Scottish Reprise- Return to East Stirling

[Nathan Pike]

Best of luck for the new season, Faramir.

[Faramir]

Thanks Nathan

***

25.7.14

We drew a difficult opponent for the 3rd Round Qualifying phase for the Champions Cup- Ajax. It will be interesting to see if we can match up with the storied side.

***

26.7.14

Celtic (2) East Stirling (1)

Same result, though I was pleased with how well we played in front of the hostile Celtic Park crowd. We battled well, but lost when they scored in the last few minutes of second half time- an old refrain now for us against both Celtic and Rangers. They took the lead when David McKenzie failed to challenge and Emrah Ekin is absolutely deadly with space and time as he blistered a shot past Kenneth Stenild. Marc McCusker, who had missed an open goal in the early moments of the match, made up for that when he scored the equalizer after getting a good pass from Greg Cameron. The second half saw both sides with chances, but it was once again a backline mistake that allowed Teddy Bjarnason to score the match winner in the 88th minute.

[Faramir]

BSP Odds by Totalbet.com

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Rangers Evens

Celtic Evens

East Stirling 10-1

Hearts 25-1

Dunfermline 33-1

Dundee 33-1

</pre>

***

2.8.14

East Stirling (1) Motherwell (1)

We deserved a better result, but another defensive lapse cost us a goal and we again ran into a keeper who was riding the hot hand and had to settle for splitting the points in a 1-1 draw at Firs Park. Motherwell took the lead with an early goal as Jose Romero was unmarked and had an easy time knocking home a rebound after Kenneth Stenild parried Christos Chatzis' blast. We equalized midway through the first half when Martin Fribrock fired a precision shot past Alex Heather after a nice lay off pass from Daryl Knights set him up for the chance. We found only frustration after that, as we not only missed a couple of easy chances, but saw Heather make a couple terrific saves. Youngster John McLaren earned MOM honours. It may take some time, but I still see a lot of potential for this current squad to prove they can play well together.

[Faramir]

6.8.14

East Stirling (1) Ajax (0) Champions Cup Qualifier 3 Leg 1

It was nice to gain an early lead and we made that lone goal stand up in an impressive effort as we outplayed Ajax in beating them 1-0 in our 1st Leg at Firs Park. Michele Troiano laid a pretty pass off and MOM Niels Ringoot fired it just inside of the far left post past Miguel Angel Moya in the opening moments of the match for the only goal. We had chances to build on that lead, but Moya came up with several dazzling stops. Scott Sim wasn't tested as hard in our goal, but he did earn the clean sheet with his solid effort.

[Faramir]

9.8.14

Morton (0) East Stirling (3)

Darryl Knights again demonstrated why he is being called 'Knights Lightning' by the Firs Park faithful as he earned MOM honours with a brilliant effort that helped us to a solid 3-0 win at Cappielow Park. We got off to a great start when Gregor Balazic converted a penalty kick after Vasco Fernandes tripped John Moffat in the area. Knights then scored what has to be one of the top all-time goals in East Stirling history as he took a pass in the Shire end and raced down the pitch- taking the ball through three would be tacklers- before slotting a perfectly placed shot past Gareth Williams inside the left post. Knights found Williams tougher on a penalty kick and couldn't convert late in the first half. Knights made it a brace midway through the second half when Michele Troiano set him up nicely in front and he put his shot away. Kenneth Stenild earned his clean sheet with several dazzling saves in the match.

[Faramir]

17.8.14

East Stirling (2) Dunfermline (0)

We survived a determined Dunfermline side to win out 2-0 in a match that was won with heart and determination. John Burns has been lobbying for a chance to play midfield, responded well when starting as leftwing for the first time. He deflected a cross from Bernd Helbig past John Gibson early in the first half to give us the lead. The visitors then orchestrated a period of intense pressure and Kenneth Stenild was called on for three very good saves to keep them off the board as we took our slim lead to halftime. We seemed to settle down in the second half and after John Moffat subbed on for Giancarlo Pepe up front- we took off with pressure on them for the remainder of the match. That pressure finally paid off in the clinching goal when Darryl Knights drove home the rebound after Gibson stopped his initial shot. Paolo Pellegrini earned MOM honours for us with his silky smooth backline play.

[Faramir]

20.8.14

Ajax (2) East Stirling (1) Champions Cup Qualifier 3 Leg 2- East Stirling advances on Away goals

Somehow we survived to move past Ajax and into Champions Cup play as we played a solid first half and a poor second half in edging them on away goals. The first half featured attacking play from both sides, but we blunted their offense with brilliant work from Kenneth Stenild in goal and some fine tackling. We nabbed the all-important away goal in first half injury time when Daniel Rooseboom de Vries was forced to pull down Steve Buchanan in the area. Giancarlo Pepe converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal this season and we led at halftime. The second half was all Ajax and also featured a dreadful effort from Anthony Hallam. Hallam handed them their first goal when his mis-hit clearance went directly to MOM Daan Schermehorn and he fired the ball into the open goal. Ajax moved even with their 2nd goal at 71 minutes when Jan Vertonghen slipped away from Hallam and deflected a cross past Stenild. I had to bring David McKenzie on for Hallam at that point and we settled down and staved off their last few rally attempts to win out on away goals.

The Group Draw for Champions Cup was held right after our match was done and we were drawn into Group G with Benfica, Betis and Sparta Prague.

[Amaroq]

Tough luck on the Scotland exit.. but well-deserved congratulations on the Spirit of FMS award, Faramir - you're a gentleman, and I think every writer owes you 'thanks' for all you do on the forums. KUTGW!

[Faramir]

Amaroq- I appreciate the comments (and the congrats). I know this will sound trite, but I don't write for awards- I just enjoy playing and the stories write themselves on my FM games. It is nice to be mentioned in the nominations- in many ways that means more than winning, because I don't consider myself a dazzling writer (partly because I don't focus on one story very often ) You are a terrific writer and it was great to see you receive the honors this year

***

21.8.14

The first of what might become a flood of outgoing unhappy players left today. Ole Marius Gundersen returned to whence he came as Kilmarnock paid us 20K for the midfielder. With most of the Reserve side unhappy with their status, I made the decision to try and clear out any of them that had no part of our future.

***

22.8.14

Morecambe bought out two of our unhappy players as they paid us 30K for midfielder David Thomson and 35K for Paul Henderson. Cowdenbeath paid us 9K for defender Paul McDonald.

***

23.8.14

Dundee (3) East Stirling (0)

Did we really play that badly? No, actually we didn't play too badly in this match, but Dundee keeper Peter Toth earned MOM honours and they scored some fortunate goals in handing us a disappointing 3-0 loss at Tannadice Park. Adrian Pich deflected a looping cross past Scott Sim in the early going- while I was screaming for an offside call that the Referee and Assistant weren't willing to call. Lorenzo Lai then victimized us on a counter-attack to move up 2-0. We had chances, but couldn't score against Toth. Dennis Berendsen scored early in the second half to cap the scoring and though we played hard- nothing went right today.

[Faramir]

24.8.14

Steven Shaw will move to Hearts for 20K as we continue to try to move players in advance of the transfer deadline.

***

27.8.14

David Webster is moving to Lincoln for an initial 30K. If he goes crazy and scores a bunch of goals we will receive a nice bonus amount.

***

SCOTLAND

3.9.14

Albania (1) Scotland (0) European Championship Qualifying Group 2

It was a poor way to begin our attempt to qualify for the European Championships as we lost a closely played match 1-0 to Albania in front of partisan crowd at Tiran. The lone goal came from Altan Kapllani when Anthony Hallam missed a tackle on him and he fired a shot inside the far right post past David Marshall. Our effort wasn't great as we just couldn't get our shots on target. We sailed three good chances over the goal and missed a couple sitters as well. We failed to take advantage when their keeper- Ilion Lika- earned a redcard for a bad challenge outside the area. Tim Burgess earned MOM honours, but really no player stood up for us when it mattered.

[Amaroq]

You're welcome, and thanks, I appreciate all the compliments. Don't know if you know this, but "The Bet" was the very first story I read, the one that got me visiting FMS to begin with.

[Faramir]

Amaroq- "The Bet" was one of the best I have done (along with the LoTR Challenge story)

***

6.9.14

East Stirling (2) Hibernian (1)

The match was a difficult one, especially after giving away the equalizer, but we battled through to a 2-1 win over Hibernian at Firs Park. John Burns continued to show a fine adaptation to leftwing as he put away a shot from just inside the edge of the area on a pass from John Moffat to give us the lead midway through the first half. We led at halftime, but handed the equalizer to Hibs when Burns lofted a backpass that was well past Stuart Dunn. MOM Rajko Lekic raced on to the ball and blistered a shot inside the near right post past Kenneth Stenild to stun the crowd. We kept working for the match and Moffat picked a great time to score his 1st goal of the season as his match winner came midway through the second half when he deflected a cross from Bernd Helbig past Christopher Kallqvist. We held on for the win from there.

***

8.9.14

Our odds at winning the Champions Cup were set at 100-1. I think our club is better than that, but we will have to prove it.

[Faramir]

10.9.14

Sparta Prague (3) East Stirling (1) Champions Cup Group G

We were put to the sword by MOM Miroslav Matusovic, with the help of the Referee, as Sparta Prague had an easy time with us following an early redcard. The match had started slowly, but we were put in deep trouble early in the first half when the Referee handed Jamie Hart a redcard for a cynical challenge at the edge of our area. Matusovic blasted the free kick in off the inside of the right upright and we trailed. Less than two minutes later, the Referee- who had already gotten an earful about the redcard- came close to sending me off the pitch after he and his Assistant ignored the fact that both of Prague's forwards were offsides and Matusovic had his brace when he deflected in a cross from Lukas Straka past Stenild. Matusovic finished his hat-trick when he slipped past Anthony Hallam to score midway through the second half. We managed a consolation goal as Giancarlo Pepe picked out a moving Nicolas Fischer and he snapped a shot past Roman Hasek in the closing moments of the match.

[mark wilson27]

Dont you just hate referee's, no doubt you'll get back into it, five more group games to go.... BTW congrats on your awards well deserved

[Faramir]

Thanks mark

***

13.9.14

Rangers (1) East Stirling (1)

It seemed like 'same old-same old' when Danny Howard eluded David McKenzie long enough to flick a shot past Kenneth Stenild in the opening moments of the match. The Ibrox crowd was roaring and our entire side spent the first half feeling like 'here we go again.' We managed to stave off any further scoring by the 'Gers in the first half, but had only one chance ourselves. The second half started out the same, but a funny thing happened on the way to them winning- we found life. I am not sure what triggered it, but we rallied and MOM Darryl Knights equalized with a dazzling shot past Clas Bergwall after taking a deft touch pass from John Moffat. It was the first goal that 'Gers had allowed this BSP season. We came very, very close to winning the match as Moffat missed agonizingly close twice and Knights skimmed the bar with a header in the late going. It may have only been a draw, but it was an encouraging effort that we can build on.

[Faramir]

17.9.14

Kilmarnock (0) East Stirling (1) League Cup 3rd Round

Though the final score only wound up 1-0, we really dominated Kilmarnock in the win. We got off to a flying start when MOM Marco Wagner crossed and Steven Watson put away the shot for his 1st goal of the season. We failed to get another goal, but lost one by Marc McCusker on an offside call and hit the upright and crossbar as we peppered Kristian Ruhe Thorsen with 18 shots. Our midfield and backline play shone too as we easily defeated the League 1 side at Rugby Park.

[Faramir]

20.9.14

East Stirling (0) Livingston (1)

This was an absolutely galling loss to Livingston. Martin Fribrock handed Shea McKenna the only goal of the match in the 7th minute when he made a brutally bad choice to backpass with McKenna standing between him and Kenneth Stenild. McKenna dumped the ball into the open goal from 40 yards out for what would be the only shot that Livingston would manage in the match. We pounded away, trying to get the equalizer, but never found a way to solve Gary Freeman. I thought we had them when awarded a penalty kick midway through the second half, but Gregor Balazic uncharacteristically fluffed his shot and Freeman made the easy save on it.

[Faramir]

23.9.14

East Stirling (2) Benfica (1) Champions Cup Group G

I have to admit the boys were a bit down at halftime as we trailed 1-0. The first half featured strong play by both sides and it looked like we were heading to halftime scoreless. Benfica struck when they sent men forward and our backline failed to clear away the rebound after Kenneth Stenild initially stopped Andre Meneses. Meneses put the ball back past Stenild as the match entered injury time and we trailed going to the dressing room. It was easy to be proud of our response to open the second half. MOM Nicolas Fischer deflected a cross from Marco Wagner past Moreira in the opening moments of the second half to bring us even. Shortly after Joao Ferreira lost control of the ball in their area and Giancarlo Pepe pounced on it and slotted it past Moreira to give us the lead. Benfica tried to fight back, but our backline gave us steady work and we were still ahead when the final whistle sounded. Betis beat Sparta Prague 1-0, so every club in Group G has a win and a loss after two matches played.

[Faramir]

28.9.14

East Stirling (4) St.Mirren (0)

Last place St.Mirren showed determination, but not execution, as we drubbed them 4-0 at Firs Park in a match that we dominated from the opening whistle to the ending. We got off to a quick start when Gregor Balazic blasted a trademark 25 yard rocket past Preben Korstad off a nicely laid off pass from Nicolas Fischer. MOM Kenneth Stenild earned his clean sheet the hard way with a series of saves as the Saints tried to rally. We moved ahead 2-0 when Darryl Knights tucked a 30 yard shot inside the right post for his 5th goal of the season. We put the match away with a strong second half. Knights made it a brace midway through the half when he deflected a cross from Bernd Helbig past Korstad. Anthony Hallam capped the scoring when he deflected Balazic's corner inside the left post for his 1st goal of the season.

[Faramir]

1.10.14

Dundee (1) East Stirling (3)

A strong second half boosted us to a 3-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park. We played a solid first half and took the lead in the match when John Moffat chipped across the goalmouth to unmarked Martin Fribrock. Fribrock headed the ball into the open left side of the goal for the marker. Dundee pegged us back immediately when lackadaisical defense by John Burns and Anthony Hallam allowed Sousa to swoop in and hammer a loose ball past Scott Sim- on for injured Kennth Stenild. MOM Darryl Knights was the difference maker in the second half and earned us the lead when Moffat flicked a header over for Knights to put away inside the left upright. Knights clinched the match for us when he made it a brace after hammering in a pass from Steve Buchanan. Stenild suffered a badly sprained ankle that will likely keep him out a couple months. I admitted to the press that this was a blow to us, but that I thought our cover of Scott Sim and young Ross Brown (Ricardo Delfino is leaving on transfer in January) will be enough.

[Damien77]

Congrats on your award win.

Have started my own East Stirling Game, having the same problem on cracking the old firm duopoly on the top. But would be still trying to crack it.

[Faramir]

Damien77- Thanks very much It has proven a difficult barrier- cracking the Old Firm- this time around...

***

4.10.14

It surprised me- but it was a record as we have had 14 of our players called up for Scotland Under-21 duty. I had no influence on the decision, but I think it is a nice testament to the fact we are working to develop our home country.

***

SCOTLAND

8.10.14

Scotland (2) Liechtenstein (0) European Championship Qualifying Group 2

Visiting Liechtenstein never had a chance against our determined bunch today. Eager to make up for the loss to Albania, we took the match to the visiting side the entire time- never allowing them a shot on goal and only rarely allowing them on to our side of the pitch. MOM Danny Howard, after being denied twice on fantastic saves by Liechtenstien keeper Daniel Steuble, got the better of Steuble when he ghosted in to the far post for a tap-in on a pass across the goal by Craig Beattie. With our play containing them in their end, we just kept hammering away- to the tune of 19 shots in the match- and finally got a second goal when Marc McCusker half-volleyed past Steuble on a chipped pass from Beattie. David Marshall's clean sheet was an easy one as he only handled the ball outside of his area during the match. Greece fought back to beat fierce rival Albania 3-2 in Athens and move into 2nd place in the Group behind Spain.

[Faramir]

14.10.14

East Stirling (2) Betis (0) Champions Cup Group G

A brilliant effort by Scott Sim in goal keyed our stunning 2-0 win over Betis at Firs Park. We took the lead early in the first half when Marc McCusker flicked on a header that found Giancarlo Pepe with space in the area and Pepe snapped a shot past Martins and inside the left post. Betis took control for the rest of the first half and the only thing that kept us in the lead was the sensational work of Sim. Early in the second half it Pepe's turn to repay the favor as he fired in a cross that McCusker redirected slightly inside the right upright to put us ahead 2-0. We worked hard to keep the clean sheet and managed to accomplish that with Sim clearly the MOM of today's match. Benfica defeated Sparta Prague in Prague, which surprisingly puts us atop the Group- tied with Benfica at 6 points.

[Faramir]

19.10.14

East Stirling (3) Celtic (2)

It was a terrific match and the final whistle found us with a 3-2 win over Celtic at Firs Park. The win broke 2nd place Celtic's 9 match unbeaten streak and really sent our faithful into rapture. The match was a wild one from the start. We took the lead on a flyer as MOM Darryl Knights crossed and John Moffat put his shot away past Vesa Karjalainen in the opening minutes of play. Emrah Ekin, ever our nemesis, scooted away from an attempted tackle by Anthony Hallam and rifled a shot past Scott Sim. That would be Sim's last action for the match as I was forced to replace him with untested 17 year old Ross Brown. Knights took control of the match after John Burns found him with space on the left and blasted a laserbeam past Karjalainen inside the far right post to give us the lead. Knights quickly made it a brace when he deflected a short cross from Burns inside the left post. Celtic drew a goal back when Craig Beattie took advantage of Brown's inexperience to lure him out to try and grab off a long dribble- before reaching the ball first and smashing it past the youngster. We went to halftime leading 3-2 and the fans were already tired from the ebb and flow of the match. The second half featured plenty of exciting play, but the goals weren't there as both sides either came close or saw the keepers come up with the needed saves. The final whistle found us a tired, but happy side with a big win on the books. Scott Sim will be out a month or two with strained knee ligaments and Ross Brown was also dinged up late in the match and will miss a week or two as our keeper situation became a bigger problem.

[Faramir]

22.10.14

East Stirling (1) Hearts (1)

We squandered a chance to earn all three points at Firs Park as Hearts came up with a late equalizer to ruin a good effort in the 1-1 draw. The first half was poorly played by both sides. Hearts attempted to swarm the midfield and we had troubles breaking the ball out of our end. They found our tackling was very determined and could not get the ball in close as we wound up scoreless at halftime. Alan Murhphy, who came on for Jamie Fraser at rightwing to start the second half, made a pretty cross that MOM Marco Wagner put away for his 1st goal at East Stirling. We desperately tried to hold on for the win, but Yannick Kitumba managed to outrace Anthony Hallam down the left sideline. Kitumba sent a cross to the near post and Nathan Weaver overpowered David McKenzie to deflect it past Ricardo Delfino for the dramatic equalizer. Neither side had another good chance to alter the score before the final whistle sounded.

[Faramir]

25.10.14

Motherwell (2) East Stirling (1)

It appears the gulf between our club and the Old Firm clubs is that we continue to receive inconsistent backline play. Today was another case of that and it cost us dearly as we lost 2-1 in a match that we should have won. It might have been different if we had started quickly, but that wasn't the case when Gregor Balazic missed another penalty kick after Marc McCusker was tripped in the area. We had plenty of pressure in the first half, but nothing to show for it as keeper Alex Heather was sharp for them. They took advantage of a bungled setpiece coverage to take the lead when Rico Kogeldams deflected the corner past Ricardo Delfino. We fell behind 2-0 when Anthony Hallams poor clearance and David McKenzie's indifferent marking allowed Yasin Zengin to power a shot past Delfino. We finally got on the board late in the second half when Steve Buchanan, who had lost a goal early in the first half when he was ruled offside- a call I bitterly protested, flicked a shot past Heather off a quick pass from Marco Wagner. We ran out of time and were left with another disappointing loss. Motherwell's Javier Delgado earned MOM honours.

BSP Table- 13 matches played

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Rangers 32 pts (+19)

2- Celtic 26 pts (+18)

3- Motherwell 23 pts (+5)

4- East Stirling 21 pts (+7)

5- Dunfermline 21 pts (+5)

6- Livingston 17 pts (+3)

</pre>

[Faramir]

29.10.14

Betis (4) East Stirling (0) Champions Cup Group G

Our keeper situation was horrendous going into this match. Kenneth Stenild, Scott Sim, Graeme Smith were all injured. Ricardo Delfino and Steven van der Deyl were Ineligible. That left only 17 year old Ross Brown- at about 70% due to his sprained wrist- and 20 year old grayman Alex Weir. I was just trying to get through the first half scoreless and we looked like we might escape- until Jamie Hart dumped Silva in the area. Mancino converted the penalty kick to send us to halftime trailing 1-0. I was very unhappy with our play in the first half- it was as if no one was willing to put forth any effort, so they heard about it at halftime. The roof caved in during the second half and Silva put our backline to the sword as he scored a hat-trick. It was a bad match all the way around for us. Benfica beat Sparta Prague again and took over top spot in the Group as we dropped to 3rd.

[Faramir]

1.11.14

East Stirling (2) Morton (0)

We fared much better on our return to BSP play as we played well in defeating Morton 2-0 at Firs Park. We got off to an early lead when Alan Murphy hammered home a rebound after Dennis Limpens made a terrific save on Gregor Balazic in the opening minutes of the first half. Midway through the half we moved ahead 2-0. MOM John Moffat, who had lost a goal on a disputed offside call moments earlier, rifled a shot inside the far left post after a deft pass from Nicolas Fischer. Thanks to fine work by Limpens we weren't able to add to our lead and led 2-0 at halftime. Morton played better in the second half and Ross Brown- almost back to full health now- played well in keeping them off the scoreboard to earn the clean sheet in the win.

[Faramir]

5.11.14

Celtic (2) East Stirling (2) League Cup Quarter-Final (Celtic wins on Penalties)

It was another bitter pill for us, as we lost on penalties after leading Celtic 2-0 in the match. Marc McCusker gave a brilliant effort as he netted both goals for us in earning MOM honours. The chance we would rue though was John Burns missing wide on a penalty kick in first half injury time. Vesa Karjalainen gave a stirling effort- if not for him, we would have won the match easily as we generated many quality opportunities against the home side. Celtic began their fightback when Craig Beattie deflected a cross from Martin Kolar past Ricardo Delfino early in the second half. We still looked good for the win when Paul Sutton outfoxed Paolo Pellegrini on a late counter-attack and fired a shot past Delfino from just inside the edge of the area. Both sides had chances to win in Extra-time, but neither could score. We were completely undone in penalties as Karjalainen saved all three of our tries- while Celtic converted their first 3 to move on to the Semi-Finals.

[Faramir]

SCOTLAND

12.11.14

Croatia (2) Scotland (0) Friendly

We were outplayed by Croatia in a 2-0 loss at Zabreb. They took the lead early on when Zander Diamond failed to mark Ivo Fabijanic and the Croatian forward snapped a shot past Craig Gordon. They scored again midway through the second half when John Kennedy tripped Fabijanic in the area and Darijo Srna converted the penalty kick past Gordon. We did outshoot the home side in the match, but keeper Dalibor Bozic played well- especially frustrating Danny Howard. Midfielder Luka Bodric earned MOM honours in the match.

[Faramir]

15.11.14

Dunfermline (0) East Stirling (4)

In what must be considered our best efforts this season, we completely dominated Dunfermline in crushing them 4-0 at East End Park. Our speed in the midfield and forward put their backline under intense pressure and we capitalized early on when John Moffat skinned Siebe Blondelle and then blasted a shot past John Gibson. A nice pass from Moffat setup Darryl Knights to blister a shot inside the right post from just inside the edge of the area. Hard work paid off to make it a 3-0 lead at halftime when Marco Wagner picked up a rebound and snapped it past Gibson in first half injury time. A through ball from David McKenzie put Knights away to score his brace midway through the second half as he capped our scoring in the 4-0 win. Ross Brown earned an easy clean sheet with a steady effort. Rightwinger Jamie Fraser was surprised to find he had been awarded MOM honours in the match.

[Faramir]

18.11.14

East Stirling (3) Sparta Prague (0) Champions Cup Group G

We got our fair measure of revenge over Sparta Prague as we outplayed them by a large margin and handed them a stinging 3-0 defeat at Firs Park. We leapt to a quick lead in the match when Giancarlo Pepe deflected a cross from Niels Ringoot past Roman Hasek in the early moments of the first half. Pepe turned provider minutes later when his sizzling cross was deflected by Martin Fribrock inside the left post to make it 2-0. We tried hard to build on our lead before halftime, but Prague settled down and we were unable to. Ross Brown, playing nothing like the 17 year old he is, gave us a very solid effort in goal, including a pair of timely saves when Prague was turning up the pressure. MOM Steve Buchanan put the match away when he slammed home a volley off a cross from Ringoot to finish the scoring late in the second half. Benefica easily beat Betis 3-0 to ensure they would qualify for the knockout round. We now hold 2nd place with three point lead over Betis, but will likely have to beat Benfica on the road to qualify- since Betis wiped us out when we played.

[Faramir]

22.11.14

East Stirling (2) Dundee United (1)

This was a close 2-1 win done the difficult way, as we edged Dundee United in a wide open, entertaining match. Part of the reason the match was so wide open was because Anthony Hallam was sent off with a redcard for a Professional foul at 32 minutes. Dundee United had struck first to take the lead when Lorenzo Lai pounced on a rebound after Kenneth Stenild, making his return from injury, parried away a blast from Adrian Pich and our backline couldn't clear the ball away. We pegged them back quickly when MOM John Moffat half-volleyed an excellent pass from Darryl Knights past Peter Toth. With Hallam gone, we played three back and that created space for both sides- as Dundee pressed forward and our counter-attacks by Knights and Moffat flowed back. Moffat used a burst of speed to get on Toth quickly as he tried to play a ball out of the area. Moffat took the ball away from Toth and fired a 30 yard shot into the open goal to give us the lead. The play continued to flow quickly up and down the pitch in the second half. We were forced to call on Ross Brown to replace Stenild after a challenge left him limping. Brown did well in another steady effort as we managed to close out a satisfying win. Stenild hurt his back and will now miss another month of play- he hasn't had much luck so far this season.

[Faramir]

29.11.14

Hibernian (0) East Stirling (3)

Our improving play really showed today as we played a terrific all-action match to dump Hibs 3-0 at Easter Road Stadium. Darryl Knights proved he is just a deadly finisher again today as he gave us the lead with a laser shot past Kevin McLaren midway through the first half when John Moffat dumped the ball off to him in space on the left side. Knights made it a quick brace when MOM Martin Fribrock, on for injured Marco Wagner, sent him a beautiful pass down the left side and Knights rapped his shot inside the left post. Hibs tried to rally in the second half, but Ross Brown continues to demonstrate poise beyond his years and had a dazzling match in goal to earn the clean sheet. The home side lost more heart when Fribrock struck a curving 25 yard free kick past McLaren midway through the second half for the final scoring in the match.

***

1.12.14

We swept Player of the Month honours for November. John Moffat was BSP Player of the Month and Darryl Knights was the runner-up. Jamie Fraser was Young Player of the Month and David McKenzie was 3rd in the balloting. We swept all the Honours for the Month as Knights 1st goal against Hibs was Goal of the Month and I was fortunate enough to edge 'Gers Jurgan Klinsmann for Manager of the Month.

[Faramir]

3.12.14

Benfica (4) East Stirling (2) Champions Cup Group G

I was pleased with how well we played, but the MOM honours told the story as Benfica keeper Moreira was brilliant and Ross Brown's inexperience was too much to overcome as he was victimized by the veteran forwards of Benfica. The 4-2 loss, combined with Betis' 3-0 win over Prague means that the Spanish side finished 2nd in Group play and we are out of the Champions Cup- finishing 3rd in our Group due to losing that 4-0 result at Betis. Diego Souza had the first goal and then Claudio Pitbull proved too much for our backline to handle as he added a brace. Andre Meneses scored the last goal late in the second half. Our goals came from Steve Buchanan and Martin Fribrock.

***

12.12.14

We learned today we will be playing Turkish side Besiktas in the knockout stages of the Euro Cup competition. If we manage to get past them we would face either Ajax or Inter.

[george94]

Great Story Faramir- the best of yours and most others on the forum. KUTGW

[Faramir]

george94- Thanks very much for the kind words Glad you are enjoying the story

***

13.12.14

Livingston (1) East Stirling (2)

A hard working first half earned us enough goals to outlast a surging Livingston as we beat them 2-1 at Almondvale. We got off to a flying start when Jamie Fraser picked up a loose ball and blasted a shot that was slightly deflected by Marinus Bock past keeper Gary Freeman for his 1st goal at East Stirling. We added a goal just before halftime when MOM Darryl Knights was in the right place to smash home a deflected cross for his 15th goal of the season. Livingston rallied in the second half, but Ross Brown gave a dazzling effort in keeping them off the scoreboard for most of the match. Brown couldn't stop John McGowan's penalty kick after Paolo Pellegrini was called for holding Shea McKenna in the area and that ruined the clean sheet. We survived a last furious ten minutes of play to escape with the win.

[Faramir]

17.12.14

East Stirling (1) Rangers (1)

I can't count how many times we have had Rangers or Celtic on the ropes and have failed to put them away over the past few seasons. Today was just another example of that, as 'Gers scored the dramatic equalizer in second half injury time. We had taken the lead in the first half on another sensational goal from MOM Darryl Knights. Knights took a little skip pass from David McKenzie and rifled it past Lars Rungo. Both sides had good chances in the first half, but it was clear that Rangers took over the match from us in the second half. Ross Brown was brilliant and I really thought we were going to beat them today with how well he was playing. Just as has been the case in the past, we did not play sound positional defense in the last minutes of play and it killed us again when Bjorn Jonas Ulvund was unmarked to flick a header past Brown. Brown is developing quickly and this match may earn him the full-time #1 keeper role- it is hard to deny how well he has been playing of late.

[Faramir]

20.12.14

St.Mirren (0) East Stirling (3)

Last placed St.Mirren didn't look like a struggling club in the first half as they penned us back in our end for long periods of time. We had a difficult time getting much of anything going as they made a determined effort to close us down quickly and not give us any space on the pitch. They clearly tired in the second half and that, combined with improving execution, allowed us to get rolling for a 3-0 win at St.Mirren Park. MOM Marc McCusker finally got us on the scoreboard when he made a wonderfully timed leap to flick a header past Antonio Rodrigues for his 5th goal of the season on a long pass from Marco Wagner. Wagner and McCusker went off after that, to be replaced by David Baxter- making his debut- and Giancarlo Pepe. That combination paid off in our 2nd goal when Baxter picked out Pepe and Pepe smashed a shot past Rodrigues. We missed our 4th consecutive penalty kick when John Burns was wide right, but it didn't matter as Steve Buchanan took another nice pass from Baxter and whipped it past Rodrigues to cap the 3-0 road win.

***

BSP Table- Midseason 19/20 matches played

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Rangers (19) 46 pts (+25)

2- Celtic (20) 40 pts (+25)

3- East Stirling (20) 40 pts (+21)

4- Motherwell (19) 29 pts (+3)

5- Livingston (20) 28 pts (+7)

6- Dunfermline (20) 25 pts (-3)

</pre>

I am encouraged by where we are so far this season. Though we remain in our usual 3rd place spot- we are challenging the Old Firm clubs for their places. Several players are developing more quickly than I believed they would- and none more than keeper Ross Brown. Brown would not have been in line for much playing time- had we not had all the injuries. Now, I will have a difficult time getting him out of the starting lineup. Also playing well of late is 18 year old center midfielder Paul Murray. His development is setting the stage for the departure of unhappy Greg Cameron, and Cameron is on the transfer list. David Baxter has also made a pleasing start to his Senior time and that makes the future of Martin Fribrock- who is having a solid season- a chancy one. We have major reinforcements arriving with the opening of the transfer window. 22 year old Tim Burgess- a fixture on the National side- is moving back home to Scotland after we paid Aston Villa 7 Million in transfer fees. Burgess will likely supplant Nicolas Fischer in the starting role. 18 year old rightback John McLaren has been brilliant when playing, but also has been injured most of the season. With that in mind and the not spectacular play of Bernd Helbig, we will be adding 21 year old Stuart Ritchie from Crewe for 400K. Jamie Hart will be departing as he could not earn the playing time he wanted here, but on his way up to replace him will be explosive 24 year old English centerback Tom Patterson. Patterson cost us 1.7 Million to pry him away from Crystal Palace and he may replace Anthony Hallam in the starting lineup as Anthony has not had a good season to this point.

[Faramir]

26.12.14

East Stirling (4) Dundee (0)

The only down note of our dominating 4-0 win over Dundee was our 5th consecutive missed penalty kick, otherwise everything was perfect today at Firs Park. We took over the match from the opening whistle on and finally gained the lead when Darryl Knights rapped home a rebound after Karl Dryden stopped MOM John Moffat's initial blast. Five minutes later it was 2-0 when Jamie Fraser whisked in a rebound after Dryden parried Knights' shot. Quincy Naarden tripped Moffat in the area to trigger the penalty, but we again failed to convert as Dryden saved Gregor Balazic's spot kick. Balazic gained a measure of revenge early in the second half as Paul Murray laid off a nice pass and Balazic drilled a booming 25 yard blast past Dryden. Moffat finally scored a richly deserved goal in the late moments of the match after Giancarlo Pepe, on for slightly injured Knights, headed down for him in the area. Ross Brown had a completely easy clean sheet- only having to make two saves in the match.

***

30.12.14

I was very unhappy when Marco Wagner lambasted me in the press about turning down Celtic's enquiry about him. The solution to that is that Marco is now on the transfer list- but there is no way he will be sold to either Celtic or Rangers- preferably to a German club if possible. I believe David Baxter is ready to take over at this point and I am tired of Wagner's griping- which has gone on all season.

[Faramir]

1.1.15

The opening of the transfer window brings the departure of Jamie Hart to Bradford City for 1.1 Million. Hart will likely be more comfortable back in England as he didn't adapt well to Scottish football in his time here. Also leaving today are Ricardo Delfino for ICT at a price of 50K and Gary Roberts for 30K to Motherwell.

Besides the big-name purchases of Tim Burgess, Tom Patterson and Stuart Ritchie- there were also several smaller purchases that we completed today. We bought 19 year old centerback David McGregor for 625K from Celtic. McGregor is a left footer and will be placed on the Reserves to work in our system for the rest of this season. 18 year old center midfielder Scott Watson cost us 180K to purchase from Dundee United. Watson, who can also play rightwing, will spend most of the rest of the season training with the Reserves. 20 year old leftback Paul Gray cost us 120K to obtain from Clyde. Like the others, he is destined for Reserve duty for this season.

***

3.1.15

East Stirling (1) ICT (0) Scottish Cup 3rd Round

We didn't play particularly well against ICT, but we finally found the goal we needed in the second half that allowed us to see off the stubborn side 1-0. The match featured the return from injury of Scott Sim in goal and he played very well in keeping the spirited ICT side off the scoreboard. We also featured the debut of centerback Alan Hutchinson and he made an immediate impression- earning MOM honours in the match and demonstrating he may deserve a place on the Senior side. The lone goal in the match came when David Baxter made a looping cross that Giancarlo Pepe was able to push past Simone Villanova inside the left post. It was just enough for the win as we played a solid match defensively and Sim earned the clean sheet.

[george94]

As always Faramir, a great tale and a really enjoyable read. KUTGW.

[Burgess Basso]

i agree a great read can take hours 2 read let alone play

keep it up Faramir

[Faramir]

george94, Burgess Basso- Thank you both for the kind words and am glad the story remains enjoyable for both of you

***

6.1.15

It was a relief to finally find Greg Cameron a new home. Sheffield Wednesday paid us 1.1 Million to add Cameron to their side. Paul Murray's development left Cameron with no place on our side.

***

8.1.15

It was time to add another leftwinger- with the Marco Wagner situation moving toward resolution and Martin Fribrock still out with injury- and we landed a promising 18 year old one in Derek Campbell. Campbell has already played 53 matches for Falkirk, so has a lot of experience despite his youth and it cost us 75K to complete our purchase of him.

***

11.1.15

Hearts (2) East Stirling (1)

Our winning string came to crashing halt with a 2-1 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle. Tom Patterson had a less than auspicious debut as MOM Bjarne K. Ingebretsen slipped past him to deflect a cross past Ross Brown in the early moments of the match. Then we blew the coverage on a corner and Laszlo Nagy-gyor was able to power a header past Brown as we quickly fell behind 2-0. We had a poor first half, but started putting some pressure on them in the second half. We drew a goal back midway through the half when Darryl Knights was in the right place to hammer in a rebound after Niki Maenpaa blocked away a blast from Niels Ringoot. That was all we could manage though as they closed out the win.

[Spav]

Nasty loss just when you had Celtic in your sights on the league table as well.

[Faramir]

Spav- True And to add to our woes...

***

13.1.15

Two more unhappy wingers now have new homes. Marco Wagner is moving back to Germany after choosing Freiburg's offer over those of the other 8 clubs willing to pay us 2 Million for the young winger. Also moving, this time to the South, is Imad Khalili. Luton paid us 240K for the services of the Swedish winger.

***

17.1.15

Celtic (2) East Stirling (0)

There was no magic for us today as we fell 2-0 at Celtic Park. They outplayed us and we obviously are trying to gel again after the upheaval of the transfers at the club. Jefferson Farfan made a pretty 25 yard shot that tucked inside the far right post to give them the lead in the first half. Vesa Karjalainen seemingly had our number again with at least four key saves on excellent chances for us. They clinched the match when Tom Patterson was whistled for pushing Craig Beattie. Despite our protests that it was outside the area- Petr Korinek stepped up and converted the penalty kick past Ross Brown for the final margin. Scott Golbourne earned MOM honours for Celtic.

[george94]

Unlucky with the last two losses Faramir but keep it up. You'll catch the damn Celtic. Great Story mate.

[Faramir]

Thanks george94- Still working at it

***

18.1.15

Another transfer sale to report as we sold young Dutchman Ron de Groot to Ayr for 16K. He was happy to move to a club where he might find playing time. I am continuing to work on cleaning out the roster of unhappy players- despite the problems that is causing. I feel the future of the club will eventually be with only players really happy to be here playing for East Stirling. My unspoken aim is to demonstrate to the Old Firm clubs that they are being short-sighted in all their foreign signings, as I really am working to develop East Stirling as a powerhouse based on Scottish players.

***

22.1.15

We sold unhappy young forward Steven Watson to Gillingham for 150K. Watson was a young Scot I had high hopes for, but he never developed after coming to East Stirling.

***

24.1.15

East Stirling (6) Motherwell (1)

We shrugged off our poor performances in the past couple matches as we routed Motherwell 6-1 at Firs Park. The match was close in the first half as they played solid defense and the only goal in the half came when Marc McCusker drilled a shot past Alex Heather after receiving an excellent pass from MOM Darryl Knights. The second half was almost completely ours and we quickly added to our lead when Gregor Balazic whipped in a 20 yard blast. They answered that goal when Nicky Maynard deflected a Lars Kristian Eriksen corner past Scott Sim, but we piled another goal on immediately after as McCusker made it a brace with a well placed shot past Heather that was his 50th goal for East Stirling. It was almost a relief when Knights stepped up and converted the penalty kick after Minas Boutsis tripped Tim Burgess in the area. Knights conversion broke our string of missed penalty kicks. Knights then cemented his reputation as one of the most dangerous forwards in BSP play with a precision blast inside the right post for his brace and then a rising shot over Heather's shoulder in second half injury time to complete his hat-trick. Kenneth Stenild was forced to finish out for Sim after Sim was shaken up on a challenge on a corner.

[Faramir]

25.1.15

Another unhappy player has departed. Michele Troiano complained that there was too much competition for a place on the side after Tim Burgess joined the squad. With his unhappiness about playing time already evident, I felt it was prudent to try and find him a new home now. We had to agree to pay 8,750 per week of his wages through the end of his contract, but with that agreement we were able to complete a 1.5 Million transfer sale to Austrian side Rapid Wien.

***

28.1.15

I disliked selling him to another BSP side, but with no other offers available for unhappy rightback Bernd Helbig, I agreed to accept Livingston's offer of 850K for the young German. Helbig is going to be a solid rightback for any club he plays for- but the future of our club at that position remains John McLaren and Helbig knew that. I continued to turn down offers from many Major European clubs for McLaren. The last go around saw me refuse offers from 'Gers, Celtic, Liverpool, Newcastle and Barca.

[Faramir]

31.1.15

Hearts (0) East Stirling (1) Scottish Cup 4th round

It was a nice measure of revenge for us as we played a strong match in defeating Hearts 1-0 in front of a packed house at Tynecastle to broom them from the Scottish Cup competition. MOM Kenneth Stenild was brilliant, especially in the early stages of the first half when Hearts pressured us repeatedly. Hearts suffered a blow when Soma Toth earned himself a redcard for a vicious tackle from behind on David Baxter midway through the first half. We worked harder in the second half to take advantage of the extra space and a well timed counter-attack setup by John Burns, who replaced Baxter at leftwing, sent Steve Buchanan away free. Buchanan knew just where the net was as he guided a shot past Simone Donati for what would be the only goal of the match. Giancarlo Pepe lost a goal shortly after when he was ruled offsides. Hearts had a couple brilliant chances in the late going, but Stenild was there to deny them the equalizer in keeping the clean sheet.

***

31.1.15

In what I consider to be a great omen for our future, our Under-19 side retained their title. The Under-19s clinched the championship after only 17 matches and they have won 15, while only losing and drawing once to continue their impressive run.