Third Division: Four-goal Elgin claim top spot ahead of their trip to Govan

Elgin City will travel to Ibrox on Sunday for their Third Division meeting sitting ahead of their Rangers hosts in the table after defeating East Stirlingshire 4-1.

Elgin City will travel to Ibrox on Sunday for their Third Division meeting sitting ahead of their Rangers hosts in the table after defeating East Stirlingshire 4-1.

The pushing back of the game by 24 hours could well deny the Borough Briggs men the opportunity to say they are heading to Glasgow to defend their status as league leaders, with Peterhead, Clyde and Queen’s Park all having the opportunity to steal their perch before kick-off in Govan.

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Elgin looked to have benefitted from the Shire’s trip to Ibrox last week, as moving from playing in front of nearly 50,000 fans to only 257 supporters at Ochilview, had a negative effect on the hosts as they fell three goals behind before half time.

Brian Cameron shot home from distance, Craig Gunn hooked home a David Niven knock-down and Ross O’Donoghue fired home from 20 yards to punish lethargy in the home ranks.

Dennis Wyness made it four in the second half before Kevin Turner pulled a goal back from close range and, as the Shire finally woke up, Turner smacked a 30-yard shot off the crossbar.

Elgin’s triumphant manager, Ross Jack, said: “We were really good in the first half and created heaps of chances.

“We can now go to Rangers and look to play in the same manner. We fully intend to enjoy the game.”

Disappointed Shire manager John Coughlin said: “We were all over the shop defensively.

“It was as bad as our defending was last season and it is really disappointing as I thought we had moved forward.”

Peterhead sit on the same seven-point mark as Elgin thanks to a 1-0 success over Queen’s Park at Balmoor. The winning goal came eight minutes from time after Jamie Brough fouled Rory McAllister in the box and the striker dusted himself down to net the resultant 
penalty.

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Clyde won on the road for the second time this season by seeing off Stirling Albion 1-0 to sit in third place. Striker Kevin Watt provided the winner in the first half when he picked up on good work by team-mate Stefan McCluskey to shoot home, with the hosts coming close to an equaliser when midfielder Scott Davidson sent a lobbed effort against the bar.

Montrose and Annan Athletic played out a goalless draw at Links Park, with the home side having the best chances throughout. Their luck was best summed up in injury time when Paul Lunan’s strike came back off the bar.