Airdrieonians v Stenhousemuir at Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie on 23.07.16
Betfred Cup Section E  Att 532
Airdrieonians 2 [Brown 13,67] Stenhousemuir 1 [Gilhaney 56]

 

Airdrieonians – Ferguson, Stewart [b58], McIntosh [b22], Gorman, MacDonald [b53], Conroy, Brown [Schmidt 72], Fitzpatrick, Ryan, McLaughlin [Daly 58] and Russell. Subs not used – Higgins, Cairns, Truesdale, Kerr and Loudon.

 

Stenhousemuir – McCabe, McCormack, McMaster [Millar 84], Meechan, Kerr, Berry, Cook [b60][Docherty 84], Stirling, Smith [McMenamin 64], McCroary [b32] and Gilhaney. Subs not used – Hamilton, Runciman, Howarth and Nash.

 

Referee – Gavin Duncan Assistants – Ralph Gordon and Finlay Currie

 

After the poor performance against Queens Park it was a short journey to Airdrie for the second of our Betfred Cup matches. Stenhousemuir made three changes with 16 year old Liam McMaster from the Forth Valley Academy making his debut at left back. Airdrie started strongly and Stenhousemuir were soon on the back foot. It was a difficult first half for Stenhousemuir and they were probably lucky to be only a goal in arrears at the interval with Adam Brown drilling a shot home after the Warriors had given away procession cheaply.  The closest that Stenhousemuir came to opening their account in the first half was in their best move when Alan Cook and Jack Smith combined to set up Mark Gilhaney but his strike from the edge of the box was saved by Rohan Ferguson. Airdrie were having the bulk of the play but their main threat was coming from set plays and Ryan Conroy’s delivery at corner kicks was causing problems. Joe Gorman usually was the target man but he was unable to beat Colin McCabe with his attempts. In the 39th minute Airdrie came close with a quick counter attack after the ball was given away once again and Andy Ryan will feel that he should have scored but was denied at close range by McCabe who saved with his leg. Referee Gavin Duncan incurred the wrath of the home support when he blew the half time interval just as an Airdrie attack had meant that Ryan only had the keeper to beat when the whistle blewto halt proceedings.

 

The second half saw Stenhousemuir start more positively and Airdrie were unable to get the freedom of the first period. Jack Smith had a good opportunity after 48 minutes following a weighted pass by Alan Cook but the striker’s effort was well saved by Rohan Ferguson.  Airdrie were still a threat though and Iain Russell headed a Ryan cross wide two minutes later.

 

The Warriors equalised in the 55th minute and Ferguson would have nightmares about it. A powerful long range effort by Cook went through his hands and behind him only to hit the post and go back across goal where Mark Gilhaney reacted to prod the ball home. The Warriors then dominated proceedings for a while and Cook saw another effort deflected for a corner just after this. The Stenhousemuir player was booked for diving on the hour mark but looked to be harshly treated as there looked to be contact made. That was a pivotal moment in the game as the Warriors would have been awarded a penalty and if they had taken the lead it would have hit a young Airdrie side hard.

 

The home side however took full advantage taking the lead in the 67th minute with the Warriors being caught out on the counter attack after losing the ball on the edge of the opposition box as they pushed forward at a corner kick. Airdrie made use of their numerical advantage and Brown scored his second goal of the match.
This time there was to be no way back and although McMenamin brought out a decent  save from Ferguson in the 76th minute the striker was always struggling as he had to stretch for the ball. In the 83rd minute Kevin Schmidt used a burst of pace to get on the end of a probing pass but McCabe brought off a fine save. Minutes later he had an even better chance when he eluded his marker but his header from close range missed the target. In the latter stages Alan Docherty a 19 year old amateur made his competitive debut for Stenhousemuir

 

All in all a very poor first half and they fell away in the second but the spell after the goal was their best attacking wise so far this season.