Hello and welcome to another edition of Warriors Weekly! It’s been a big week, with our men’s team in action twice and also finding out their Scottish Cup opponents! Our Women’s side were in action too at Ochilview. Read all about that and more below!
2022 Golf Day
Bookings are now open for our annual Golf Day at Falkirk Tryst Golf Course on Friday 7th October 2022
Team costs are £250 per team of 4 and you can book your place now!
heck the details and book here
Stenhousemuir vs Elgin City
Stephen Swift was looking to it make it 3 wins on the bounce as we welcomed Elgin City to Ochilview.
And Swifty kept the same starting XI for the 3rd match in a row as he looks to maintain that winning streak.
The Warriors made a quick start and almost had an immediate reward. Higgins played a sublime passed down the left to Sewell who managed to knock the ball passed the defender and get his cross in. The ball was intercepted by the defender but Many Yates managed to collect the ball inside the box and his shot came back off the crossbar.
The hosts continued to press for the opener and Nat Wedderburn had a rare chance to score in the 10th minute, but the big midfielder just missed Brown’s corner.
GOAL: Against the run of play, the visitors take the lead. A long throw ball should’ve been dealt with by Jamieson but the defender missed his header allowing Hester to have an easy shot on goal, firing passed Brennan. STENHOUSEMUIR 0-1 ELGIN CITY [Hester 16 minutes]
After the goal, Elgin were more than happy to sit back and play long balls over the top with the home defence struggling against Hester, it seems an ideal game plan.
Adam Brown had the next chance for the home side, but his 25 yard drive was never troubling Hobbin in the Elgin goal.
Into the last 5 minutes of the half and a dangerous free kick swung in by Yates was missed by a host of players, with Forbes looking most likely to get his head on the end of the free kick.
GOAL: on the stroke of half time, The Warriors equalise with a fine worked goal. Sean Crighton laid the ball out wide right to Mikey Miller, he played a neat 1-2 with Adam Brown and the right back found the far corner with a neat finish. Miller’s 1st goal at Ochilview and his 3rd for The Warriors, amazingly, all 3 coming against Elgin City. STENHOUSEMUIR 1-1 ELGIN CITY [Mikey Miller 45 minutes]
HALF TIME: STENHOUSEMUIR 1-1-ELGIN CITY
Into the second half and Elgin continued their route one approach which is causing Jamieson all sorts of issues as he struggles with Hester. This time, the striker cut the ball back to Dingwall who forced a good save from Brennan.
GOAL: A sublime strike from Adam Brown puts The Warriors into the driving seat. Matty Yates picked the ball up and found Adam Brown in space. The midfielder took a touch to settle himself and drilled the ball home from 20 yards. It’s only the fifth time under Stephen Swift that the Warriors have turned a game from a losing to winning position. 2 wins and 2 draws as a result from the previous 4 instances. STENHOUSEMUIR 2-1 ELGIN CITY [Adam Brown 51 minutes]
GOAL: An immediate response form the visitors. Callum Yeats seemed to have been fouled a few times and he struggled with Findlay, the cross came in though and Dingwall got on the end of a knock down and gave Brennan no chance. STENHOUSEMUIR 2-2 ELGIN CITY [Dingwall 54 minutes]
And a few moments later, the visitors almost had the lead for not a Dan Higgins block, which kept the score 2 each.
GOAL: Nicky Jamieson will be seeing Kane Hester in his nightmares as the defender has struggled with the striker all day. This time Hester got on the end of another long ball, Jamieson struggled to keep up and the Elgin City lobbed Brennan to regain the lead. STENHOUSEMUIR 2-3 ELGIN CITY [Hester 70 minutes]
That goal forced a change of shape from Stephen Swift as Jamieson was replaced by Tam Orr with The Warriors reverting to a back 4 for the remainder of the game.
Tam Orr almost pulled the score level on 77 minutes as he was through on goal following a good run from Higgins. Hobbin was able to rush out though and save his teams lead.
Into the final 10 and The Warriors are pushing for a deserved equaliser. Corners are proving dangerous though with the home side dominating in the air.
GOAL: And a corner it is! Adam Brown delivered and Sean Crighton rose above everyone else and headed home. The visitors claiming the ball didn’t cross the line, but the assistant referee flagging for the goal. STENHOUSEMUIR 3-3 ELGIN CITY [Crighton 83 minutes]
FULL TIME: STENHOUSEMUIR 3-3 ELGIN CITY
An afternoon where The Warriors showed their strengths and their weaknesses. Some poor defending at times caused so much unnecessary trouble, but the quality of the goals scored and the determination of the team to get something from the game should bold well for future matches.
Highlights and post match interviews with Stephen Swift and Michael Miller can be found HERE
East Fife vs Stenhousemuir
Stephen Swift kept the same side for the 4th consecutive match.
Conor Brennan retains the number 1 jersey. Callum Yeats, Dan Higgins, Sean Crighton, Nicky Jamieson and Mikey Miller make u the back 5 with Ross Forbes and Nat Wedderburn in Midfield. Matty Yates and Will Sewell continue to lead the line with Adam Brown supporting in behind.
The first chance of the match came from the visitors on 5 minutes. Ross Forbes picked up the ball in midfield and he laid it off to Matty Yates with the young striker driving just wide of goal.
Just a few moments later and The Warriors had another good chance. Callum Yeats made the touchline and crossed back to Will Sewell who had a neat back heel to set up Matty Yates with the defender closing down in good time. The ball dropped to Forbes on the edge of the box and his shot was just clipped wide.
Ross Forbes and Callum Yeats both had long drives from outside the box in the first 10 minutes, with neither causing any issue for home defence.
Into the 13th minute and The Warriors force the first corner of the match. Nat Wedderburn’s interception fell to Matty Yates who forced a good save by the keeper at his near post. Matty Yates took the resultant corner, which drifted passed everyone.
The home side made their first promising attack of the match on 20 minutes, but Conor Brennan easily had the ball covered at his near course. Perhaps the wrong decision in the build up there from the home side, but and indication that The Warriors need to start taking their chances.
An another good chance for The Fifers as The Warriors switched off from a free kick allowing for a clean sight on goal, but the shot was well over.
More pressure for the home side as they start to find their foot in the game, forcing their first corner on 24 minutes which is well cleared by Crighton.
Callum Yeats picked up his second yellow card of the campaign on 25 minutes for a cynical foul inside the East Fife half.
SUBSTITUTION: Dan Higgins made a run forward and was fouled as he drove forward. A resultant hamstring injury forces him off the park to be replaced by Adam Corbett in the 30th minute.
Almost an immediate impact from Corbett who smashed a shot goal bound. A deflection by the defender and a world class save has kept the score at 0-0.
Matty Yates almost put Stenhousemuir in the lead with a curling effort from the edge of the box which was well saved.
Just moments later and Nicky Jamieson done well to block a well worked corner.
GOAL: Against the run of play, the hosts take the lead as Jack Healy Found the top corner from outside the box. EAST FIFE 1-0 STENHOUSEMUIR [Jack Healy 39 minutes]
HALF TIME: EAST FIFE 1-0 STENHOUSEMUIR
SUBSTITUTION: Double change at the break as Euan O’Reilly and Tam Orr come on to replace Callum Yeats and Will Sewell with Swifty reverting to a back 4 with Corbett at left back.
First good chance of the half falls to Tam Orr who sits the ball into the back of the net following a nice through ball by Matty Yates, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.
Some good chances for the home side as they start to easily break open the Stenhousemuir defence.
The Warriors have some good play of their as Tam Orr breaks towards the goal line, only to see his cross blocked for a corner, which is eventually cleared.
Once again, The Warriors find the back of the net, but the referee blows for offside.
The Warriors are chapping the door as Euan O’Reilly drills the ball across goal, but nobody is able to connect.
GOAL: The Warriors finally make the breakthrough as Matty Yates found space on the right and his drilled cross was met in the middle by Euan O’Reilly with his 4th goal of the season. EAST FIFE 1-1 STENHOUSEMUIR [Euan O’Reilly 64 minutes]
Euan is starting to find the pace of the game as the home defence struggle with the winger.
Cynical foul by Brown on 73 minutes sees him enter the referee’s book.
SUBSTITUTION: Ross Forbes’ evening is over has he’s replaced by Niyah Joseph as Swifty moves more attacking in an attempt to take all 3 points back down the road.
Into the final 10 minutes and East Fife are starting to find their way back into the game and are pushing The Warriors back. Both teams pushing for the winner.
RED CARD: A challenge by Kieran Millar on Brown was deemed dangerous by the referee and the defender sees a straight red card in what looks like a harsh decision.
GOAL: Euan O’Reilly drives forward again and his shot is deflected into the back of the net by a defender. EAST FIFE 1-2 STENHOUSEMUIR [Euan O’Reilly 83 minutes]
Almost a third for Stenhousemuir as Tam Orr is through on goal by the keeper makes a good save.
Stenhousemuir managed to see out the remaining minutes and hold on for a well deserved victory that moves them up to 2nd in the table and 8 points behind leaders Dumbarton.
FULL TIME: EAST FIFE 1-2 STENHOUSEMUIR
Highlights and post match interviews with Stephen Swift and Euan O’Reilly can be found HERE
We have been drawn at home against East Fife in the 2nd round of the Scottish Cup
Full details will be announced soon with the match scheduled to take place during the weekend of 22nd/23rd October
It’s a free weekend for our men’s side as it’s the international break, plus the SPFL Trust Trophy matches are taking place. This means our next match will be a week on Saturday as we travel to Bonnyrigg Rose. Details about that game will be in next week’s edition!
After a last minute winner in the previous match the Warriors were hopeful they could try and secure a more comfortable win, while Gleniffer, who have struggled so far this season were aiming to grab their first points of the season.
Jack Cameron had one of the largest teams hes had to date available for selection with 16 players, but still had a few notable abscences as Rachel Vickerman and Erin Wilson were unavailable for selection. Three trialists made up part of the squad consisting of Harkness in goals, Connolly, Paterson, Wilson and Sullivan in defence, Montgomery, Ahira, Jones and Kelly in midfield and Maguire up front with one of the Trialists. Richard-Campbell, Dolan and Pearson started on the bench alongside the other 2 Trialists. Carolanne Phee was still missing as she carried out the final match of her suspension.
The Warriors got the game underway and began well. Trialist A got a chance away early on as she picked the ball up outside of the box, turned, and hit an incredible strike from 22 yeards out which glanced off the bar and went out for a goal kick.
They kept the pressure up though. A few minutes later Connolly broke free on the wing before being brought down cynically. The ball kept rolling through though and found Eirinn Maguire completely unmarked in the box so the referee played the advantage. Maguire maybe had a little too much free time though as she headed for the keeper and hit her shot, but the keeper got a hand on it. Sullivan picked up the clearance from the middle of the park and ran towards the box, playing a nice 1-2 with Kelly before hitting a shot but the keeper gets a leg on it before Gleniffer are able to clear their lines. Two good chances in quick sucession.
GOAL STENHOUSEMUIR: Jude Connolly picks the ball up in the middle of the park and skips past the entire Gleniffer midfield before laying it into Trialist 1 who again turns from more than 20 yards out, and smashes it into the top of the net. STENHOUSEMUIR 1-0 GLENIFFER THISTLE [Trialist A 41?]
GOAL GLENIFFER THISTLE: Immediately from kick off, the Warriors make a slack pass at the back which is picked up by Donegan, who lays it into Chloe Devine who fires it into the back of the net from a very similar position to the Trialist goal only 1 minute earlier. STENHOUSEMUIR 1-1 GLENIFFER THISTLE [Devine 42?]
HALF TIME: Stenhousemuir 1-1 Gleniffer Thistle
SUBSTITUTION: 2 changes for the Warriors during the break as Sarah Kelly and Nimi Ahira are removed and replaced by Trialist B and Richard-Campbell.
Immediatley from kick off the Warriors press and win the ball. Richard-Campbell then drives down the left before laying it into Trialist A who tees it up for Leah Jones to take a shot which the keeper the saves.
A few minutes later Jones picks the ball up in the middle of the park before slotting it into Richard-Campbell who plays a sublime pass through the entire Gleniffer defense into Trialist A but somehow the keeper manages to get her fingertips onto the shot and the Gleniffer defense scramble it clear.
SUBSTITUTION: Montgomery is wathdrawn and replaced with Trialist C.
Gleniffer win a freekick on the halfway line as Jude Connolly tries to take the ball past the Thistle winger but ends up taking her down with a challnege when she wins the ball.
GOAL GLENIFFER THISTLE: Abbie Scally takes the freekick and drops it in over the head of Paterson into the feet of Jeniffer Caldwell who knocks it over the keeper and pulls Thistle into the lead. STENHOUSEMUIR 1-2 GLENIFFER THISTLE [Caldwell 72?]
Despite having less chances, Gleniffer have been more clinical and manage to pull ahead. The Warriors begin to turn up the pressure as they seek an equaliser.
A gleniffer goal kick is intercepted by Jones who feeds in Trialist A and is brought down about 25 yeards out.
GOAL STENHOUSEMUIR: Trialist B steps up to take the freekick and smashes it into the top right corner of the net. STENHOUSEMUIR 2-2 GLENIFFER THISTLE [Trialist B 86?]
The last few minutes become an excersice is time wasting as Gleniffer try their best to hold onto the draw. Stenny press hard and manage a few more chances but are unable to find the breakthrough goal.
FULL TIME: Stenhousemuir 2-2 Gleniffer Thistle
POST MATCH REACTION
After the match, Head Coach Jack Cameron said “We were just poor from start to finish to be honest. For the first time since ive been here I dont think we can take very many positives from the game. We lacked energy. We lacked agression, desire. Quality on the ball. They’ve had two weeeks off, we had the biggest bench since I’ve been here so there is no excuses today. They know themselves it was unacceptable and I take full responsibility.”
“The objective today was to come and get 3 points and we havent achieved that.”
“The two trialists that got on the score sheet, both did well for us today. (Trialist A) was our main threat going forward and (Trialist B) improved the group when she came on at halftime. She was a bit more vocal, wanted to get on the ball, keep it simple. But in general I think today was a bit of a write off. I dont want to be too doom and gloom but at the same time I want to be honest with the players aswell. We know we need to improve and we cant get away with performances like that in this league. It doesnt matter if a team has 0 points or 12 out of 12. We need to treat every game with respect because if you dont show up teams will punish you.”
“Looking towards next week the plan is the same as usual. We treat every game as an indivual. Every week is a fresh week, fresh game, fresh points up for grabs. So we will go in with the same intention to win the game as we always do. But we will go away now for a couple of days. Come back in again for training and this result is forgotten. We assess the negatives and try and correct it and then we attack the next game.”
Highlights can be found HERE
It’s a trip to Mineralwell Park, Stonehaven, this weekend for our women’s side as they take on Grampian. The hosts have been free scoring at home, netting 15 goals in 2 games, so it’s sure to be a tough one. The 12pm kick off is the only match in the league with the first round of the SWF Championship and League 1 taking place, with both teams having a bye to the next round. WarriorsTV will be on hand to capture all of the action, highlights should be available Sunday evening.
This week we spoke to a member of our matchday staff. A lot goes into the running on the day of a game. If you’ve been to a game at Ochilview since the fans returned and bought something from our Piehut, you’ll most likely have seen or been served by Billy Fleming.
What does Billy’s job entail?
“We cook pies and make sure they are up to temperature, cook burgers, hotdogs. We also sell juice, teas, coffees and sweets!”
Before the fans arrive, what does Billy and the rest of the staff do to prepare?
“First of all, we need to make sure we have everything that we need, so we’ll have to go and collect the pies and anything else from the stand and bring them back to the Piehut. We then make sure everything is in the correct place before we start to cook and make sure we have enough to get started with when we open up around 45 minutes before kick off.”
Once the fans start arriving and during the game, the team are kept busy:
“We need to make sure that we serve the fans as quickly as possible, as we don’t want them missing key moments in the game. Occasionally, we might have to serve to lots of people, with the terracing being open, which makes it more difficult but we manage. We also make sure we keep our stock presentable and keep the kitchen and the areas around it clean”
What happens after the game?
“We finish tidying up. We make sure nothing that can go off is left out and we clean the area and make sure it’s presentable for the next time we are in. We mainly want to get out as soon as we can after a busy few hours. It’s also nice to get to chat with the other members of staff after the games and have a bit of banter with them”
With it being the international break, the Men’s national team are in action. It’s a big week with 3 Nations League matches to be played, with the first of those being played last night.
A goal from John McGinn and a brace from Lyndon Dykes fired Scotland top of the 4 team group with a 3-0 win over Ukraine. Steve Clarke’s side now prepare for another home match against Republic of Ireland on Saturday before travelling to Poland for Tuesday’s game against Ukraine. A win on Saturday could see Scotland win the group with a game to spare.
Elsewhere, Hearts picked up their first win in the Europa Conference League last Thursday with a 2-0 win against RFS. Goals from Shankland and Forrest were enough to see the Jam Tarts head back to Scotland with the 3 points!
