Impressive Reds turn up the heat

Feb 4 2009

THE voting for January’s Irn-Bru Division Two Manager of the Month shouldn’t take long. There is only one contender – Stirling’s Allan Moore.

Albion ended a remarkable month with victory in the mud at Brechin, a result that hoists them into third place. Add in recent wins over leading duo Raith and Ayr, plus an 8-2 thrashing of Stranraer, and Moore had better make space on the sideboard for an imminent and richly-deserved accolade.

Goals from Martin Grehan and Andy Graham earned Stirling a fifth win in succession and a sixth in the last seven outings. They had been due to entertain place-off chasing rivals East Fife this weekend but the Methil men are on Scottish Cup duty at Aberdeen and Moore can only pray that the momentum isn’t lost by the time Peterhead arrive at Forthbank on Valentine’s Day.

Moore has guided Albion to two promotions since taking charge in 2002 and seems to specialise in winning streaks. This one has come from nowhere. On the morning of December 13, the Binos were only two points ahead of the relegation play-off berth and trailed Brechin, then joint leaders, by a massive 16 points.

Saturday’s success took them above both Brechin and East Fife on goal difference, with Peterhead a point back in a four-way fight for two top-four slots. Ayr and Raith look the only two title candidates now – unless a revived Albion can keep this sequence rolling on and on.

Pitfalls

It might be tempting fate but it’s hard not to think ahead to possible play-offs on May 13 and 16 and maybe even May 20 and 23. There are pitfalls and difficult fixtures ahead but Albion are flying at the moment.

This was a huge win. Brechin are the only top-six side to have beaten the Binos this season – 2-1 home and away – and a third defeat would have seen Jim Duffy’s men move six points clear with a game in hand.

Instead, City are still searching for a first triumph since November. It may well come at Stranraer on Saturday and the signing of Rory McAllister from Inverness could prove shrewd business, although injury kept him out of this one.

There was no place either for Albion’s new recruit Michael Mullen, with the Stranraer striker’s paperwork not finalised in time. He would have had to settle for a place on the bench anyway given the form of Grehan and David McKenna.

Upsurge

Their partnership is one of the reasons for Stirling’s upsurge. There are others. Scott Gibb, on loan from Falkirk, and Sean Roycroft have formed a decent defensive partnership, the battling Graham is back from injury and Stewart Devine on the left of midfield is now back at his best.

Paul Murphy and John O’Neill are a steady pairing in the centre but change will be forced for the Peterhead clash on Saturday week as the latter picked up his sixth booking of 2008/09 in the Glebe Park glaur and will now be suspended.

It’s just as well Saturday dawned bright, as any rain would surely have seen this fixture postponed. Brechin had covered the pitch during the week but much of it was the consistency of porridge.

Credit then to both teams for serving up an open and entertaining encounter. It was a match Stirling deserved to win. Chances were missed at either end in the first half but the visitors restricted Brechin to few opportunities in the second period and could have added to their lead.

Having scored seven goals in the second half at Stranraer the previous weekend, Albion were almost ahead inside two minutes here. The ball broke to O’Neill at the edge of the area and he unleashed a drive that fizzed inches wide.

The opening goal was merely delayed. A quickly-taken free-kick allowed McKenna to set up Grehan and he turned a defender to score for the third game running. Craig Nelson got a hand to his low shot but the ball trundled across the heavy surface and rolled into the net.

Stirling’s fans were dreaming of another goal feast but Brechin took less than three minutes to equalise. Full-back Richard Walker ran unchecked down the right and weaved through the defence to beat Scott Christie for a fine goal.

By the interval it could have been 3-3. Gibb should have gobbled up a corner but the ball stuck at his feet and McKenna was inches away with a lob after being sent clear by a wonderful O’Neill pass.

At the other end, Christie produced a splendid save to push away a Kevin Byers curler and he later recovered quickly to prevent a goal after the ball had slipped from his grasp. In between times, Brechin had a decent penalty shout when Roycroft appeared to catch Charlie King, but nothing was doing.

Whipped

The winning goal came on the hour mark. Nelson made a miraculous parry to keep out a close-range McKenna header but the ball was cleared only as far as Devine. He whipped in a delivery that was horrible to defend and Graham prevailed in a congested area to glance a header beyond the veteran keeper.

Brechin almost levelled for a second time when Christie had to acrobatically flip a looping header over the bar but Stirling generally defended stoutly and continued to play some fine football given the conditions.

That said, it was a punt up the park from Roycroft that almost brought a third goal, Nelson saving another McKenna header and the 37-year-old defied his years to keep out a cracking 25-yard drive from substitute Ryan McCord.

Having earned a place in the top four, the task now for Albion is to stay there. More immediately, Moore should find room for January’s top boss prize.

Brechin: Nelson, Walker, Dyer, Ward, Seeley, Janczyk, Fusco (Ettien 69), Nimmo (Canning 85), Twigg, King, Byers. Subs not used: Murie, Smith, McCluskey.

Albion: Christie, Graham, Lowing, Gibb, Roycroft, O’Neill, Hamilton (McCord 57), Murphy, McKenna, Grehan (Boyle 87), Devine (Docherty 90). Subs not used: Lawrie, Hogarth.

Referee: Colin Brown