Moore's men ready for Alloa

Nov 5 2008 by Donald Morton, Stirling Observer Wednesday

STIRLING Albion head for Alloa on Saturday for a crucial derby match on the plastic pitch at Recreation Park.

Allan Moore’s men closed to within four points of the play-off places after Saturday’s 3-2 home win over Stranraer but need to build momentum after a spate of draws and will be looking for all three points this weekend, writes David Ogilvie.

Stirling edged it 3-2 when the sides met at Forthbank on September 13 and are undefeated in eight matches against their local rivals since going down 2-1 in August 2005.

Bottom club Arbroath are next at Forthbank but Alloa are the priority for Moore.

Allan Maitland’s men were beaten 4-1 by new leaders Raith on Saturday and are two places and five points below the Binos, but the main reason for their poor start is a record of six defeats in six away games and they have been a different proposition at the Recs, winning their last two outings against Peterhead and Arbroath.

Late double

Stirling weren’t at their best against Stranraer and could have lost the game, but a late double from on-loan St Mirren midfielder Craig Molloy secured only the third league success of 2008-09 after the visitors had twice been in front.

Moore admitted Albion were below par but is hoping the result can kick-start their campaign and lead to run of victories – something the Albion gaffer has achieved during several of his previous seasons, notably a 10-game winning streak in 2003-04.

He said: “Nearly every year we’ve gone on a five, six, seven game winning run and it would be great to do that again. I would take a bad performance every week if it meant getting three points because we have been dominating teams and just not putting the ball in the net. The difference against Stranraer was that we took our chances.”

“It wasn’t a great performance and the first half is probably the poorest we have played all season. I was really disappointed at half-time because all we did in the first 45 minutes was kick and rush.

“We didn’t put our foot on the ball once in the first half. All we did was kick it long and that didn’t give our strikers any chance but we made changes with the wide players for the second half and managed to get the ball on the deck.

“We got a wee bit out of jail because individual errors cost us at the back again and when that happens you think it is not going to be your day but we managed to battle away and get back into it.

Chip in

“We have not been getting enough goals off the strikers so it is important that the midfielders chip in. Last week John O’Neill scored at Ayr and this week Tiger (Molloy) managed to get a couple so that is important. Chris Aitken was a big loss given the number of goals he scored from midfield so we need everyone to help out.

“We had a patched up defence because Ross Forsyth was out and Stewart Devine was starting his first game for two months but we are hoping to have Ross back for the Alloa game this weekend.

“We did consider Sean Roycroft or Kevin Ross to replace Ross but we thought we would go with the boys who have been playing week in, week out. The two of them are fit now but are just short of match practice,” added Moore, whose side were due to take on Auchinleck Talbot in a friendly last night (Tuesday).

Meanwhile, Molloy was delighted to have contributed to the weekend win, after being told by his manager to push forward more often.

He said: “They were my first senior goals so I enjoyed it. The manager has been telling me to get in the box more and I managed to get on the end of Liam Corr’s flick on for the first one and it was great to get the winner.

“I wasn’t really featuring at St Mirren and everyone agreed it was best if I went elsewhere on loan. I’m enjoying it and I’m here until December so we will need to see what happens after that.

“I’m 22 now and need to be playing regular first-team football, whatever level that might be at. I’m in with St Mirren two days a week and training with Stirling two nights a week. I’m here until December 20 because the loan deal could only be for a maximum of three months but I’m contracted to St Mirren until the end of the season.”

Deserved

Stranraer boss Derek Ferguson was suffering from a virus and left coach Colin Lindsay to speak to the press. He said: “I think we could have been three or four up in the first half but we didn’t do the right things in the second half. We deserved to win the game but I can’t fault the players because they are working their socks off and we are not getting the breaks.”

Stirling won’t mind if the breaks go against their opponents when they play on Alloa’s artificial pitch for the first time this weekend. Their most recent visit to Recreation Park ended in a 1-1 draw back on January 2, 2007 when the Wasps grabbed a last-gasp equaliser.