Hello and welcome back to another edition of Warriors Weekly. It was a mixed weekend in terms of results as we ended with one win and one loss. We also have a community side in a cup final this weekend. Read on to find out more!
It was another win at the weekend for our women’s side, as they beat Giffnock 2-0 at Ochilview. The sides met in a tense affair in the opening game of the season but it was a much more comfortable afternoon for Jack Cameron’s Warriors.
A heavy touch on the edge of their box from a visiting defender teed up Erin Wilson to open her account for the season. Helen Templeton bagged her seventh of the season as she got on the end of a long ball from Jude Connolly and fired past the keeper in net. Both goals coming in the first half.
It’s only the second clean sheet of the season for the side, with both coming in the last two matches. The result keeps the Warriors 4th in the league and closes the gap on leaders Edinburgh, who were in cup action over the weekend.
It’s back on the road this weekend as a visit to Dundee West awaits the Warriors. The sides met in the second match of the season, with the Warriors winning 5-1.
Dundee currently sit 11th in the league with 4 points from 10 games.
The match kicks off at 2pm.
Stranraer vs Stenhousemuir
7th of November 2015 was the last time the Warriors left Stair Park in victory. 7 years on and Stephen Swift took his side to the South West looking to do the opening half double over the blues, following the 3-1 win at Ochilview.
The Warriors struggled throughout the match and found themselves behind in the 18th minute. A long ball forward from Stranraer was poorly cleared by Brennan, straight into the path of James Hilton who fired the ball into an empty net from 35 yards out. Stranraer would double their lead 16 minutes later. A cross into the box wasn’t dealt with properly at first, allowing Matthew Grant to fire past Brennan to make it 2-0.
The Warriors would pull a goal back in the 39th minute through Matty Yates. The Warriors cleared away a throw in from the hosts, Will Sewell held the ball up in the box before laying off O’Reilly, who found the head of Yates with a cross. It was the first shot on target for the visitors and saw them head back into the changing rooms a goal down at the break.
Into the second half and the Warriors still struggled to get a foot into the game but were given an opportunity on the 71st minute as Kyle Girvan was given a straight red for a two footed lunge on Ross Philp. The Blues’ manager was also sent off for his reaction.
A man up, a goal down and less than 20 to play, the Warriors went chasing that levelling goal. As soon as the Warriors were given a glimmer of hope, it was snatched away from them. Stranraer broke from a Warriors chance and Grant Gallagher restored the two goal lead, just moments after the hosts were dropped to 10 men.
It wasn’t the last of the action in the game though. Thomas Orr would come off the bench to pull a goal back with 8 minutes left on the clock. Ross Philp, moved to left back as Callum Yeats made way for the scorer, played a fantastic ball in behind the defence, Orr raced onto it before slotting home.
Just minutes later, the Warriors were awarded a penalty but the linesman had already flagged for offside and free kick was given to Stranraer.
FULL TIME – Stranraer 3-2 Stenhousemuir
Due to sickness in the media team over the weekend, the match coverage was stretched.
However, the website was able to catch up with Stephen Swift though on Saturday night following a poor result in Stranraer.
“Obviously it’s really disappointing in terms of the first goal, we’ve gifted it, again. And then you’re already at a difficult place, taking on a decent team. But, the fact is, if you keep gifting gaols, you’re going to really struggle. And then, I thought that we had a really good spell before their second goal, which was a cross to the back post and obviously, we didn’t deal well with the first header, didn’t deal well with the 2nd one, and the boy’s prodded it in. I thought that we could’ve done a lot better with that. But, again, I thought that we finished the half well in terms of getting back. We got a life line with our attackers and the message was that we will get another goal, but can we keep it tight. We got a great lift with them going down to 10 men and you think that we can go and kick and, at least, get a point from the game. But, really poor defending again and individual errors has killed us. They’ve then went up the park, should really good desire, and got their third goal. It just really leaves question marks in terms of how we’re defending as a whole, and it’s absolutely killing us. Obviously we get it back to 3-2 and could’ve had a penalty, but the linesman had given offside just before it. But, it’s devastating in terms of the amount of goals that we’re conceding and the actual manner of them. It’s individual errors constantly.”
It must be good to see that the team are scoring goals with the 2nd highest scored in the league, but even that isn’t helping us at the moment.
“Listen, we’ve got dangerous players at the top end of the pitch. Even when the subs come on, they add a different dimension, so, we’ve really got that part nailed down. But, at the other side of the pitch, we can’t do the basics right; win headers, win tackles, defend well and with that, you won’t have much chance of winning games of football unfortunately. And until the players can step up and get that right, we’re going to be an inconsistent team. But, as you say, we’ve got a lot of good players up the top end of the pitch.”
You can check out the highlights from the game HERE. (Highlights courtesy of Stranraer FC)
Our home match against Forfar Athletic, due to be played on the 24th of December, has been moved forward by two weeks to the 10th of December with a 3pm kick off. This will be our final game at Ochilview for 2022 with the two remaining matches away to Dumbarton and Stirling Albion.
It’s our penultimate home match for the calendar year this weekend as we welcome Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic to Ochilview Park for the first time!
The meeting at the start of last month finished 4-2 in the Warriors favour, which was the last win for the side in the league.
Admission for Saturday’s game is set at £14/9/5 and it’s a return of WarriorsTV LIVE for the match. You can watch from anywhere in the World (Including the UK) for £10. Click HERE to find out more!
