Scottish Reprise- Return to East Stirling

[Faramir]

5.3.12

It is the typical business by 'Gers and Celtic. Whenever a club like ours gets good enough to challenge them, buy their best players to help blunt the challenger. It isn't funny to find out from scouts that one or the other is interested in virtually every one of our best players. To help combat that- I put high valuations on all of them. It is true with a club like ours that there is a price for every player, but if they hope to grab any more of ours- they are going to pay a lot.

***

10.3.12

East Stirling (0) Motherwell (1)

There was no doubt in anyone's mind who the MOM was today- Motherwell Patrick Bellabini was simply unbelievable. We managed 12 shots on Bellabini and every one of those was a good scoring chance, but he had the magic today and kept us off the board. They managed only 3 shots on goal, but one of them was a cross from Steve Cross that found James Earl unmarked at the far post and he blasted into the open side of the goal past Nicholas Sharro to score the only goal of the match. There just isn't much to say bad about how we played, except that our goal draught continued and we lost a match we should easily have won.

[Faramir]

17.3.12

Dunfermline (1) East Stirling (2)

It was a struggle, but we fought back to earn a very difficult win at East End Park. It was a match that started out with frustration again as we held sway over the early play, only to hand them the lead. On a throw-in, Jamie Ford's backpass for Anthony Hallam was instead directly to lurking Jose Romero. Romero flicked it into free space on the left and then bashed a 40 yard shot past the retreating Ibrahim Arslan to stake the home side to a 1-0 lead. After several close calls, and one unkind upright, we equalized when MOM Niels Ringoot picked out Marc McCusker with a finely placed pass and McCusker drilled it inside the near right post past Gaetano Romano. The second half featured a definite ebb and flow to it as we controlled the beginning, but Dunfermline rallied to create a lot of chances in the middle portion. Paul Hopkins has been absolutely snake-bit in our scoring problems as he is gaining all the same kinds of opportunities that helped him become Player of the Year last season, but just isn't converting them into goals. I brought on Jamie Scott to replace him after Romano made his 5th good save on Hopkins and the move turned to gold when Scott deflected a hard, curving cross from Ringoot past Romano for his his 5th goal of the season- the match winner as it turned out. We had to survive their late attempt to rally, but held on for a much needed 2-1 win.

***

18.3.12

Rangers won the League Cup again as they defeated Hearts on penalties after battling to a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra-time.

[Faramir]

21.3.12

The Rangers put Celtic squarely under the gun as they defeated them 2-1 at Celtic Park on a last minute goal from Danny Howard. 'Gers now have an 8 match winning streak and have moved 8 points clear of Celtic, though Celtic still has 2 matches in hand- one of those is with us. Celtic needs to recover quickly if they plan on bringing the BSP title back to Celtic Park for a 7th consecutive season.

***

24.3.12

Partick (1) East Stirling (4)

Partick was their own worst enemy in the first half and we managed to build on that foundation to run out 4-1 winners in a match that was closer than the scoreline would indicate. Our first helper was Calle Abrahamsson as he handballed in the area on our corner midway through the first half. Gregor Balazic stepped up and whisked the penalty kick past Ole-Jorgen Abelsen to give us the lead. We welcomed James Graham back from injury and he made an immediate impact when MOM Martin Fribrock laid the ball off for him and he boomed a curving 25 yard blast past Abelsen. Partick drew a goal back when Abrhamsson deflected a cross from Murat Yildirim past Ibrahim Arslan, but we moved the lead back up to 3-1 at halftime when Alvaro Diaz pushed Peter Merkestijn in the air on a corner and Balazic made it a brace of penalty kicks. Partick wasn't quitting and sent everyone forward to start the second half. Arslan held firm and we kept clearing away their crossing attempts to stymie the try to draw a goal back. With Marc McCusker tiring, Jamie Scott came on and proved how dangerous he is in open space as he took a pass from Fribrock and then drove a shot past Abelsen for his 5th goal of the season to help break the home side's spirit as we completed the 4-1 win.

[Faramir]

25.3.12

Hearts dealt Celtic a serious blow to their title hopes by stomping on them 4-1 in a televised game at Tynecastle Park. The loss leaves Celtic trailing Rangers by 9 points with 2 matches in hand.

***

31.3.12

Celtic took pleasure in ensuring that 'Gers would not repeat as Scottish Cup holder by knocking them out 1-0 in the Semifinals.

***

1.4.12

No mention of any of our players in the March Player of the Month honours, but we did capture our 3rd straight Goal of the Month award as this time it was James Graham's curling shot from the edge of the area against Partick that earned the award.

[Serja85]

Hello everyone ,but especielly you Faramir,i read your story now,for about 3 hours ,and i post my first post one the forum to say to you that this is the best story i ever read and i wish you good luck !!!

a fm fan from romania

[Faramir]

Serja85- well, welcome to the forum then Thanks very much for the kind words and glad it was able to hold your interest for that long

Much more to follow on it...

***

2.4.12

I felt we needed at least a couple more scouts and was able to sign 42 year old Michael Johnstone and 38 year old Tony Mitchell to work for us in that regard. Dave Rhoades contract is up in three months and I don't plan on offering him a new contract.

***

3.4.12

I decided to add another European scout to help Jeffrey Smits. 45 year old Vicenzo Galli was out of work and looking for a new job, so was willing to sign on with us to help out in our scouting of Europe.

Barca defeated Champions Cup holders Chelsea 2-1 in Barcelona to knock them out of the tourney on 3-2 aggregate.

[Faramir]

4.4.12

East Stirling (7) Dundee (0)

Not only a new club record, but this was by far the finest match ever for East Stirling since I have been here. We did everything right in this match as our passing was crisp despite the rain slicked pitch. Our finishing was superb today, with six different scorers in the match. Paul Hopkins got us off on the right foot when he caught Dundee keeper Gary Freeman dallying with the ball and took it away from him before sending it into the open goal for his 5th goal of the season in the opening moments of the match. Andreas Dahl started the counter-attack that saw Hopkins lay the ball off for Marc McCusker. McCusker bulled his way past Jukka Sauso's attempted tackle and smashed a shot past Freeman into the left side of the net for his 15th goal of the season. Dahl then added to Dundee's woes as McCusker headed a ball down for him and he ripped a shot past Freeman to make it 3-0 at the halfway point of the first half. Adam Andrzej blistered a 25 yard free kick past Freeman from the center of the pitch to increase our lead to 4-0 as we went to the dressing room. McCusker become our only scorer to pot two goals as his brace came early in the second half on a brilliant cross from Niels Ringoot that Marc was able to deflect inside the right post. Our last two goals came in the late stages of the second half as Gonzalo Higuain made a neat short pass that allowed Steve Lewis to drive a shot past Freeman. Preben Vatle Hammersland then capped our magnificent effort as he scored his 1st goal of the season after Freeman could only parry away a rising shot from Lewis. It was a dazzling match for us and certainly gives us a big boost in our battle with Livingston for 3rd- as it may come down to goal differential.

[fatski]

this is a top story, my favourte kind, taking a low league team to the dizzy height!

can u put a screenie of the league table, squad etc?

[Faramir]

fatski- thanks much Actually, out of all my current stories- East Stirling was the *biggest* of my starting sides (Harrow Hill in 2 others and Holyhead Hotspur). Playing from the bottom up is how I started in CM 2 (though with Leyton Orient back then- my favorite side now, but didn't know anything about them starting out as a Yank unfamiliar with English football), and that is pretty much all I have played since. The only Major side I have ever managed was ManU as part of the Sir Alex Challenge- all the others were smaller sides managed up to the highest levels- so any of my stories might be appealing to you.

***

7.4.12

Rangers (3) East Stirling (2)

We could have beaten the Rangers at Ibrox, except that we could not keep Danny Segers under control and he destroyed us today in a close 3-2 loss. The first half saw us very frustrated as we played a good half of football, but found ourselves behind as Segers scored a brace in the half. He gave them the lead early on when he overpowered Adam Andrzej and was able to push in a loose ball at the far post before Ibrahim Arslan could get there to smother it. Lars Rungo was doing good work on the other end with superior stops against Paul Hopkins and Gregor Balazic. His second goal came when Sergio Zijler lost the ball at midfield and Segers found the seam between Jamie Ford and Anthony Hallam to score past Arslan. I told the boys we were playing well and to just stick to the gameplan in the second half. We continued to play well, but Hopkins suffered a minor injury and I eventually had to take him out. Jamie Scott proved the inspirational leader in our fightback as his good pass allowed Marc McCusker to drive a shot past Rungo to make it a 2-1 match. Segers finished off his hat-trick with a rifle shot as he slipped free to take a pass from Diego Buonanotte. We kept battling and Balazic slipped a through ball to find Scott free in the six yard area and he finished off the goal with a nice shot to make it 3-2 as the match moved into second half injury time. Rungo had the final answer as he parried away a curling shot from Andrzej to preserve the win that certainly puts 'Gers on track for the BSP title.

[Faramir]

10.4.12

East Stirling (3) Celtic (0)

With our makeup match, we put Celtic's titles chances directly into the 'slim and none' categories as we were much crisper in scoring a decisive 3-0 win over them in front of an ecstatic Firs Park sell-out crowd. From the opening whistle, Celtic could tell they had been pick up their game as we executing well on the attack. Despite losing Davide Ferrante to injury in the first 10 minutes, we never missed a beat and James Graham gave us the lead as he snapped a shot past David Marshall on an excellent chip pass from Gonzalo Higuain. Higuain also left with injury minutes later, but we kept pressuring them. They appeared to even the match as Giancarlo Pepe flipped a shot past Ibrahim Arslan after a good pass from Theo Walcott, but the goal was waved off when Pepe was ruled offside on the play. Graham then used superb vision to see Gregor Balazic free just beyond the edge of the area on a throw-in and Balazic whistled a patented 25 yard lightning strike past Marshall to leave the Celtic players shaking their heads late in the first half. We came out conservatively in the second half and still managed to create chances as Marshall stopped Hopkins again on a diving parry. Our teamwork on defense was wonderful today and really helped blunt them gaining good scoring chances. Arslan was sharp in maintaining his clean sheet as he blocked away a shot from Walcott and smothered a loose ball just before Pepe reached it. Hopkins slipped a pass to Graham as he whirled away from the marking of Fitz Hall in the late stages of the second half and Graham turned the chance into a brace for himself as he cemented MOM honours by capping the scoring in our 3-0 win. The win cost us Higuain for the remainder of the season as he broke his collarbone in the match and will be out until Summer.

BSP Table- Going into Playoff Round

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

1- Rangers 76 pts (+41)

2- Celtic 67 pts (+28)

3- East Stirling 63 pts (+35)

4- Livingston 57 pts (+24)

5- Dundee United 47 pts (-1)

6- Hibernian 45 pts (-3)

</pre>

[Faramir]

12.4.12

The stark realities of the business of football are intruding on what I consider our best season yet as we head into the Playoff Group. Ibrahim Arslan and Adam Andrzej both have emphatically refused to discuss contract extensions and both have made it clear they would rather move to larger clubs. Their contracts expire in 2013, so now is the time when I have the most leverage about getting something for them before we lose them on Bosman. Our club can't afford to just allow chances to create revenue go- no matter the players involved, maybe in the future we won't- but that is not the case right now. That is what brought me to make an enquiry with Chesterfield about Danish keeper Kenneth Stenild. Stenild is only 24, has extensive Under-21 experience on the Danish National side and has many of the qualities I am seeking in a keeper. After negotiation with Chesterfield, we settled on 300K transfer amount and Stenild gladly signed a contract- he would love to play in Europe and improve his standing for a shot at becoming keeper on the Danish National side. He will be joining us in early June. In the meantime, I do plan to transfer list Ibrahim Arslan, but will wait until we are assured of our final place in the BSP table before doing so. Andrzej is still weighing one more last ditch offer and until hope is lost, I won't worry about directly replacing him, though Sebastian Larsson could likely step in and give us solid play there now.

On another front, I went against my scouts on rightback Gary Irvine and essentially wasted money on him. Jamie Ford was ready to take over at rightback and has played exceptionally well since doing so. Irvine has barely played and probably won't. For now I will keep him because I am not sure about Martin Kolar staying and also because he has only a modest two year contract.

[Faramir]

14.4.12

Dundee United (1) East Stirling (1)

There were plenty of chances for us to win this match, but thanks to fine work in their net by Mike Brown we had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Dundee United was really up for the match and had the jump on us in the early going. Frank Jung, who tends to torment us, got in free but missed over the top of the net. Brown made good saves on both Paul Hopkins and Marc McCusker to keep things scoreless for the home side. Moments into the second half we finally found a chink in Brown's armour as Hopkins slipped a pass through and McCusker hammered it into the goal as part of the fine work that earned him MOM honours. We kept pressuring them, but eventually tried to play more conservatively. They made us pay for a moment of inattentive coverage as Jung headed down for David Robertson and he made a laser shot past Ibrahim Arslan at 84 minutes for a dramatic equalizer. We had to settle for the 1-1 draw as we managed no more shots at Brown. Celtic beat Hibernian 4-0 to keep their slim hopes alive and Rangers dumped Livingston 3-2.

[Faramir]

21.4.12

East Stirling (1) Celtic (2)

Celtic kept their faint title hopes alive as they edged us 2-1 at Firs Park. We made too many mistakes against a quality team, including Danny Black handballing in the area to hand them their first goal when Marco Baroni converted the penalty kick past Ibrahim Arslan. We pegged them back quickly as James Graham drilled a shot past David Marshall after taking a good pass from Martin Fribrock. We battled them up and down the pitch in the second half and moments after Marshall made a spectacular save on Hopkins, it was Craig Beattie finishing off a pretty sequence of ball movement with his 100th goal at Celtic as his shot skipped past Arslan. Jamie Scott had a couple chances to even things late in the match, but missed barely wide on both of them as we fell 2-1. Rangers beat Dundee United 2-0 to keep their lead on Celtic and Livingston could only manage a scoreless draw at Hibernian, which leaves them trailing us by 6 points.

***

24.4.12

I was amused to see Filippo Savi complaining about his lack of playing time. He wound up apologizing, but I guess the grass hasn't been greener on the Celtic side of the fence.

[Faramir]

28.4.12

Hibernian (1) East Stirling (2)

We had to fight back after a bobbled clearance attempt by young Andrew McCarthy turned into a goal for Blagoy Georgiev in the 7th minute. They managed to keep us off the board in the first half with a stingy defensive effort and a couple timely saves by keeper Martin Moffat. We finally equalized in the early moments of the second half when Martin Fribrock sailed a cross into the area and Marc McCusker drove it past Moffat into the right corner of the net. We wanted the win in this match so we kept getting men forward. They came close to taking advantage of that, but Herwin Vorsthof missed over the net when put in free by a pass from Jammal Shahin. Niels Ringoot needed treatment on the sideline late in the half and was limping badly when he moved back into the play in our end, but his grit paid off when he wheeled out a long pass that put McCusker in free and Marc made it a brace as he scored the match winner inside the right post. We staved off their last rally to win a closely played match. Rangers battled to a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park and celebrated capturing the BSP Championship in front of the disappointed crowd as they ensured Celtic's run of 6-straight titles was ended. Livingston won 3-1 over Dundee United, but we continue to hold a 6-point lead on them with 2 matches left and also a 10 goal differential- so 3rd place looks good for us.

[Faramir]

2.5.12

East Stirling (2) Livingston (0)

Our Firs Park faithful celebrated with us as we again put the nail in the coffin- the 2-1 win ensured we would finish in 3rd place in BSP again. It was a taut, scoreless first half that featured acrobatic saves by both Ibrahim Arslan and Gareth Williams. Though neither side scored, there were good chances to by both and the keepers both received ovations at the end of the half. The second half started off the same way. Judging it was a good time to change things up, I brought on Jamie Scott for Paul Hopkins and Scott shone as he gave us the lead moments after entering when he hit a 20 yard volley past Williams on a long centering pass from Danny Black. We put the match away minutes later when Martin Fribrock sent a scorching cross that MOM Sergio Zijler deflected past Williams. Livingston tried to rally, but were continually frustrated by our team defense as we kept everyone covered and marked to help Arslan earn another clean sheet.

[Faramir]

6.5.12

East Stirling (3) Rangers (4)

It was entertaining, but in the end our backline failed to cope with their attacking in the second half and Rangers fought back for a 4-3 win after we led 3-1 in the first half. To be fair, we didn't have our best lineup in the match and it showed. They took the lead when Diego Buonamatte scored in the 1st minute past Nicholas Sharro. We rallied and Marc McCusker put up a brace of pretty goals past Lars Rungo while Pedro Esterilla also chipped in with a nice marker. I consciously didn't shift to a defensive mode in the second half, because I wanted to see how our young backline held up- and they didn't. Mark Staunton was victimized twice by Danny Segers and then Sebastian Larsson got caught standing and watching while Sebastien Geiger picked up a rebound and drove it past Sharro for the match winner. It was a learning experience, but it would have been nice to beat them to close out the season.

[Faramir]

8.5.12

We had 4 players named as starters on the Players Team of the Year- Ibrahim Arslan, Anthony Hallam, Adam Andrzej and Gregor Balazic were all selected for the side. Hallam was also runner-up to Rangers' Danny Howard for Young Player of the Year. Pedro Esterilla's sharp angled goal against ICT was picked for BSP Goal of the Year.

***

9.5.12

Inter defeated Sevilla 3-2 to win the Euro Cup.

***

12.5.12

Celtic defeated Dundee on penalties to win the Scottish Cup.

***

16.5.12

Benfica clobbered Manchester United 3-0 to win the Champions Cup.

[tree]

great story i,ve read Harrow hill ,hoyhead hotspur, The east stirling story and harrowing misadventure storys and they are all brillent But how do you find the time to keep updateing 4 storys ? enjoying them so far

[Faramir]

Thanks tree Well, to give you a little insight- all four stories are played well in advance of what is being posted now. Typically, I am playing only one or two as active- while the others sit idle for a bit. All the stories are played at least two years beyond what is being posted now. As another example, I am playing a new story (which I won't start posting for awhile) currently in FM 07.

***

28.5.12

I have been trying hard to get Ibrahim Arslan and Adam Andrzej under new contracts, but both seem set on sampling the Bosman market at the end of this season. I will continue to try during the season, but am a bit pessimistic about the chances of them changing their mind. Because of that I made an 100K offer on transfer listed leftback Petr Korinek from Rangers. Korinek isn't the player that Andrzej is, but he could be a decent alternative if I can't persuade Adam to stay. Korinek also is a very cost effective alternative as his weekly wage is fairly modest. That same thinking is why Kenneth Stenild is also joining us this summer- to have an alternative already on the roster if Arslan won't stay.

***

19.6.12

It has been a quiet summer, though our scouts have been looking at lots of players. We need at least one more center midfielder for depth, and likely a center defender- preferably one with a bit more experience. Gregor Balazic was selected as our Player of the Year by our supporters.

We received 1.3 Million in TV money. That leaves us currently with a balance on the positive side of more than 10 Million. We have just a shade under 6 Million in transfer fund available. I was surprised that the Board maintains a modest expectation of avoiding relegation- but that is something I am confident we can do at this point.

It is hard to tell your Assistant Manager he is a fool, but I came very close when Scott Simmons told me his evaluation of Anthony Hallam (because of media speculation about Celtic and 'Gers wanting him)- "He has no future at this club and we should listen to all offers."

Simmons thoughts are idiotic as Anthony remains the best young defender that Scotland has had in several years (as proven by European Championships this summer) and he is a perfect fit for our club. Anthony would love for all the media speculation to just go away, but I have assured him time and again that there is no way we will sell him.

[Faramir]

21.6.12

One new addition is 16 year old David McKenzie, signed for 100K cost from Dumbarton. McKenzie reminds some of when I first scouted Anthony Hallam and for that reason alone was worth the gamble.

***

30.6.12

The summer that I had hoped would finish out quietly instead turned into a summer of upheaval at the club. First, James Graham decided he wanted to move to a bigger club and wouldn't back down on his demands. He is on the transfer list at his request- but at my value of around 7 Million. Things quickly came to a head with both Ibrahim Arslan and Adam Andrzej after that. I wound up selling Arslan to Pasching for 3.4 Million (of which Kilmarnock received half- due to my original purchase agreement with them). Andrzej was sold to AZ for 2.6 Million (Livingston gets 20%). I sincerely regretted losing both of them, but I could not find a way to sign them. My only hope is that I can build up enough to be able to keep Gregor Balazic and Peter Merkestijn. Both their contracts expire in 2014, but they also steadfastly refuse to negotiate.

We needed midfield depth and that was the main area I worked on addressing in the past few weeks. Despite how well we have done, we still are not all that well regarded, so I had to chase after several youngsters and some transfer listed players- because several that I would prefer to add to our mix just aren't interested in playing for East Stirling. The ones I was able to add were 24 year old Swede Christoffer Karlsson (12K from Dundee), 23 year old Norwegian Ole Marius Gunderson (20K from Kilmarnock) and another 23 year old Norwegian Ulrik Flo (35K from Partick). We also landed a 22 year old Spaniard center defender- Santiago Franco from ICT for 30K.

[Faramir]

1.7.12

The reopening of the transfer window brought us several players. 20 year old Rightback Gary Simpson signed with us after Hearts didn't offer him a contract. 26 year old Portugese center mid Maradona came to us in exchange for unwanted Jeremie Neius. We also welcomed an old friend back as Jukka Santala signed on as a backup in our central defense after being released by ICT.

***

4.7.12

In what may be one of our key signings, I was relieved when our appeal of a work permit for 23 year old Brazilian Santos went through. Santos is smooth as silk and could give Peter Merkestijn a run for the money as the starter. The cost to get Santos from Cruzerio was his minimum fee release of 230K.

***

5.7.12

One more late addition as 17 year old center mid Brian Hughes signed on with. Hughes came out of the Celtic youth program and was released by them before we signed him.

[Faramir]

8.7.12

Is this the way of God's rewarding me for my tribulations at East Stirling? I was named Manager of Scotland today, replacing Duncan Shearer- who voluntarily stepped down after Scotland reached the Quarterfinals of the European Championships- only to lose to eventual Champion Germany. The FA assured me that it was acceptable to split my time between East Stirling and National work, but the press were clearly critical of the choice. I was pleased when the FA came out and stated to me that one of the reasons I was chosen was because they wanted me to bring along some of the younger talent to the National side- something I will certainly do in the posting.

***

11.6.08

Fulham beat us 1-0 at Firs Park in our friendly.

***

14.7.08

A few more new additions as we signed 19 year old Scot forward Steve Buchanan from ICT for a pittance of 95K. Buchanan may earn a few appearances later this season. 19 year old center mid David Thomson was glad to find a new home. Another good signing was 23 year old Portugese Leftback Frederic Martins. Martins helps our depth behind Korinek.

[Faramir]

14.7.08

In a wild friendly, that was televised, we managed to outlast Werder Bremen to defeat them 5-3 with both Paul Hopkins and Marc McCusker scoring braces in the win.

***

20.7.08

St. Mirren beat us 2-0 in a friendly that saw us play a good first half and an inconsistent second half.

***

21.7.08

Our fans were overjoyed when we managed to land hotly tipped young Scot forward Brian Anderson from Motherwell for 100K. Anderson was highly reccommended by our scouts and the 18 year old should have a bright future with us.

[Faramir]

22.7.08

In one of our biggest signings we brought 22 year old English forward Sam Baldock back to Scotland. Baldock had been with Brentford in England when Celtic purchased him, but had moved back to Carlisle for last season and had a great year there. Though I prefer forwards with more pace, Baldock has the ingredients to become a very good forward in our attacking system- especially when paired with a player like Paul Hopkins. Baldock was pleased to come back to Scotland and I believe he wants to show Celtic that they made a mistake in giving him away to Carlisle for a small amount after not giving him a chance at Celtic. Balock's wages are modest, which is also welcome news as we inching closer to our weekly wage budget.

***

25.7.12

It was only a friendly, but a 3-0 win over Koln at RheinEnergieStadion was still something to be pleased about. We played much better than I was hoping for and our very young backline coped with the experienced Koln forwards, which I hope indicates we are close to being ready for both the new season and Europe. Our goals came from Sam Baldock, Sergio Zijler and James Graham.

[Faramir]

28.7.12

East Stirling (3) ICT (0)

It was wonderful to get our season off to a winning start in front of the Firs Park faithful. I was even more pleased to see how well we played as a team in the match. Martin Fribrock was the offensive catalyst as in this one match he doubled his goal output of last season by scoring a brace. Fribrock gave us the early lead with a well placed shot inside the right post past Niki Maenpaa after a good pass from Martin Kolar. Gregor Balazic made it a 2-0 halftime with a beautiful lofted 30 yard shot over Maenpaa, which helped make up for the brilliant save Maenpaa had made on Balazic moments before when in a one-on-one situation. Fribrock finished off the faint hopes of the visitors when he scored his 2nd goal on a good pass from Santos after Jaime Bruinier had been redcarded moments earlier in the second half for taking down Sergio Zijler. The clean sheet was a good way for Kenneth Stenild to debut in our goal. Davide Ferrante earned MOM honours as our backline played a superb match.

***

30.7.12

BSP Odds courtesy of Totalbet.com

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

Celtic Evens

Rangers Evens

Hearts 20-1

Livingston 20-1

Dundee Utd 25-1

East Stirling 33-1

</pre>

[Bluetoonger]

I was having an uninspiring day in the office today when I came across this story and my productivity has been nil for the last couple of hours.

This has been a great story. I thought I was the only lunatic who made up stories whilst playing this game. You know like conducting post match interviews in my head etc.

I am a Rangers fan so was glad to see them break the dominance of Celtic. I had to laugh at your comments about your best talent been snapped up by the Old Firm as this has happened for years to make the opposition weaker.

I love playing smaller scottish sides and usually play my local team now Peterhead. Its hard to break the dominance of the Old Firm but you are on the right track. I can't help but think that there must be regen south americans out there who can help your cause.

Also are you not tempted to splash the cash on marquee signing like a solid defender or a big name striker. It can from experience bring out the best on your other players.

[Faramir]

Bluettonger- Many of us *lunatics* that hang around Stories forum Glad to brighten the day a little bit and thank you for your comments

To put my experience in perspective with your thoughts- I have played my way up with East Stirling in several versions of the game since CM2. I have seen the talent mongering of the Old Firm clubs many times- it also happens in France in my experience. Your suggestion on South Americans is a good one, but I have another strategy that I have made work in the past- I call it undercutting the big clubs (though this won't work nearly as well in FM2007). What you will see is East Stirling trying to gobble up all the best local Scottish talent (from every club, including players the Old Firm clubs undervalue). Typically, this strategy takes time to make it work- since you have to get them as young and cheap as possible- and then develop them. Usually, you can keep a tight hold on the best of them while the big clubs come continually calling for them. That is part of the upcoming story- sneak preview

***

31.7.12

I sold unhappy Sebastien Larsson to Swedish side Orgryte for 85K. I had also accepted an offer from Kilmarnock, but am relieved to let him go back to Sweden and not stay in Scotland. I thought Larsson might help in couple different roles for us, but that didn't turn out to be the case and with the additions in the midfield and of Frederic Martins to provide cover at leftback- I really didn't have a place for him. He was too expensive to really keep around as a reserve, so it made sense to let him move.

***

4.8.12

East Stirling (4) Hearts (0)

We blew open a close match in the second half after our subs came on and helped turn the match to our favor in an impressive 4-0 win over Hearts at Firs Park. The first match was scoreless, though we had dominated the possession. Despite our control of the play, we just weren't making good scoring chances as neither Marc McCusker nor James Graham could shake free of their marking up front. Hearts managed little offense in the first half. When we failed to do much better in the opening moments of the second half, I brought on Gonzalo Higuain for Martin Fribrock and Peter Merkestijn for Niels Ringoot- only to lose Merkestijn to injury moments after entering- which brought on Andreas Dahl. The move paid off when Santos, who moved to rightwing, got clear to take a pass from Dahl and then sent a perfectly placed cross to the far side of the goal. Higuain was waiting there to head the ball inside the left post past Peter Toth. We moved ahead 2-0 when Petr Korinek crossed and Marc McCusker stood taller than the crowd to flick a header past Toth. Hearts sent men forward at that point and our counterattacks proved too effective for them as McCusker made it a brace. Davide Ferrante finished off his MOM performance by deflecting a Dahl corner past Toth to make the final margin 4-0. Kenneth Stenild earned his clean sheet with the save of the match as he brilliantly parried a header from Andrea Russuto with us only leading by a goal.

[Faramir]

4.8.12

Peter Merkestijn suffered fractured ribs and will likely miss a couple months. We will miss him, but are much better able to deal with his loss due to the solid play of Santos and Andreas Dahl. A worse loss was that of Davide Ferrante- who had earned MOM in both of our first two matches- to an injured ankle that will keep him out anywhere from 3 weeks to 2 months. We won't be able to cover Ferrante as well as Merkestijn, we just don't have experienced depth in our center defense, but it will likely be either newcomer Santiago Franco or Andew McCarthy starting in his stead.

I also allowed 17 year old defender Mark Campbell to go on loan to Airdrie. Campbell figures into our plans in our center defense for next season, but he could really use some Senior play this season to help him prepare. I will not sell Campbell- he is the best player to come through our new youth program and he shone in the European Under-19s last summer, but he is on track to play for our Senior side next season.

***

11.8.12

Morton (1) East Stirling (1)

We wasted what should have been a win when we allowed them a dramatic late equalizer on a counterattack. There were plenty of chances for us to put the match away, but besides a 45 yard rocket from MOM Marc McCusker, we weren't able to score on Daniel Chapman. We had given them little in the way of offensive chances, but following a nicely executed attack on our part late in the second half, Chapman's quick goal kick saw David Murphy two strides beyond Anthony Hallam. Hallam wasn't able to close down Murphy and his shot slipped past Kenneth Stenild inside the left post for the equalizer. We can not afford to throw away chances to put up 3 points and settle for 1- this is something I absolutely must convince our club about. Santiago Franco was fine in his debut as replacement for Ferrante, but if Ferrante had been in here- I don't think they would have managed the counterattack that earned them a split of the points.

[Faramir]

14.8.12

More injury problems on our backline as we lost Jamie Ford for 1 to 2 months due to strained knee ligaments. Ford was proving a valuable gameday sub with his ability to play either fullback role, so this another problematic loss. Joining him out with injury was Jamie Scott. These two were my 21 and under players on the gameday reserves, so some tougher choices await us for the next match.

***

18.8.12

Dundee United (0) East Stirling (2)

Though a little lackluster in the early going, we managed to step up our efforts after Jonathan Bottinelli was redcarded for being the last man late in the first half and we earned ourselves a 2-0 win at Tannadice Park. We had to lean heavily on Nicholas Sharro in the early going as he came up with brilliant back-to-back saves on Panetalis Kapetanos on his first shot and rebound to keep things tidy in the opening moments. Sharro also made a dazzling diving save on a long curving blast from Michele Troiano. We began to start moving our attack more effectively after that and Bottinelli was forced to pull down Marc McCusker just before the edge of the area after a through ball from Anthony Hallam got him a step on the defender. We made the man advantage pay off in first half injury time when McCusker shook free to fire a low blast. Mark Brown got a hand on the shot, but James Graham snapped the rebound into the open left side of the net for our halftime lead. We maintained the pressure in the second half and put the match on ice when Steve Lewis, on for McCusker, slipped a deft pass to unmarked Graham and he made it a brace with a quick blast past Brown. The surpise MOM of the match was Jukka Santala, who I had decided needed to move up to fill in for Ferrante- a choice of a knowing veteran over two promising youngsters.

[Faramir]

25.8.12

Another difficult 1st Round Euro Cup draw for us as we are paired up with Portugese side Boavista.

***

25.8.12

East Stirling (0) Celtic (1)

Another frustrating loss to Celtic to put on the books. We outplayed them for large stretches of the match, but our forwards didn't do the job today and we were left without the goal we needed. The lone goal of the match was by Craig Beattie as he notched his 10th- already this early in the season- on a through ball that Anthony Hallam and Jukka Santala couldn't quite close him down. Hallam already had a yellow card and Santala wasn't quite quick enough to make the play before Beattie fired a shot past injured Nicholas Sharro. I had to pull Sharro at halftime and Kenneth Stenild gave us a solid effort in the second half, but it was for naught as we came close, but couldn't score on Radek Kolenderski. Zander Diamond was selected MOM for his play on their backline in the match.

***

25.8.12

As the transfer deadline gets closer, I tried to address a few depth spots. I was able to purchase 23 year old Scot Keeper Ian McIntyre from Huddersfield for 60K to give us more cover at Keeper- as Steven van der Deyl is out with a knee injury.

[Faramir]

27.8.12

We added another promising young Scot forward to the club with the 30K purchase from Cowdenbeath of 18 year old Steven Watson. Watson's skills at his age leave me hopeful we can develop him further and he was really pleased to be joining us. We also added 29 year old rightwing Stephen O'Donnell. O'Donnell came over for 1K from Morton and was only brought on as cover and will likely stay on the Reserves.

Leaving us was Chris Hamilton, as the unhappy midfielder moves to Brighton for 55K. Hamilton wanted to play and that just wasn't happening here, so was pleased to make the move to England.

***

28.8.12

I continued stockpiling promising young Scottish players as we completed the transfer purchase of 22 year old defender Scott Laird from Raith for 65K. Laird is versatile on the left side of the backline and has promise, so we were pleased to add him. My goal is to try and build a solid unit of Scot defenders to work as depth behind our starting core of Martin Kolar (if I can keep him)- Petr Korinek- Davide Ferrante (when healed) and Anthony Hallam.

***

1.9.12

Anthony Hallam was selected as Young Player of the Month for August, the only honours we received this time around.

[Faramir]

4.9.12

SCOTLAND

East Stirling had 6 players playing for the Scotland Under-21 side. Steve Buchanan scored 2 goals in the 4-0 win over Kazakhstan U-21s, but Mark Campbell suffered a fractured arm and Jamie Scott tweaked his groin, which will keep both out of action for awhile.

The starting lineup for my 1st game as National Manager will be:

GK- David Marshall

DR- Marc Wilson

DL- Steven Hammell

DC- Anthony Hallam

DC- Zander Diamond

MR- Craig Beattie

ML- Ross Wallace

MC- Darren Fletcher

MC- Tim Burgess

SC- Paul Gallagher

SC- James Graham (1st Cap)

sub- Craig Gordon (GK)

sub- Danny Howard (FLC)

sub- Steven Whitaker (DR,MRC)

sub- Barry Ferguson (MC)

sub- James McEveley (DLC)

sub- Gary Caldwell (DRC)

sub- Robbie Foy (AMRL)

[Faramir]

5.9.12

SCOTLAND

Scotland (4) Kazakhstan (0) World Cup Qualifiers Group 8

It was an important match for me, and an important one for the National side as Group 8 is a very difficult draw this time with Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Us and Kazakhstan in the Group. Kazakhstan is the designated country that everyone will try to do well against, as goals might be very difficult to find otherwise in this Group. It was a great debut for me as we played superbly all match long. It was even a bit disappointing that we only managed four goals as we gave ourselves many chances to score in the match. We had pressure from the opening whistle on and it was clear our quickness was going to cause the visitors fits. After several narrow misses, it was a booming 25 yard free kick from Darren Fletcher that earned us the lead. Paul Gallagher, on his way to MOM honours, sent us up 2-0 at halftime when he deflected a cross from Ross Wallace past Ilja Yurov. The second half was more of the same, though I give them full credit for putting up a determined defense. We finally padded the lead to 3-0 when Tim Burgess scored his 1st National goal with a well placed 30 yard shot past Yurov. Gallagher capped off the scoring by making it a brace late in the second half after Danny Howard created the chance by jetting in, only to see his shot bounce back off the crossbar. In other Group 8 play Italy was held to a scoreless draw in Rome and Northern Ireland and Ireland battled to a 2-2 draw in Belfast.

[Faramir]

8.9.12

Hibernian (0) East Stirling (0)

We threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at Hib Keeper Bruno Costa- but he was brilliant in denying us a win that we fully deserved and earned MOM honours. We squandered a couple excellent chances early in the match, the most disappointing being a golden chance that Steve Lewis let slip away because of a poor first touch on the ball as Costa recovered to smother the ball. We came oh so close twice in the early going as Costa saved a blast from Paul Hopkins and then Santos snap shot of a rebound was cleared off the line by Jose Antonio Castillo. Kenneth Stenild did some nice work to keep them off the scoreboard as well by making three good first half saves. The second half was ours as we stepped up our play and pressure in their end. Despite the pressure, we just were a half-step slow most of the match and it cost us as we had to settle for splitting the points.

[Faramir]

13.9.12

Boavista (0) East Stirling (4) Euro Cup 1st Round 1st Leg

It was a stunning result for us, as we handily defeated heavily favored Boavista 4-0 in front of their shocked fans. We played hard from the opening whistle on and took a quick lead in the match when James Graham's well placed shot across the net snuck inside the right post past Keeper Carlos Fernandes. Less than three minutes later Tiago Bergano scored an own-goal as he desperately tried to clear the ball away with Graham right on his shoulder in front of an open goal after Marc McCusker's shot had carromed off the left upright. Just before halftime it was Neils Ringoot's deflection of a Martin Fribrock corner that gave us a 3-0 lead. We never let up defensively in the second half and Pedro Esterilla capped our scoring with a lightning bolt past Fernandes from just inside the edge of the area after a nice pass from Gonzalo Higuain. Despite not scoring, McCusker earned MOM honours, as the Boavista backline could not cope with him today.

[Faramir]

16.9.12

Livingston (2) East Stirling (4)

The signs continue to appear that we are developing as a club. We took the lead in the match midway through the first half, but fell behind 2-1 early in the second half before roaring back for an impressive 4-2 fightback win at Almondvale. Our first lead came courtesy of Sam Baldock, as he scored his 1st goal for us on a cross from Sergio Zijler after a sustained period of pressure on their backline by us. We gave away the equalizer when Anthony Hallam, who had an uncharacteristically poor match, missed an interception and Jurgen Raeymaeckers was able to slam the ball inside the far post past Kenneth Stenild. Early in the second half the home side was buoyed with Hallam failing to challenge Erton Fejzullahu closely enough and he snaked a sharp angled shot past Stenild for the lead. Gonzalo Higuain made a sensational run down the left side and his sharp cross was deflected by Paul Hopkins past Ross Wilkinson for the equalizer and Hopkins' 1st goal of the season. Both sides came close to gaining the lead as the action surged up and down the pitch. Hopkins was the difference in the match for us though as he made a terrific run down the middle of the pitch on a counterattack and sent a nicely placed shot past Wilkinson to give us the lead in the 89th minute and earn himself MOM honours. We added insurance when Hopkins slotted a pass to Pedro Esterilla, on for Baldock, and he ripped a rising shot past Wilkinson to make the final score 4-2.

[Faramir]

19.9.12

East Stirling (5) Forfar (0) League Cup 3rd Round

It was a demolition from the opening whistle on as our pinpoint passing dissected the Forfar backline and gave us many chances as we rolled to an easy 5-0 rout of the smaller side. After passing up a good scoring chance earlier, Steve Lewis was rewarded when an alert James Graham picked him out unmarked and Lewis banked the pass into the goal for his 1st goal of the season. Lewis returned the favor with a curling pass that allowed Graham to take the ball around Keeper Ben Hamer to make it 2-0. After Hamer made the initial save on Graham, Preben Vatle Hammersland picked up the loose ball and let loose a rocket shot past Hamer from 25 yards for his 1st goal of the season. Just after halftime Andrew McCarthy deflected a Maradona corner past Hamer for his 1st goal and that helped earn him MOM honours in the match. Hammersland capped the scoring with his 2nd goal of the season as he headed in a cross from Maradona. Hammersland also came close to gaining a hat-trick, but Hamer got his hand on the late blast.

[Faramir]

22.9.12

Dunfermline (1) East Stirling (0)

A combination of horrendous shooting and bad luck plagued us as we lost 1-0 to Dunfermline. They had only two shots in the match- and their goal came on a penalty kick late in the first half when Andrew McCarthy made a silly challenge at the edge of our area. We had 15 shots- but only 1 on goal! The Dunfermline backline deserves credit as they threw themselves in front of several shots that looked to be in as Gaetano Romano wasn't in the right spot to stop them. Still, the terrible shooting is what doomed us in a match that we dominated and deserved a better result in.

[Faramir]

27.9.12

East Stirling (2) Boavista (0) Euro Cup 1st Round, 2nd Leg- East Stirling advances on 6-0 aggregate

We played the way we have been playing everybody- difficult on defense, with a good counter-attack- as we defeated Boavista 2-0 and for the first time moved past the 1st Round of play in Europ Cup. We took the lead early on in the match as Niels Ringoot made a quick, curling pass that found Pedro Esterilla free. Esterilla launched a beautiful lob over Carlos Fernandes and Boavista's hopes deteriorated. We squashed them worse late in the first half when Andreas Dahl launched a header forward up the middle. James Graham was first to the ball and drilled a shot past Fernandes to make it 2-0. East Stirling then closed out the Portugese side with a definitive defenciveness that kept them from having any decent chances to ruin Nicholas Sharro's clean sheet.

***

28.9.12

We were drawn into Group A of the Euro Cup. The other clubs drawn are: Bolton, Sparta Prague, Palermo and AZ. It is be great to finally make it into pool play after faltering the last two seasons.

[Faramir]

30.9.12

East Stirling (2) Motherwell (0)

We provided the Firs Park faithful with another excellent rendition of our mixture of attack and defense. After a couple misfires early it was Sam Baldock with a sizzling blast past Michael Langer from just inside the edge of the area. We maintained the pressure, though Motherwell started getting counter-attacks and Nicholas Sharro had to be sharp in our net. We finally notched a second goal when Sergio Zijler scored past Langer for his 1st goal of the season. With the 2-0 lead, we settled down to protect it and we managed to keep the clean sheet for Sharro in the hotly contested win.

***

1.10.12

In a surprise, Jukka Santala was named Player of the Month for September. Santala really gave us good work with Davide Ferrante out with injury and deserves the accolade. Paul Hopkins' goal against Livingston- where he took the ball in on a dribble from our half before lobbing it over the keeper- was Goal of the Month.

[Faramir]

SCOTLAND

6.10.12

Belgium (1) Scotland (2)

Scotland passed its first true test with me at the helm as we managed to defeat Belgium 2-1 in Brussels. This was a match we could well have won by a large margin, but I was happy just to be able to get the win in the late going. We dominated the first half and took the lead when Feris Haroun handballed in the area and Marc Wilson converted the penalty kick past Silvio Proto. We had many more good opportunities, but squandered most of them due to 'one pass too many' in their area- we would have been better off letting our shots fly and seeing if a rebound was there. Still, it was great to see how well we moved the ball against the Belgian 'wedge' offense (well, Christmas tree if you like to see it that way). Unfortunately, on their only chance in the first half- we allowed Belgium to equalize. Both Steven Hammell and Zander Diamond misplayed the ball on the play and Diamond's miscue was crucial as he misjudged the flight and that allowed Stein Huysegems in free and he fired a shot inside the far left post to make it 1-1 going to the dressing room. I didn't have to say much at half, the boys wanted the match and pressured the home side again. Nothing was coming of our pressure as Danny Howard wasn't able to put any of his shots on goal. It looked like we were headed for a draw, when Marc Wilson made a terrific curling long pass that found Craig Beattie breaking free on the right. Beattie had time to size up his shot, and then blasted an 84th minute match-winner past replacement Keeper Logan Bailly. Beattie was definitely the MOM, as his attacks on the right had caused all manner of problems for the Belgian backline. We closed out the win that gives us a 2-0 start to Group 8 play. In other Group 8 matches, Italy defeated Ireland 4-0 in Dublin, while Kazakhstan and Northern Ireland played to a 1-1 draw in Almaty.

[Faramir]

6.10.12

I was surprised that James Graham came up to me on the plane trip back from Brussels and asked me to take him off the transfer list. He had decided that East Stirling was a solid place to be for him right now and was happy with the way the club was developing. I would be surprised if he does not reinstate his desire to play for a larger side at some point, given how ambitious he is, but for now that leaves us both content with the situation.

***

SCOTLAND

10.10.12

Scotland (2) Northern Ireland (2)

It pained me to watch us fritter away a strong performance on two defensive mistakes that allowed Northern Ireland to come away with a undeserved 2-2 draw with us at Hampden Park. Worse, it ruined a triumphant debut for Marc McCusker- whose brace were all the scoring for us and helped him earn MOM honours. McCusker gave us the lead in the opening moments with a fine header on an alert long pass from Anthony Hallam. An inexcusable mistake, failing to mark Mark Hughes on a corner, turned into the equalizer for the visitors and we went to halftime even at 1-1, despite our domination of possession. McCusker made it a 2-1 lead when he skinned Rory McArdle and snapped a shot past Roy Carroll. They came back to even it when Kyle Lafferty overpowered James McEveley to deflect a cross from Sam Morrow past David Marshall. We tried to gain the lead one more time, but failed as Carroll played well in the late stages of the match. In other Group 8 matches, Italy defeated Kazakhstan 4-0 in Rome to take over top spot in the Group. Belgium and Ireland played to a scoreless draw in Brussels.

[Faramir]

13.10.12

East Stirling (2) Dundee (0)

It took a gritty effort as we played 2/3 of the match with only 10 men, but a determined defensive effort and a couple timely strikes was enough to earn us a satisfying 2-0 win over Dundee at Firs Park. Paul Hopkins struck to give us the lead in the opening moments of the match as he headed a Niels Ringoot cross past Karl Dryden. Jukka Santala drew an early yellow and then earned a 2nd yellow card at 32 minutes for an early shower. Compounding our problems was losing Gonzalo Higuain to injury as well midway through the first half. Making things worse was losing Anthony Hallam just as the first half ended. That left us with Martin Kolar filling in in the middle of things, an unfamiliar role for him. Despite our problems, we continually thwarted and frustrated Dundee's forwards- John Jairo Mosquera and Juanma Pena- while we maintained our lead. Our superior fitness helped us win the match as Jamie Ford, just back from injury, wheeled out a pass to Ringoot. Ringoot put a terrific cross into the six-yard box and Hopkins flicked it inside the near post to make it a brace and earn himself MOM honours as we finished off a determined 2-0 win. It was a nice clean sheet for Kenneth Stenild.

[Faramir]

18.10.12

East Stirling (4) Palermo (0) Euro Cup Group A

It was one of those matches that you couldn't have written a script better than the actual outcome. From the opening whistle we pressured them on the ball and moved our attack quickly off the ball. James Graham scored in the opening moments when he slipped in to head a long cross from Martin Kolar past Matteo Guardalben. Petr Korinek then set up Marc McCusker to score with a pass that slipped past two defenders before finding Marc at the far post. We had chances to add to the 2-0 lead, including a Graham header off the crossbar, but I was pleased to take that lead to halftime. We didn't let down at all in the second half. Though we were playing more conservatively, we earned a penalty kick early on as Mattias Bjarsmyr handballed in the area. Gregor Balazic converted the penalty to move us up 3-0. We increased that again and capped our scoring as Jukka Santala flicked a header past Guardalben off a free kick from Martin Fribrock. Davide Ferrante earned a satisfying MOM against his countrymen and led a superb backline effort that supported Kenneth Stenild's clean sheet. In the other Group A result, Bolton dropped AZ 2-1 while hosting the Dutch side.

[Faramir]

21.10.12

Rangers (2) East Stirling (1)

Another difficult loss to take for us as a Zdenek Hruby 35 yard lob over Kenneth Stenild turned out to be the match winner in the waning moments. 'Gers grabbed the early lead when Bastien Geiger blasted a rocket shot past Stenild, but Geiger was redcarded shortly after. We evened the match when Santos scored his 1st goal for us as he deflected in a cross from Marc McCusker. We looked on track for a draw until the audacious lob left me shaking my head. We deserved better, but we didn't earn it and had to accept another loss to our rivals.

[Faramir]

27.10.12

Hearts (1) East Stirling (4)

We rebounded with a vengence and I can't help but hope that some of it was due to the 'Grand Experiment'- or so it was dubbed by the press. I decided that I hadn't seen enough impact play from our midfield- so Paul Hopkins moved back there today. That allowed me to pair up James Graham and Sam Baldock up front. For one match, everything worked wonderfully. Hopkins was a creative force, Baldock had a brace for our first two goals after to fight back for the lead after we had given them an early goal on poor defensive coverage. Nicholas Sharro was superb after their lone goal and made several key saves during the match to blunt their rally attempts. Hopkins scored himself with a sublime 25 yard blast and Martin Kolar capped our 4 goal effort when he drove home the rebound for his 1st goal of the season after Peter Toth had saved his penalty kick. I will need to see if this approach to playing Hopkins in the midfield works over the long run, but it looked promising today.

[Faramir]

29.10.12

One thing I am seriously considering, despite our modest success so far this season, is to retool the squad. I don't believe things are seriously broken- we certainly seem to be playing fine- but it is just my impression that we continue to lack the most advantageous setup for the side. Our backline is still a problem- losing Hallam has hurt us badly- and our variety of center mids- excepting Santos and Gregor Balazic- haven't played all that well. There is some time from now until the opening of the transfer window where I can think about how to make this work.

***

29.10.12

Our win at Tynecastle cost Hearts' Gordon Chisolm his position. It was humorous to see my name linked to taking over for him.

[Faramir]

1.11.12

AZ (2) East Stirling (1) Euro Group A

We blew it. We handed them a goal with only seconds remaining in the match and had to swallow a bitter defeat that should have been at least a draw. Davide Ferrante and Petr Korinek misplayed a ball to give them the lead when Korinek's backpass allowed Felix Alexander Borja free to rifle a shot past Kenneth Stenild in the early going. We equalized late in the first half when Paul Hopkins skinned an opponent and made a run from midfield before lofting a well placed shot past Alamo to even things. We had seen Alamo make some dazzling saves and he kept that up in the second half. With time running out, Santos made a bad backpass that Harris Medunjanin took away from Jukka Santala and then slipped past Stenild from 25 yards for a dramatic match winner. It is clear we are not showing the type of composure we need to win these crucial matches. Hopkins was awarded MOM honours and seems to be adjusting to midfield just fine. Palermo beat Sparta Prague 1-0 at Palermo in other Group A play.

[sherm]

Still excellent as always Faramir, any story of yours is a superb read

[Faramir]

sherm- Thank you very much for the kind words Glad you are still enjoying one (or all) of the current stories

***

4.11.12

East Stirling (3) Morton (1)

Thanks to a heaping dose of good shooting, we were able to defeat a stubborn Morton 3-1. Marc McCusker put us in the early lead thanks to a pass from Gregor Balazic. McCusker fired his shot right away and it zipped past Daniel Chapman for the lead. Morton equalized when Balazic handballed in the area. David Murphy stepped up and converted the penalty and it was even again. In the opening moments of the second half, Balazic made up for his mistake when he blistered a 25 yard shot past Chapman. Both sides struggled for the next goal, but it was East Stirling that struck for a 2-goal lead when McCusker made it a brace. We played steadier defense in helping close out the win. McCusker received MOM honours.