incident as it was to become more significant later on. Stirling decided it was time to freshen things up and so made two changes in close proximity as Ross McCord and Michael Mullen were hooked in favour of Paul Murphy and David McKenna respectively. A quick throw in from the Beanos saw Martin Grehan gather before spinning and firing a shot wide of the far post. Up the other end a rare Stennie attack ended with Andrew Brand latching onto a poor clearance only to ping his shot wide of the target. Time was now winding down and any hopes the visitors had of a comeback were about to be dashed. Andrew Stirling took exception to being tugged back by Martin Grehan and reacted by lashing out at the Albion striker. The ref had no option but to show the Stennie lad a second yellow card which meant red and an early bath. Not long after going down to 10 Stennie were all but put out of the Alba Cup. A short corner found Stewart Devine whose low shot was steered past Scott Bennett by sub DAVID McKENNA. Neat finish by last seasons top scorer who made it two for the new campaign. With a two goal cushion the Stirling manager decided to give Craig Young some game time as he took the place of John O'Neill. A soft booking for Stewart Devine meant the game ended on a sour note for the home side but as the whistle sounded it was a case of job done. The quarter finals now beckon and a favourable draw could well give us a chance of making only our third ever semi-final in this event. Before then though it's back to league action as Brechin visit Forthbank on Saturday.

 

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