Boost for Reds as leaders call

Aug 22 2008 by Donald Morton, Stirling Observer Friday

STIRLING Albion manager Allan Moore was set last night (Thursday) to tie up three new players ahead of Saturday’s home game with league leaders Ayr United.

Trialists Chris Hamilton and Kevin Ross will be joined at Forthbank by former St Mirren midfielder Mark Docherty as the Binos seek their first victory of the season against Brian Reid’s Ayr side.

Winger Hamilton and ex-Celtic defender Ross played pre-season friendlies for Albion, while Hamilton also featured for the first team when the meaningful action got under way, coming on as a substitute in the recent 1-1 draw against East Fife.

Penned

And Moore is hoping that Docherty will also improve the squad after being snapped up from Saints. The 20 year-old penned a new one-year deal at the start of the summer but has now been allowed to move on by Paisley boss Gus MacPherson.

Docherty played one SPL game for St Mirren – in a 2-0 win over Gretna in March – and also spent time on loan at Third Division Montrose in 2006-07. He will now link up again with former team-mates David Lowing and David McKenna.

Moore said: “I think Mark is someone who will be a good addition to the midfield and I’m delighted that we managed to get him. We were a bit short in that area but now we have Mark and also Chris Hamilton to give us options and competition for places.

Covered

“Kevin Ross is a bit short of fitness at the moment and he needs a few games but with Sean Roycroft also coming back from injury we are well covered in defence now. I would hope to bring in one more player – probably on loan – and then that will be the squad complete.

One player who won’t be joining the club is former Motherwell, Galway United and Clyde midfielder Shaun Fagan, who featured as a trialist substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Stranraer at Stair Park on Saturday. “I don’t think he is any better than the players we have got here so we won’t be pursuing that one,” said Moore.

Stirling face a vital game tomorrow against an Ayr team who followed up an opening-day 0-0 draw with Raith Rovers by winning 2-0 at Alloa then coming from behind to beat Arbroath 2-1 at Somerset Park.

The Honest Men have a good recent record against Albion and won 3-2 when the sides last met in April 2007. Stirling’s sole success in the last five encounters was 4-2 at Forthbank just before Christmas 2006.

Promising

Ayr are likely to field former Binos Chris Aitken, Alex Williams and William Easton as they look to build on a promising start, having failed to even reach the play-offs last year.

Meanwhile, Moore has confirmed that Martin Grehan has been struggling with a foot injury for several weeks. The ex-Motherwell man is expected to feature this weekend but is set to see a specialist to try and get to the root of the problem.

Grehan scored in a midweek friendly against Irvine Meadow but Albion were defeated 2-1 by the Ayrshire Junior outfit. After league defeats to Brechin and Stranraer either side of a 1-1 draw with East Fife, Stirling will be hoping they can notch their first league win since defeating St Johnstone in April when Ayr come to town tomorrow.