Stenhousemuir 4-1 Albion Rovers

Stephen Swift made a single change to the starting lineup from Elgin a week prior.

Peter Urminsky resumes his position in goals.

Mikey Anderson and Tam Orr both return from injury and start on the bench.

Adam Brown gets the match underway.

GOAL: The Warriors picked up an early corner and Adam Brown swung it in to the back post where Adam Corbett rose above the defence and headed home his 5th goal of the Season. [Stenhousemuir 1-0 Albion Rovers, Adam Corbett 1 minute]

Great start from Swifty’s men as they’re looking at that final playoff spot.

GOAL: Stenhousemuir double their lead inside 5 minutes. Daz Christie whipped a vicious ball into the box. Robert Thomson tried to get on the end of it, but it fell to Euan O’Reilly at the back post. He took a touch to settle ad fired the ball into the back of the net. [Stenhousemuir 2-0 Albion Rovers, Euan O’Reilly 5 minutes]

Stenhousemuir have total control and are passing the ball about well. The visitors look shocked at the start and can’t get grip of the game.

Into the 13th minute and Albion have their first proper attack. Charlie Reilly got on the end of a loose ball and drove towards goal. Nicky Jamieson popped up out of nowhere and timed an inch perfect tackle to perfection to clear the ball.

GOAL: Daz Christie got on the end of an Adam Corbett throw in. He picked out Thommo in the box and he controlled and drilled past Binnie in the Albion goals. [Stenhousemuir 3-0 Albion Rovers, Robert Thomson 19 minutes]

Albion Rovers can’t cope at all and already look like they’ve switched off. Stenhousemuir are causing problems for the away defence and they just can’t cope with the intensity of this Warriors team.

GOAL: An absolute shambles at the back for Albion. Adam Fernie tried to header back to Binnie but Adam Brown got there before the keeper and chipped it into the back of he net. [Stenhousemuir 4-0 Albion Rovers, Brown 23 minutes]

Albion Rovers did make a rare attack soon after, but the Stenhousemuir defence are more than able to cope with the little attacking threat from the visitors.

PENALTY: Mikey Miller brings down the attacker in the box and the referee points to the spot. After checking with the assistant whether it’s a free kick or penalty, the penalty decision was given. However, replays show that the foul was outside the box.

GOAL: Reilly smashes it down the middle. [Stenhousemuir 4-1 Albion Rovers, Reilly 40 minutes]

HALF TIME: Stenhousemuir 4-1 Albion Rovers

First action of the half sees Euan O’Reilly win a corner. Adam pays a clever pass into Mikey Miller ad the ball eventually drops to Adam Corbett His shot was well over the bar.

Albion Rovers have played far better in the first 15 minutes of the second half than the whole of the first 45. Anytime they have managed to get a sniff of goal, Peter Urminsky has blocked anything that’s come towards him.

The Warriors have started to put some pressure back on the visitors, forcing a few corners, but struggled to get anything on target.

RED CARD: Another defensive blunder from the visitors as Fagan pulls Thomo to the ground as he’s through on goal. Red card for the Albion defender. [59 minutes]

The red card has killed off any spark that Albion have had in this second half.

Stenhousemuir have so much time and space on the ball. Any time the visitors have the ball, they can only clear their lines and wait for the next attack.

SUB: Tam Orr makes his return after injury and replaces Thomo. [76 minutes]

SUB: Cammy Graham makes his 14th appearance from the bench  as he replaces Daz Christie [80 minutes]

Big chance For Stenhousemuir to get their 5th as Adam Corbett paid the perfect through ball to Euan O’Reilly. He was one on one with Binnie and tried to round the keeper, but the keeper plucked the ball from the wingers feet.

FULL TIME: Stenhousemuir 4-1 Albion Rovers

As dominant a performance as you’ll see at Ochilview with The Warriors getting a few goals which could come in handy in our fight for 4th place.

Stenhousemuir vs Stranraer

If there was a ‘bogey’ team for The Warriors this season it would be Stranraer. In the 3 fixtures to date, we have seen 2 defeats, including a 4-1 humbling in December, and a 1-1 draw.

The Warriors come into this fixture a different beast to the one that lost at home before Christmas.

The defence is solid, the attack is free-flowing and if there was ever a chance to break the Stranraer ‘curse’, then now is the time.

This fixture hasn’t been kind to The Warriors as of late. In fact, you need to go back to 14th January 2017 to find the last Stenhousemuir victory, 11 meetings ago.

Swift’s boys are playing with confidence. With Edinburgh City playing on Friday night, the boys will be all too aware of what needs to be done. Should the capital side lose to Annan Athletic, then The Warriors would only need a draw to take them above Edinburgh going into the final game of the season.

The Warriors have a strong goal difference, so by beating Edinburgh’s point tally in their final 2 games by a point or more and the playoffs awaits.

It’s the final league game of the season, so make sure you get to Ochilview and cheer on the boys in our fight for 4th.

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MATCHDAY INFORMATION

Kick-off: 3pm

Match Entry: Both home and away fans can enter via pay at the gate [cash] or you can purchase your ticket in advance by using Fanbase. Adult admission costing £14, concessions £9 and under 16’s just £5.

Live Stream: If  you can’t make the match, Warriors TV has you covered with PPV commentary from Cameron McIntyre. PPV is available for just £10 here.

Getting Here: Click here for details of how to get to Ochilview by car or train.

Season Card Holders: Season Tickets are valid for this match. The ticket number will be displayed beside the turnstiles.

The Pie Hut: Food and drinks will be available to be purchased once again from the Pie Hut.

The Wee Bar: The Wee Bar is open from 12pm with all fans welcome.

Face Coverings: Face coverings are not mandatory inside the ground but fans are encouraged to continue to wear these. Masks should be worn when moving around the ground.

#ANDYSMANCLUB

Our new partnership with Andy’s Man Club launches on May 9th and will be 100th location for the guys

We’re extremely proud to be able to support such a cause and help our community as best as we can

If you’re interested in attending the Monday night sessions, then please contact Andy’s Man Club on Twitter

Fight for Fourth

Should we be successful in our fight to finish 4th, we know that Dumbarton awaits in the the Playoff Semi-Finals.

We’re no stranger to The Sons as we were paired against them in this Season’s Premier Sports Cup.

Despite going a goal down, The Warriors struck back with James Lyon’s Goal of the Season, and Robert Thomson’s match winning header.

Should we progress, Ochilview will host the 1st leg on Tuesday May 3rd or Wednesday May 4th with the return being held in Dumbarton on Saturday May 7th.

Should we progress beyond that, we will play the winner of Annan Athletic vs Forfar Athletic with the home tie being on Tuesday May 10th and the return fixture, away, on Friday May 13th. Both of these final matches will be shown live on BBC Alba.

James wins Goal of the Season

Many thanks to all that voted on our Twitter Poll.

James Lyon wonder strike against Dumbarton, which was our first competitive goal of the season, picked up most votes.

Congratulations to James, and thanks to all that voted.

VAR to be introduced to the Scottish Premiership

A “staggered start” for VAR in the Scottish Premiership next season is the best practical solution, says SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster.

But the system is set to be launched mid-campaign when the league resumes in December after the World Cup.

“Ideally, you’d want it at the start of the season, but it simply wouldn’t have been ready,” said Doncaster.

“You could have taken the view that you could wait until season ’23-24, but there was a desire to bring VAR in as soon as it could reasonably [happen].

“Other leagues have done the same with staggered starts to VAR – the Polish and Czech leagues.”

The total cost of £1.2m per season is to be met by the 12 clubs on a sliding scale, with the Premiership winners paying around £195,000 and the 12th-place team £67,000.

However, Doncaster says the SPFL and Scottish FA aim to “drive down the cost and ensure we get a value-for-money solution without compromising the quality of VAR decisions”.

The Hawkeye Innovations System, which is in place in the English top flight and other European leagues, is the technology the Premiership will use. It will be installed at the 12 grounds in the coming months.

The SPFL also plans to use VAR in the League Cup semi-finals and final in January and February 2023.

For the record, Stenhousemuir FC voted in favour of introducing VAR technology.