Match Report

MATCH REPORT

Stenhousemuir v Queen of the South at Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir on 15.7.17

Betfred Cup Section G                       Att 384

Stenhousemuir 1 [McGuigan 17 pen]  Queen of the South 3 [Dobbie 70.86, Rooney 84]

Stenhousemuir – Smith, Meechan, M.Dunlop, R.Dunlop, Ferry, Gilmour, McGuigan, Halleran [Sinclair 87], Longworth, Scott and Donaldson. Subs not used – Gracie, Paterson and McMinn.

Queen of the South – Martin, Rooney, Marshall, Fordyce, Brownlie, Tapping [Lyle 60], Stirling [Akubuine 90], Rankin, Dobbie, Dykes [Murray 67] and Jacobs. Subs not used – Bell and Langfield

Referee – Gavin Duncan        Assistants – Andy Milne and Ross MacLeod

After the preliminaries of the pre-season games it was the start of competitive games for the new look Stenhousemuir side. Only Ross Meechan and Jim Paterson were at the club last seson and the latter was only on the bench as an emergency option due to five players being missing through various reasons.

There was an early scare for the Warriors when a short pass back to Chris Smith could have been intercepted but the keeper proved to be up to the task and was able to deal with the situation. In the opening exchanges there was little between the sides but Stenhousemuir were gifted the chance to open the scoring in the 17^th minute when an obvious push by Shaun Rooney on Martin Scott was spotted by everyone including the referee who had no hesitation in awarding a penalty. Mark McGuigan stepped up to convert the spot kick.

The Doonhamers took their time to respond to this set back and they struggled to make inroads attack wise. The closest that they came was a Darren Brownlie effort that was deflected for a corner in the 24^th minute. Ross Gilmour almost played in Jamie Longworth a couple of minutes later by Alan Martin was alert to the danger and intercepted.

Just after the half hour Stephen Dobbie gave a sign of things to come with a powerfully driven free-kick that Chris Smith pushed over the bar and indeed the enclosure with a one handed stop. In the main Stenhousemuir were not being troubled too much though a dipping Callum Tapping cross caused problems in the final stages of the half.

The second period saw few chances go Stenhousemuir’s way but Scott came close in the 68^th minute with a strike that went just wide after good work by Thomas Halleran. If that shot had sneaked in the final outcome of the game may have been different.

Two minutes later Queens equalised and it was no surprise that Stephen Dobbie was the scorer though his shot from the left side took a deflection to guide it past Smith and into the net. This certainly gave the visitors a lift and the chances started to come their way. Another Dobbie free-kick was saved low down by Smith in the 77^th minute and seconds later he was to come to Stenhousemuir’s rescue again saving from Derek Lyle at close range.

It was a case of whether the home side would hold out against their full time opponents and the answer came in the 84^th minute when the Dumfries side took the lead when Rooney atoned for his earlier error to head home a Dobbie free- kick. Any thoughts of a potential fight back ended two minutes later when another Dobbie strike flew into the net.

The final score of 3-1 was a harsh one for a Stenhousemuir side who were well organised throughout and they fought hard but in the end they were undone by some quality finishing from the visitors. Both sides were applauded off the park but the Stenhousemuir players were clearly hurting about the final result.