Match Report

MATCH REPORTS

Elgin City v Stenhousemuir at Borough Briggs Elgin on 27.01.18

SPFL Ladbrokes League Two             Att 593

Elgin City 2 [McLeish 23, Reilly 90 pen] Stenhousemuir 0

Elgin City – Long, Cooper, Allan [b77], McDonald, Eadie, McGovern, Smith [ Dodd 73], Reilly [b76], McLeish [Byrne 76], Cameron [b17] and A.Sutherland [ McHardy 87]. Subs not used – Elbouzedi, Bronsky, Ferguson and Waters.

Stenhousemuir – Smith, Meechan [b17], M.Dunlop [b90], R.Dunlop, Donaldson, Marsh [b23][Scott 85], McGuigan, Ferry, Halleran [Ferns 56], Murray [McMenamin 56] and Cook [b74]. Subs not used Gilmour and McMinn

Referee – Mat Northcroft     Assistants – Gordon Crawford and Chris McTiernan

The previous meeting at Borough Briggs had been a disappointing encounter for the Warriors who failed to get into any sort of rhythm and as a consequence were well beaten despite the narrow 2-0 score line. This game then had a touch of déjà vu about it as the same pattern of events occurred in this game with the Warriors failing to performance anywhere near their normal standard and as a consequence suffered another 2-0 defeat.

After a brief appearance the previous week Thomas Halleran was promoted to the starting eleven though for much of the time he was forced to play wide rather than his more central midfield position. The midfield in general struggled against the movement of the Elgin players on a difficult surface and this put extra pressure on the defence.

Stenhousemuir had the wind at their backs in the first half but failed to make the most of it and probably suffered from over hit passes. Elgin should have taken the lead in the 31^st minute when a quick one two ended with Brian Cameron firing over from close range. Elgin though were to take the lead only two minutes later when a cross from the left was played into Chris McLeish’s path by a clever back heel from Ali Sautherland and McLeish stroked the ball into the net. There was another let off for the visitors within a minute of the goal when Scott Smith had a decent chance from the edge of the box but failed to get his head over the ball and subsequently shot over the bar.

The second half started with the Warriors battling against driving rain and wind but the home side were not making the most of the conditions either. The first real chance came from a Stenhousemuir mistake when Chris Smith spilled a cross but he was able to atone for the error by saving from Jordan Allan.

Just after this Stenhousemuir came close to getting back into the game when Mark Ferry got behind the home defence and he picked out a Ross Dunlop at the back post but Ross’s shot went just wide of the target. Keeper Brett Long had a quiet debut for Elgin but he did well to tip a David Marsh effort over the bar though it would have been disallowed if it had went in as Marsh was flagged offside.

The second half saw an improved performance by Stenhousemuir but they were to be frustrated by the number of times they were given offside though several times the decisions were very tight.

Their frustration was complete when Michael Dunlop tripped Declan Byrne in stoppage time and referee Mat Northcroft awarded a penalty that was duly converted by Thomas Reilly to complete a 2-0 win for Elgin which was fairly comfortable despite them needing a last minute goal to calm any nerves.

This was the third time that Stenhousemuir have failed to score on their travels this season and twice it has been at Borough Briggs.