SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 5/9/26

A win is welcome but I couldn’t say we really deserved it.

The game was very bitty but while Elgin looked good at times with passing and movement they didn’t threaten our goal at all first half. They were the better team footballing wise, though. At least they looked as if they had a clue what they were supposed to be doing, whereas, of course we didn’t. In particular our set-piece delivery continues to be atrocious.

At least we seem to have dispensed with the playing out from the back rubbish. Returned keeper Harry Broun, brought back to the club due to Aidan Rice being injured playing for his parent club, maybe doesn’t suit that, but who knows?

It was selection bingo all over again and we seemed to be back to the 3-5-2 which served us well enough towards the end of last season, but with Leighton McIntosh dropped for new boy Robbie Cleary who partnered Deryn Lang up front.

Josiah Sowa was agreeably tenacious at left wing-back but it nullified his attacking qualities.

In effect our first was a one man effort by Robbie Cleary and the second not something you’ll see very often.

Ali Omar took a free-kick from inside our half. At first I thought, “He’s overhit that, what was he thinking?” then, “Where’s the keeper? It might beat him,” then “It’s going in!” then, “Was it a direct free-kick?” which of course it was.

We stood off them too much after the subsequent substitutions, our midfield disappearing, and of course the inevitable happened.  We’d managed to survive the one minute off the field for a treated injury but were still re-organising back with eleven men when they scored. Too easily.

The performance wasn’t great – too many misplaced passes, no creativity, no penetration – but sometimes you win when you don’t deserve to. And you can’t rely on a worldie like we saw today.

I’m sure a different manager could get more out of these players. They’re good enough; they just need better direction.

SPFL Tier 4, Forthbank Stadium, 1/8/26.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose; or, it’s déjà vu all over again.

This panned out more as I feared than as I hoped. The similarities to a lot of our displays of last season are disquieting.

We were okay for the first ten minutes or so but never troubled their keeper. When they got the ball we looked distressingly open, though. One of their players was booked quite early and almost immediately committed another yellow card offence but wasn’t shown it. He should have seen red.

If we hadn’t given away the penalty (it looked a foul certainly) things might have been different I suppose but we always looked vulnerable. Just before half-time one of their players was shoving ours at a corner and things got fraught with several joining the melee. He was booked as was Mike Doyle for us. While the ref was noting things down their player started up the shoving again and got away with that. Stirling were thereafter diving at every opportunity and the ref was frequently conned into giving them fouls. Frustratingly, exactly the same sorts of challenges by them on us were not punished.

Not that we really deserved anything from the game. In the second half we only started playing after their second goal went in, far too easily for them.

Too many of our players were looking like square pegs in round holes, Deryn Lang and Leighton McIntosh up front were living off scraps.

David Craig in midfield looked sound, Aidan Rice in goal had no chance with the goals and made a great save at 2-0. Josiah Sowa on the left had pace and some tricks but his touch was often awkward (his brain seemed unconnected to his feet) and he went up blind alleys when he did have the ball. New loanee Owen Hartington  at least showed for the ball but, sadly, bore no comparison to Smudger  (Alexander Smith) late of this parish, who thoroughly impressed at the same venue when he came on and changed the game for us last season.

Things need sorting out quickly. Performing like this against Clyde next week could see us endure a thumping.