Reds plan for good away day

Oct 24 2008 by David Ogilvie

STIRLING Albion head for Ayr tomorrow (Saturday) looking to bounce back from last weekend’s disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Second Division leaders Brechin.

That result left the Binos sixth in the table, seven points adrift of Brian Reid’s team, who were beaten 3-2 at Raith on Saturday but who are undefeated at Somerset Park this season.

The sides drew 2-2 at Forthbank in August when Allan Moore’s men recovered from two goals down to salvage a point and a draw tomorrow would be a decent outcome, although Albion are desperate for victory after a four-match winless sequence.

Stirling have managed just two wins in 10 league matches and a combination of missed chances and poor defending has hindered their challenge – but Moore believes they are capable of getting a result against Ayr.

He said: “The Brechin game was very disappointing because when we got it back to 2-1 we had a couple of great chances but we missed them and that has been the story of our season. Martin Grehan missed one from just a few yards out and we have to be ruthless.

“Brechin are 11 points ahead of us now and obviously that will be difficult to pull back but I really don’t think they are a better team than us. They took their chances and we need to stop giving away bad goals because both of them could easily have been avoided.

“Our aim now has to be to get as many points as possible in this second quarter of the season and then see where it takes us. I’ve said all along that the main aim was to get into the top four in the first instance.

“We are definitely lacking a real predator in front of goal – someone like Colin Cramb – and we are not scoring enough goals. I have tried a few different things up front and we may need to change it again for Ayr as Ian Harty didn’t train on Tuesday due to a calf strain.”

Options

Harty could yet make it but Moore has not ruled out the possibility of a 4-5-1 formation, something that was a success earlier in his reign and would help accommodate the number of options available to him in midfield.

He added: “It’s something we might consider and I think Liam Corr is someone who could play just off the front and make things happen. He came on against Brechin last week and did well in a bounce game we had at training.”

Stewart Devine could also come into contention, having not featured since the 1-0 defeat at Stranraer on August 16 because of injury while David Lowing missed training on Tuesday as his wife has given birth to a baby girl.

Meanwhile, Moore revealed that Harty and midfielder Mark Docherty were involved in an accident prior to last weekend’s game with Brechin that left the striker’s car a write-off and both players shaken but unharmed.

He said: “They were involved in a crash at a roundabout in Stirling but they were both OK despite the fact the car was written off. They both wanted to play but Mark had a bit of a sore head and in hindsight I should maybe have left him out as he didn’t have his best game.”

It will hopefully be a less fraught journey down the A77 for Albion’s first visit to Somerset Park since April 2007 when Ayr won 3-2 and ended any slim hopes Stirling had of pipping Morton for the title. The other Somerset contest that season ended 0-0 while Ayr won 3-0 in April 2006, having been thrashed 5-2 by the Binos a few months earlier.

Myles Hogarth, Andy Graham and Ross Forsyth are the only survivors from that memorable match and it is too much to expect a repeat but Stirling’s fans will be hoping for some cheer after witnessing just one away win since February – that coming at Arbroath on August 30.