Match Report

Stenhousemuir 1 – 4 Stranraer

The Warriors returned to League action on Saturday and were looking to gain revenge after defeat earlier in the season. The ore-match news was positive with two key players in Nat Wedderburn and Tam Orr returning from COVID. Mikey Miller and Dec Hughes continue to be absent through injury with Robert Thomson, Graeme Smith and Jon Craig also remaining out.

The game couldn’t have started better for The Warriors. It started at the back with at Wedderburn blocking a Stranraer shot, the ball fell to Daz Christie halfway inside The Warriors half and he drove forward before laying off to Adam Brown. He flicked the ball over the Stranraer defence and ex-Stranraer player Tam Orr was there with a perfect finish to make it 1-0 after just 5 minutes. Confidence seemed high in the Stenhousemuir camp, however, Stranraer had other ideas.

A corner from Stranraer wasn’t dealt with properly and the ball fell to Scott Robertson inside the box. He seemed to scuff his shot, but it managed to get passed David Wilson in the home goals and that won’t be one that the Stenhousemuir keeper will want to watch back. The Stenhousemuir defence should’ve done better, but their mistakes have been punished, and it’s 1-1 after 21 minutes.

While the crowd was expecting a response from the home team, it never really came and it was Stranraer that took the lead on 30 minutes. Brady managed to skip passed Adam Brown in the middle of the park and another tame looking shot managed to get passed Div Wilson. It’s another defensive error, and The Warriors find themselves 1-2 behind after 3o minutes.

And it wasn’t long before Stranraer piled on more misery for the home team. Stranraer had a corner cleared however, the second phase saw a hopeful ball deflect off Beejay Coll and Div Wilson completely mis-timed his jump and was caught out with a header. This will definitely be a game that The Warriors keeper won’t want to watch back. All three Stranraer goals have come from goalkeeping errors, and it’s 1-3.

Stephen Swift decided to change things at half time with Cammy Graham and Adam Corbett coming on for Beejay Coll and Ross Lyon. The Warriors shifted to 3 at the back in an attempt to salvage something from the game.

Adam Corbett did have an immediate impact. Unfortunately though, it was in conceding a penalty after just 1 minute in the second half. Ex-Warrior Tam Muir stepped up and sent Div Wilson the wrong way. After just a minute into the second half, it’s 1-4 to Stranraer.

That quickly killed off any hopes of a comeback. The second half became a non-event and the next chance of note for a Warriors goal came from Adam Corbett in the 82nd minute. He drove forward and had a shot from range, but it was inches passed the Stranraer post.

Stenhousemuir didn’t stop though and a through ball from Crighton was picked up by the unusually quiet O’Reilly. His cross was met by a Stranraer defender who struggled to clear. James Lyon pounced on the loss ball, but again, it went wide of the Stranraer post.

A disappointing day for Stenhousemuir finished Stenhousemuir 1-4 Stranraer.

MANAGER’S PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW

After a few weeks of players missing out with injuries and illness, how does it feel to have a larger squad available for Saturday?

It’s good to get Thomas and Nat back, though we’re still without Mikey Miller and Dec Hughes, which isn’t ideal. But it’s good to recuperate a few other players. We’re delighted with that and it will strengthen us going into tomorrow’s game.

Given the absentees lately, a few players have found themselves in unfamiliar positions, how important is it to have these versatile players in the team?

It’s great having players that can play in a number of position. Adam Corbett went and played in the middle of the park last week and done well. It’s good that the players can adapt and show versatility, but it’s good to get players back that are naturally suited to those positions.

What can we expect from Stranraer on Saturday?

In regards to Stranraer, they’ve got a few dangerous players. We need to keep an eye on Watson and Yates who really tore us apart  at Stair Park, so we’ll have to have an extra eye on them. But they’re a decent side and, on their day, they can beat anyone in the league. But, like everyone else, they’re trying to find some consistency and hopefully we can get back to some consistency on Saturday and come away with 3 big point.

THOMAS ORR PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW

How hard has it been with missing the last few games?

It’s been difficult. When you get on a good run, you want to keep it going. With COVID and two games with two defeats, against Kelty Hearts, who will probably go on and win the league, and a full time team in Airdrie it’s been really difficult. But if you take the five games prior to that into consideration, I think we should do well on Saturday.

There’s 3 players in the squad that’s played for Stranraer, but you’re the only player that played with them last season, how was your time at Stair Park?

I really enjoyed my time at Stranraer. They’re a good team and we seen that with what they done to us down there at the start of the season. I think we need to remember and we’ll be looking to avenge that on Saturday.

We’ve said about how tough it was with you missing out with COVID, but does that say how important it is to have depth in the squad? We had no strikers available against Kelty, by RT came in last week.

I think it shows the quality of the squad that even with the number of injuries and players missing through COVID, we can go and compete with some really strong teams.

Arguably, our last game against Stranraer was the worst of the season, how do we make amends on Saturday?

We just need to work hard and press them over the park and we need to remember exactly what they done to us and I think that will definitely be on our minds come 3pm on Saturday.

MATCHDAY INFORMATION

Kick-off: 3pm

Match Entry: Both home and away fans can enter via pay at the gate [cash] or you can purchase your ticket in advance by using Fanbase. Adult admission costing £14, concessions £9 and under 16’s just £5.

Live Stream: If  you can’t make the match, Warriors TV has you covered with PPV commentary from Cameron McIntyre. PPV is available for just £10 here.

Getting Here: Click here for details of how to get to Ochilview by car or train.

Season Card Holders: Season Tickets are valid for the match, please check the turnstiles for the ticket number.

The Pie Hut: Food and drinks will be available to be purchased once again from the Pie Hut.

The Wee Bar: The Wee Bar is open from 12pm with all fans welcome.

Face Coverings: Face coverings are not mandatory inside the ground but fans are encouraged to continue to wear these. Masks should be worn when moving around the ground.

Matchday Programme: The matchday programme is available via donation on entry to the ground.