Match Report

Brechin City v Stenhousemuir at Glebe Park, Brechin on 28.12.13

SPFL League One             Attendance 507

Brechin City 0 Stenhousemuir 1 [Hodge 38]

Lady luck was on the Warriors side in this game as they were not at their best but still came away from Glebe Park with all three points. It has not been the best of hunting grounds for Stenhousemuir of late despite a win the last time they played there so it was about time that fortune favoured them.

Brechin dominated the first half of the game and will have felt that they should have put the game beyond doubt before the Warriors scored the vital goal. It isw fair to say that Chris Smith was the busier keeper and he had to prove his worth to save a Darren Petrie strike in the 5^th minute that he tipped over the bar. The most alarming thing though was the way that the defence just seemed to open up to allow the chance. He then pushed an Andy Jackson effort round the post. The striker did have the ball in the net in the 11^th minute but the strike was disallowed as he was adjudged to be offside. Jackson then saw a 16 yard shot beat Smith but struck the post. Gaps were appearing all too frequently in the Stenhousemuir defence but they were living a charmed life and when Alan Trouten shot just wide in the 30^th minute it seemed a question of when the first goal was going to come.

At the other end a David Rowson shot moved in the air but although Callum Antell got behind it he did not look too confident. It had taken Stenhousemuir 37 minutes for their first effort on target but they took the lead 30 seconds later. Ex-City player Bryan Hodge was the scorer as he took advantage of lax marking to fend off a challenge before firing into the net from 16 yards out. Before the end of the half Brechin should have equalised but once again Smith was the hero with a double save first of all saving from Ryan Donnelly and then the rebound from Andy Jackson once again.

The second half saw Brechin playing up hill and against the wind but they still looked the more likely side to threaten. A Donnelly shot from 25 yards could have caught Smith out but the keeper was alert and managed a regulation tip over the bar. This was followed in the 57^th minute by Trouten being played through by Andy Jackson and he looked as if he would at least test the keeper when Nicky Devlin managed to scramble back and his tackle was enough to put the Brechin player off his stride. Stenhousemuir were struggling to get any momentum into their game but they had an excellent chance when Errol Douglas was played through but with only Antell to beat, he lacked composure and shot wildly past the goal. That could have been a costly miss as a minute later in the 62^nd minute Brechin were awarded a penalty when Sean Lynch made a clumsy tackle on Trouten and referee George Salmond had no hesitation in awarded a spot kick. Trouten stepped up to take it but after he checked his run his strike was saved by Smith who saved at the post.  The home side to their credit continued to take the game to the Warriors and they had another penalty claim turned down after a Graham Hay header appeared to strike Ross McMillan’s hand. There then followed further efforts by Paul McLean and Andy Jackson but they were unable to beat Smith. In fact the closest to a goal came at the other end of the pitch. A Sean Higgins corner was flicked goalwards by John Gemmell who along with Higgins was convinced that the ball had crossed the line before being clutched by the keeper and Gemmell started celebrating. The standside assistant was unsighted though and he could not verify a goal before Antell started forward movement with the ball so no goal was given.  A vociferous appeal for a penalty for Brechin after Jonny Brown went down in the box saw the Brechin player cautioned and a similar scenario occurred when Sean Lynch went down in the Brechin box two minutes later.

The Warriors held on for a hard fought victory but they will acknowledge that they have played better in games and not picked up any points. The biggest surprise was the fact that they achieved a rare shutout despite being outplayed as it was the first time that they had achieved that feat since mid-August.

Brechin City – Antell, S.Jackson, McLean [Brown 78][b87], Hay, Moyes, Petrie[b60] [Robb 71], Trouten, Molloy [b84], A.Jackson, Donnelly [Carcary 69] and Barr. Subs not used – Walker and Nelson.

Stenhousemuir – C.Smith, Devlin, McKinlay [b45], Malone [b67], McMillan, Hodge, Dickson [McNeil 90], Rowson, Douglas [Gemmell 68], Higgins [Faulds 82] and Lynch [b89]. Subs not used – R.Smith, Ferguson, Shaw and Watt.

Referee – George Salmond         Assistants – David Watt and Jordan Curran