Albion Rovers v Stenhousemuir FC

Match Report

Albion Rovers v Stenhousemuir at Cliftonhill, Coatbridge on 1.3.16

Ladbrokes SPFL League One               Att 275

Albion Rovers 1 [Love 78] Stenhousemuir 1 [Meechan 61]

After the defeat by Cowdenbeath the Warriors made the short journey to Coatbridge to play Albion Rovers in a re-arranged game after the original game had been called off due to a waterlogged pitch. It is fair to say that Stenhousemuir have an abysmal record at Cliftonhill in recent years regardless of personnel changing throughout the years. The Coatbridge side have surprised many this season after their promotion and have throughout the season being in one of the promotion play-off spots, They have proved hard to beat and going into this game had a defensive record that the Warriors could be envious off.

In contrast to other encounters between the sides the Warriors had plenty of the ball and tried to play a strong passing game. This wasn’t always practical though on surface that was heavy on the legs and not surprisingly given the weather fairly uneven as well. Stenhousemuir who were unchanged once again took the early play but the closest that they came was a Ciaran Summers cross that just needed a touch by any of the forwards. Rovers though were happy to sit in and make it hard for Stenhousemuir to break down and with the play in the main being too slow it was fairly comfortable for them to achieve this.

They created the best chance of the game so far in the 19^th minute in a counter attack when Paul Archibald could have scored after Euan Murray was caught trying to usher the ball out of play. This gave Rovers heart and for a while took the play to Stenhousemuir but apart from a long range effort Colin McCabe wasn’t called into action. The closest that Stenhousemuir came was in the 37^th minute when after a better passage of play a long range strike by McMenamin went over rgw bar.

Chances were few and far between for both sides but eventually the deadlock was broken in the 61^st minute and it was Stenhousemuir that made the breakthrough. A Mark Gilhaney corner was headed by Jamie McCormack who rose above his marker and although his header was blocked the ball fell to Ross Meechan who blasted home.

At that stage it looked as if Stenhousemuir could beat the Coatbridge hoodoo as they in the main were setting the tempo but the home side equalised in the 78^th minute. An Alan Reid cross from the right picked out ex-Warrior Ally Love on the left and his volley took a slight deflection off McCormack and through McCabe’s hands and into the net.

This seemed to inspire the Rovers and they pushed forward for the winner with renewed confidence. It was not to be though and the game ended level. The Warriors will have mixed feelings about sharing the spoils after looking the better team and it could have been better if they had been awarded a penalty in the last minute when Colin McMenamin was pushed in the box. Nevertheless given their previous record there it could have been a lot worse.

Albion Rovers –  Stewart, Reid, Turnbull, Fisher [Talu 78], R.Dunlop, M.Dunlop, Ferry [Georgiev 61], Davidson, Barrowman, Archibald [McRobbie 70] and Love. Subs not used – Young and Lochhead.

Stenhousemuir – McCabe, McCormack, Summers, Murray, Meechan [b68], J.Robertson Stirling, Millar, McMenamin [b89][Small 89], Scotland [Cook 81][b87] and Gilhaney. Subs not used – Marenghi, Malcolm, McCroary and S.Robertson.

Referee – David Munro          Assistants – Raymond Whyte and Kevin McElhinney