Match Report

MATCH REPORTS
Airdrie v Stenhousemuir at Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie on 13.4.19
Ladbrokes SPFL League One Att 600
Airdrie 0 Stenhousemuir 1 [McGuigan 5]

Airdrie –Hutton, Robertson [b85], S.McIntosh [Hawkshaw h/t], Creighton, Millar, Campbell, Stewart, Edwards [Conroy 80], Duffy, Wilkie [MacDonald h/t] and L.McIntosh. Subs not used – Glass, Houston, MacKenzie and Cairns.

Stenhousemuir – Smith, Reid, Donaldson, Neill, Marsh, Ferry, McGuigan [Cook 84], Munro [b70], Dingwall [Gibbons 78], McBrearty and Hurst [Ross 90]. Subs not used – McMinn, Duthie, Halleran and Dickson.

Referee – David Munro Assistants – Daniel McFarlane and Ross MacLean Fourth Official – Gavin Ross

With the later kick off time of 5.15pm manager Colin McMenamin had done his best to keep the other results in the division away from the players but he had been unsuccessful and when the team took to the pitch they knew that all the games had worked adversely for the Warriors. This could have had various effects on the team but they gave a positive response and had Airdrie on the back foot for most of the first half.

The game had been chosen for BBC Alba as a live match and on a cold day it could have affected the attendance at the ground. No matter which way supporters watched the game however, they would have seen the Warriors blitz Airdrie in the opening stages and they had already had a couple of good chances before they took the lead in the 5th minute. Greg Hurst taking full advantage of a Sean McIntosh slip to gain possession before sliding the ball to Mark McGuigan who converted from close range. Russell Dingwall had an effort saved a couple of minutes later but most of the time it was near misses rather than calling David Hutton into action.

Leighton McIntosh had the best chance for Airdrie in the first half but his shot in the 19th minute went just over the bar.

At half time Airdrie made a double substitution and that appeared to have a positive effect on the home side who spent much of the time in the Stenhousemuir half of the field. Despite having more possession they rarely caused the visitors problems as they huffed and puffed. When they did break the defensive ranks they found Graeme Smith in fine form.

There was one major scare though in the 74th minute when McGuigan cleared a Sean Creighton header off the line. Airdrie appealed that it crossed the line and although play had continued the referee decided to stop the game and consult his assistant who confirmed that the ball had not crossed the line.

Thus Stenhousemuir survived to pick up a valuable three points from the game though it was a bruising one for David Marsh who had picked up two knocks to the head in the first half and was caught by a lunge from Scott Robertson who was cautioned towards the end of the second period.