Match Report by Gary Langley Official Stranraer FC Site

This top of the table clash between Stranraer and Stirling Albion has hotly anticipated and the turnout of 710 echoed that. The weather was its usual cold self with a brisk wind blowing from the town end across which was intermittent.

Both teams came out to rapturous applause, you could hear the expectancy in both the fans of the Blues and The Binos. Both teams had good line-ups, Stirling Albion despite having three defenders sidelined by injury and suspension, still looked a strong opponent and their placing at the top of division three meant that this would be one of Stranraer’s toughest games of the season.

Referee Brian Winter got the game underway and The Bino’s immediately applied pressure on Stranraer who did look a little nervous. After only a few minutes of the game Scott McLean ran on to a McKinnon flick after a superb cross, however his low shot was dealt with by McCondachie who did well to deflect the ball out. The early pressure continued, the crosswind was doing Stranraer no favours early on, McCondachie's goal kicks seemed to go 30-40 yards and then drop like a log and this did not do much for Stranraer’s usual passing wing play. Stirling managed a further three efforts on goal in the first ten minutes which was dealt with, however the Blues clearly had a job on their hands against a strong team bolstered by the wind.

Stranraer eventually began to get some stride together and an effort from skipper Allan Jenkins after good work from Graham and Aitken reminded Stirling that there was opposition in this match. The game continued to flow, there were periods in which the play was restricted to the midfield but overall the balance was with Stirling. On 26 Minutes Jenks had a further opportunity when a wickedly deceptive free kick by Lee Sharp found the skipper in ample space, however his header lacked power and direction and drifted wide. Both sets of fans were getting behind their teams, and the Binos, backed by their two-piece guitar-strumming band were livening up the park with their crooning.

Half time came and the general consensus amongst the fans at half time was that the Blues were somewhat lucky to get in level. It was clear that the attempt to play high balls was not working, Davey Graham isn’t exactly NBA Basketball height, and Kevin Finlayson who was playing a forward role had been snuffed out.

The second half kicked off, the Stirling fans had moved further across the park towards ‘The Cooshed’ where the Vengabus loyal fans were based, it was clear early on that there would be some friction. Stranraer, buoyed by the wind on their backs started much better, Finlayson was running at the Stirling back four, and Davey Graham was getting about the park, causing the back line some clear marking problems. On 55 minutes Stair Park erupted when a free kick was knocked in by Murray Henderson who had not been having one of his strongest performances, his luck was confounded by the fact that Davey Graham had drifted offside when the ball was whipped in and the goal was chalked off, much to the relief of the away support.

Just before the hour mark the main stand burst into applause when Michael Moore took off his tracksuit and was being readied for action, he replaced Lee Collins, whom was also having a hard time on the pitch. Straight away Lee Sharp mazed his way through the Bino back-line and whipped in a sublime cross which created havoc in the 6 yard box, a scramble ensued with Graham, Swift and Moore involved, however a foot was stuck out and Moore ran away jubilant, claiming the goal. Stair Park was absolutely buzzing at this point. The main stand was overjoyed and ‘ The Cooshed’ burst into song for the first time in a good long while. 1-0 BLUES!

Then followed 20 minutes of nervy, hard football. Both teams by now had adapted to the conditions well and Allan Moore’s team really started to press again, with McKinnon and Smith both having shots on target. The backing from the stand was superb in this time, however that was silenced on 80 minutes when after a series of crosses, Stuart Devine put in one that was met by McKinnon who hammered the ball into the net from a couple of yards out. 1-1 LEVEL!

The remaining 10 minutes were once again nervy and nail-biting, both teams had chances to take the game, Davey Graham showed class touch when he turned to players and shot from distance and McKinnon again could have had the ball in the back of the net had it not been for the outstretched arm of Andy McCondachie.

Final whistle went and Stranraer left the field looking a lot more disappointed than Stirling did. After the game Neil Watt was philosophical citing that Stirling in whatever guise are a good, strong attacking team and are up there at the top of the table on Merit. When asked if a win at Gretna next Saturday would all but seal promotion, Neil was quick to point out that that certainly was not the case in his eyes, he said “First things first we have the Cowdenbeath game coming on Tuesday and at the moment we are looking no further than that”. Bino’s manager Allan Moore was upbeat about the result stating “ We were out there today with not a weakened team but a lesser experienced one, we had a boy out there from our U19’s team but he has just asked me if he could play for the U19’s tomorrow which shows the type of player that we have at the club.” He added, “Today was always going to be a difficult game for us, the two teams are up there because they are playing the best football and this showed in the games standard. I was going to bring McKinnon off because he looked knackered, but he gets himself into positions all the time and there he was again to put the ball in the net. He’s that type of player that can always get you a goal. With Gretna losing today it is quite possible that these two teams will go up and I would like to see that after the effort put in by both teams this season.”

With Gretna losing away at Peterhead though, it meant Stranraer retain the 5 point gap between themselves in second and Gretna in third. The Blues now venture to Cowdenbeath on Tuesday and Gretna on Saturday for what are bound to be two very important results in the shape of Stranraer’s season.

Man of the Match- Lee Sharp: Dangerous down left side

Overall Summary- We'll take a point

Attendance: 710