Match Report

Airdrie v Stenhousemuir at Excelsior Stadium Airdrie on 9.4.16

Ladbrokes SPFL Division One                      Att 614

Airdrie 1 [Lithgow 90] Stenhousemuir 1 [Cook 60]

Both teams made changes for this game with Airdrie making five alterations as they tried to get back to winning ways. The Warriors ones were enforced due to the suspensions of Euan Murray and Ciaran Summers and that meant that the defence was re-organised with Jim Paterson returning to the left back position after a lengthy absence and Jamie McCormack came back in at right back. Paterson however had to leave the field after only 23 minutes with a back injury and the defence was reshaped once again to allow Alan Cook to take a right midfield role.

This didn’t have too much of a detrimental affect though as the visitors came close several times to opening the scoring shortly afterwards. Neil Parry made a fine one handed save from a drive by the influential Angus Beith, the keeper then denied Lewis Small with a stop after a good layoff to the striker by Stuart Malcolm. The keeper was beaten though after 33 minutes but Colin McMenamin’s effort was cleared off the line by Alan Lithgow. It wasn’t all one way traffic though and the ever dangerous Nicky Cadden forced Colin McCabe into a save in the 44^th minute.

The Warriors came close from Beith and Mark Gilhaney in the second period and at times Stenhousemuir seem to have adopted a shoot on sight policy and this worked on the hour when Marc Fitzpatrick was dispossessed by Cook and his 35 yarder flew into the net giving Parry no chance. Airdrie’s best chance came a minute later when McCabe could only push out a Jamie Bain cross to Cadden but the keeper reacted sharply to save the shot.

Danny Lennon rung the changes in an effort to get back into the game bring the experience of Jim Lister, Bryan Prunty and David Cox off the bench.  Although this did bring about more of a threat it was one that Stenhousemuir looked to be dealing with reasonably comfortable albeit with the occasional scare.

The games between the sides though have all had late twists and turns with Stenhousemuir having won the previous three with late goals. This time it was Airdrie’s time to celebrate when ex-Warrior Lithgow headed home a Cox corner in stoppage time to bring the game level.

This quite rightly will be seen at two points dropped by the Warriors but in the end the point secured could still be a vital one for Stenhousemuir though a win would almost have secured safety from the relegation battle.

Airdrie – Parry, Bain, MacDonald [b79], Fitzpatrick, Creighton, Lithgow, Brown [Cox 74], Stewart, Mackin [Prunty 74], Thompson and Cadden [Lister 63]. Subs not used – O’Neill, Faria, Esposito and R.Ferguson.

Stenhousemuir – McCabe, McCormack, Paterson [Cook 23], Malcolm, Meechan, Robertson, Stirling, Beith, McMenamin, Small [b80][Eddington 82] and Gilhaney. Subs not used – Hamilton, Scotland, Marenghi, McCrory  and Barclay.

Referee – Alan Muir       Assistants – Ross Haswell and Barry Reid