Stirling Albion 1 - 1 East Stirlingshire: Albion stay at foot of table

By DAVID OGILVIE
Published on 13/02/2013 02:03

ALBION missed the chance to move off the foot of the Third Division table as Shire hit back for a draw in the first meeting between the clubs at Forthbank for nine years.

Scorers: Stirling Albion - Weir 47; East Stirlingshire- Turner 55, pen

Referee: A Newlands

Attendance: 376.

The Binos went into the match on the back of three home wins in four but failed to leapfrog their local rivals as the sides played out a repeat of the 1-1 draw at Ochilview at New Year.

Mark Ferry and Jamie Bishop came close for the hosts in a dour first half, while Andy Stirling forced a decent save from David Crawford at the other end.

Greig McDonald’s men, playing the second of nine matches in 29 days, took the lead 90 seconds after the interval when Kieran McAnespie’s corner was headed home by former Hearts striker Graham Weir, but Shire were soon level.

Substitute Stephen Day carelessly tripped Stirling in the box and Shire skipper Kevin Turner rammed home the penalty.

Ferry had a chance to win it for Albion after good work by Weir but his effort was saved by Grant Hay while Turner was thwarted by Crawford as it ended all square.

• The SFL Reserve match that could see Rangers secure their first SFL title in 15 years has taken on an extra edge after a handsome 8-3 win brought opponents Queen’s Park to within three points and two goals of the Ibrox second string.

The prospect of a ‘winner takes all’ contest, which would require Ibrox or Hampden to be used to cater for the supporters that would attend as opposed to Lesser Hampden or Murray Park, has now emerged.

Talks between the clubs and the SFL have started over where the game could be played and these discussions will intensify if second placed Morton, who sit one point behind Rangers, fail to beat Partick Thistle in their last remaining match.

Stirling Albion: Crawford, McCunnie, Bishop, Allison, McAnespie, Ferry, McClune, Johnston, Graham Weir, White, Davidson. Subs: Filler, Forsyth, Thom, Day, Cunningham.

East Stirlingshire: Hay, Jackson, Miller, Buchanan, Holt, Greenhill, Hunter, Herd, Glasgow, Turner, Stirling. Subs: Gordon, Begg, Shepherd, Trialist, Quinn.