Match Report

Stenhousemuir v Dunfermline Athletic at Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir on 24.8.13

SPFL League One             Att 968

Stenhousemuir 4 [Gemmell 12, R.Smith 23, Lynch 51, Higgins 72]

Dunfermline Athletic 5 [Moore 55, 86 pen, Geggan 63,89, A.Smith 84]

There are some games that are instantly forgettable and then there are others that stick in the mind for a long time. This was certainly the latter case and it will be difficult for the Warriors to erase this from their minds as the score went from a 4-2 lead to a 4-5 defeat in the closing minutes of the game.

Dunfermline showed that they could be a danger as early as the first minute when following a series of corners Ross Smith had to clear a Kerr Young header off the line. It was the Warriors though that took the lead in the 12^th minute when John Gemmell was alert to intercept a Ryan Thomson pass back before rounding the keeper and tucking the ball away from a tight angle. The home side extended their lead in the 23^rd minute when a Brown Ferguson corner was flicked into the net by Ross Smith.

The game was going from end to end though and Stenhousemuir could not settle even with a two goal cushion and the Dunfermline came close through a Josh Falkingham run and shot that went just over in the 28^th minute. This was followed at the other end with Sean Dickson having an effort cleared after being set up by Darren Smith. Jordan Moore would have felt that he should have scored in the 35^th minute when he created a chance for himself after timing a run behind the home defence and though he hit a decent strike it was beaten out by Chris Smith.

The Warriors extended their lead to a three goal margin in the 51^st minute when poor play by Young saw Sean Lynch intercept and he burst through the Dunfermline defence to tuck the ball home. To Dunfermline’s credit they kept going after that blow and they reduced the lead in the 55^th minute when Craig Dargo played Jordan Moore in and he fired in a took advantage of lax marking to fire the ball into the net. It got even tighter in the 63^rd minute when Stephen Husband with practically his first touch of the ball crossed into the danger area and when Ross Smith completely missed the ball Andy Geggan was on hand to head home without any pressure being applied.  Moore then came close to equalising with an effort that fizzed just wide of the target. Stenhousemuir were now struggling but they got their fourth goal in the 72^nd minute when Brown Ferguson ran from the halfway line with a quick one two with Darren Smith before crossing from 8 yards out to Sean Higgins who slid the ball home.

This should have been enough to secure the points but Dunfermline continued to push as Stenhousemuir tired and they scored their third in the 84^th minute when Alan Smith whipped a shot into the net giving Chris Smith no chance to save. Two minutes later the game was level when Moore converted from the spot after being tripped by Ross Smith whilst trying to turn 6 yards out. They then took the lead with Stenhousemuir in disarray when Andy Geggan side turned an Alex Whittle cross in from close range. Unbelievably Stenhousemuir had a decent chance to level in the 90^th minute but Darren Smith was unable to keep his shot down when he only had the keeper to beat from 10 yards out and thus Dunfermline were victors in a remarkable game. 

 It was difficult to comprehend for those at the game and even worse for those getting updates from afar as the copy takers down south originally gave the seventh goal of the game to Darren Smith instead of the Pars Alan Smith and thus for a short period it looked as if the Warriors were leading 5-2 and thus it must have been a shock when the final score came up as Stenhousemuir 4 Dunfermline Athletic 5. Incidentally there was no blame to be applied to those giving the information in the press box as they gave the correct details but it was messed up elsewhere.

As a side note those that thought it was just a nightmare and not a reality may have felt vindicated the next day when they looked at several newspapers as they didn’t include the game in the up to date league table though reality would have sunk in when they turned the pages and saw the match report.   

Stenhousemuir – C.Smith, Devlin, McKinlay, R.Smith, Malone [b67], Lynch [Rowson 59], Dickson, Ferguson [Anderson 76], Gemmell [b87], Higgins [McNeil 80] and D.Smith. Subs not used – Douglas, Nimmo, Lawson and Shaw.

Dunfermline Athletic – Scully, Millen, Whittle, Young [b24], Morris, Geggan, Dargo [Husband 61]Byrne [Wallace 61], Moore, Falkingham and Thomson [A.Smith 80]. Subs not used – Johnston, Ferguson, El Bakhtaoui and Goodfellow.

Referee – Stevie O’Reilly             Assistants – Sean Carr and David McKniff