After the dejection of Saturday’s results, Stenhousemuir fans were treated to some good news on Monday afternoon with news that fan favourite, Euan O’Reilly had signed a contract extension with the club. The extension will see Euan remain a Warrior until 2023. Keep an eye on our Match Preview for some comments from Euan on his decision to sign an extension and how he’s enjoying life at Ochilview Park.

 

Stenhousemuir 1 – 4 Stranraer

The Warriors returned to League action on Saturday and were looking to gain revenge after defeat earlier in the season. The ore-match news was positive with two key players in Nat Wedderburn and Tam Orr returning from COVID. Mikey Miller and Dec Hughes continue to be absent through injury with Robert Thomson, Graeme Smith and Jon Craig also remaining out.

The game couldn’t have started better for The Warriors. It started at the back with at Wedderburn blocking a Stranraer shot, the ball fell to Daz Christie halfway inside The Warriors half and he drove forward before laying off to Adam Brown. He flicked the ball over the Stranraer defence and ex-Stranraer player Tam Orr was there with a perfect finish to make it 1-0 after just 5 minutes. Confidence seemed high in the Stenhousemuir camp, however, Stranraer had other ideas.

A corner from Stranraer wasn’t dealt with properly and the ball fell to Scott Robertson inside the box. He seemed to scuff his shot, but it managed to get passed David Wilson in the home goals and that won’t be one that the Stenhousemuir keeper will want to watch back. The Stenhousemuir defence should’ve done better, but their mistakes have been punished, and it’s 1-1 after 21 minutes.

While the crowd was expecting a response from the home team, it never really came and it was Stranraer that took the lead on 30 minutes. Brady managed to skip passed Adam Brown in the middle of the park and another tame looking shot managed to get passed Div Wilson. It’s another defensive error, and The Warriors find themselves 1-2 behind after 3o minutes.

And it wasn’t long before Stranraer piled on more misery for the home team. Stranraer had a corner cleared however, the second phase saw a hopeful ball deflect off Beejay Coll and Div Wilson completely mis-timed his jump and was caught out with a header. This will definitely be a game that The Warriors keeper won’t want to watch back. All three Stranraer goals have come from goalkeeping errors, and it’s 1-3.

Stephen Swift decided to change things at half time with Cammy Graham and Adam Corbett coming on for Beejay Coll and Ross Lyon. The Warriors shifted to 3 at the back in an attempt to salvage something from the game.

Adam Corbett did have an immediate impact. Unfortunately though, it was in conceding a penalty after just 1 minute in the second half. Ex-Warrior Tam Muir stepped up and sent Div Wilson the wrong way. After just a minute into the second half, it’s 1-4 to Stranraer.

That quickly killed off any hopes of a comeback. The second half became a non-event and the next chance of note for a Warriors goal came from Adam Corbett in the 82nd minute. He drove forward and had a shot from range, but it was inches passed the Stranraer post.

Stenhousemuir didn’t stop though and a through ball from Crighton was picked up by the unusually quiet O’Reilly. His cross was met by a Stranraer defender who struggled to clear. James Lyon pounced on the loss ball, but again, it went wide of the Stranraer post.

A disappointing day for Stenhousemuir finished Stenhousemuir 1-4 Stranraer.

Highlights & Post Match Interview – Click Here

 

The Warriors quickly need to dust themselves down as we head into our final home match of 2021 as we welcome Edinburgh City to Ochilview Park.

The match is set to be a tight one with the Warriors sitting in 7^th in the table and our visitors only 3 points ahead in 5^th. A win for the boys by 2 or more goals could see us go up to 5th.

The Warriors have lost the last 2 matches against our visitors and have only won 1 in the last 7 meetings! Our head to head record is favourable against Edinburgh City though with 9 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses in our 15 matches.

Its set to be a crunch fixture with plenty at stake so we need your support!

Pay at the gate is in operation for this fixture with adult admission costing £14, concessions £9 and under 16’s just £5. Alternatively, match tickets can be purchased in advance via the FanBase app.

Additionally, the Wee Bar will be open from 12pm.

Don’t forget, you can also donate to our Food Donation Station. Full details can be found here.

The Stenhousemuir FC Ladies Christmas Raffle is up and running. Your an help support the women and girls programme by purchasing a ticket. Prizes includes a Christmas Food Hamper, Christmas Chocolate Hampers, a Stenhousemuir Warriors in the Community Holiday Camp Voucher, 4 Tickets to any Stenhousemuir FC match and much, much more! The draw will be held on December 17th and you can claim your tickets online at PayPal.me/sfcwg or by contacting the team on Twitter. Over 18s only.

Our November draw was made in our community lottery

1st prize £250– Gareth Edwards

2nd prize £100– Jacqueline Barr

3rd prize £50– Jordan Tapping

Congratulations also to our £20 winners – Leslie Burns, J Ritchie, William MacKie, Sam Thompson & Daniel Graham

Full details and how to sign up for December’s draw can be found here.

Paddy moves on 

One of our many unsung heroes at the Club, Paddy Hainey, has decided to step back from his Club duties. Paddy was mainly responsible for keeping everyone up to date with all the latest news in this very weekly update. Paddy is a 4th year Uni Student and also has working duties with the SFA and SFSA.

We’d like to say thanks to Paddy for all the work and time that he’s put into the Club. Don’t be a stranger Paddy, we’ll see you in League One next year!

Lyon docked 1 point in French league after fan violence

Lyon have been docked one point by the French league’s disciplinary committee, which also ordered a replay of the match between Lyon and Marseille that was abandoned after a spectator threw a bottle at Dimitri Payet.

The match will be played again in an empty stadium at a date yet to be determined, the league said Wednesday.

The violence in Lyon last month was the latest in a series of disturbing episodes at French stadiums and led the country’s sports minister to call for a “radical” reality check and sanctions.

The match was halted and then abandoned after Marseille’s Payet was hit on the head with a bottle filled with water in the fourth minute, with the score 0-0.

Lyon has already played a match without fans since the incident took place following a provisional decision last month that the seven-time French champions should play in an empty stadium pending a final sanction.

Lyon has been inconsistent this season, managing just six wins from 16 league games. Following the disciplinary committee’s decision, the club lags 20 points behind leader PSG.

Ukraine boss issues apology over cocky World Cup draw reaction

Oleksandr Petrakov has issued a grovelling apology for his reaction after his Ukraine side were paired with Scotland in the World Cup playoff draw. The Ukraine Head Coach was visibly happy and even clapped when landing Scotland in the playoffs but insists he wasn’t being disrespectful.

Steve Clarke’s men face Ukraine in March in a World Cup showdown at Hampden with the winners then taking on Wales or Austria away from home.

Newly-appointed manager Petrakov was criticised in his homeland for celebrating after the draw when he learned his country would play Scotland.

As Lothar Matthaus pulled out the tie, he jumped up and applauded, smiling along with fellow Ukraine officials.

But he’s insisted he has huge respect for Steve Clarke’s side and won’t underestimate Scotland when the nations meet next year.