It's fair to say that our preformance was miserable in this one. Our team were dwarfed by the Stranraer players in key areas of the pitch and their game plan was well suited to the awful pitch that was made even more sticky by a prematch downpour. That's not to say we were without the odd chances here and there. Indeed Airdrie had two very good chances to take an early lead. Firstly Jerome blazed a shot over when it looked easier to score, then minutes later Alan Gow looked culpable as he snatched a shot when he had more time than he thought. As usual when we're profligate we get punished and Stranraer drove the stake in with a double blow soon after. Firstly they took the lead with a Michael Moore header from a corner after quarter of an hour. Moore, not the tallest of strikers, managed to glance on the corner from the edge of the six yard box as our goalie and Paul Armstrong surrounded him.

Minutes later Armstrong wasted a throw in from the halfway line and Stranraer broke forward. As the Stranraer player drove into the box it appeared that either Vella or Stewart had scythed the player down, Vella was certainly vocal in his protests, and the penalty was awarded for Ian Harty to slot home.

Two nil down and over an hour left it wasn't beyond Airdrie to stage a comeback. There were too many players not performing well on the day though and any attempts to get back in the game were futile. Gow, starting his first game for a while, showed a lot of nice touches and turns but would beat the first man then run straight into the second almost like he was running on quicksand. Harvey played central midfield but looked incapable of winning a tackle or completing tow passes in a row. I was heckled at one point for booing him. I'm normally supportive in a critical kind of way when things are going bad but that guy was in the kind of form that drives me crazy. Paul Armstrong wasn't having much success on the left again. He just doesn't seem comfortable there although I personally think he's maturing into a fantastic player for us in the same way Sandy and Paul Jack did ten or eleven years ago. Many fans constantly ask why Armstrong is played out of position like that when Liam McVey, who didn't look the worst player in the world, can't get a game. One can only presume that there is something deeper there.

The second half was a long drawn out frustrating non event for us. When Sandy finally put us out of our misery and replaced Harvey, to a chorus of boos of which I wasn't one this time, with Ronald, it looked again like we could find the extra gear to get back into it. Presumably like me he had seen that despite his best efforts Dosser McKeown wasn't winning that many high balls so McKeown dropped back into midfield though in fairness Ronaldo didn't fare much better up front. McKeown though was a revelation in the middle constantly driving the team forward and it's fair to say he was unlucky on several occassions not to single handedly drag us back into the game.

Stranraer had a couple of really good chances to get back into it. Vella with a neat flick on and Sandy misjudging a long ball gave the home side two one v. one situations that McGeown in goals did remarkably well to save but in the end even his heroics couldn't inspire the comeback.