Scottish Reprise- Return to East Stirling

[Faramir]

7.11.12

East Stirling (2) Rangers (0) League Cup Quarterfinal

We gained a measure of revenge against 'Gers as we broomed them out of the compitition with a 2-0 win. A scoreless first half saw neither club playing particularly well. We jumped- literally- into the lead in the opening moments of the second half as Marc McCusker flicked a header past Clas Bergwall. Less than 5 minutes later, it was James Graham adding a goal with a well placed shot after a good pass from Gonzalo Higuain. Higuain was instrumental in the midfield coverage and we were happy to smother 'Gers as they tried to come back. Graham earned MOM honours for his play up front. Nicholas Sharro played well in earning the clean sheet.

[Faramir]

SCOTLAND

10.11.12

Scotland (2) Albania (0) Friendly

Though the score was only 2-0, it could easily have been much more as we dominated visiting Albania at Hampden Park. Following a scoreless first half, it was Paul Gallagher who gave Scotland the lead with a blast past Ilion Lika after a good pass from MOM James McFadden. Lika gave a very creditable performance as we kept hammering away and it took us until late in the half before we found a way to get the clinching goal as Craig Beattie scored off another pass from McFadden. David Marshall had an easy time putting up a clean sheet in the win.

[Faramir]

SCOTLAND

14.11.12

Morocco (0) Scotland (5) Friendly

Danny Howard was too much for Morocco as he scored 4 goals in the first half. Howard put the sword to the Morocco backline as he received good passes from James Graham, Craig Beattie- twice and James McFadden as he fired three shots past Mohamed Bourkadi and also flicked a header past him. We dominated both halves, but didn't score in the second half until Zander Diamond deflected a corner from Darren Fletcher in during second half injury time. Though just a friendly, I considered it a very good effort on our part.

[Faramir]

18.11.12

ICT (1) East Stirling (4)

A wonderful effort is what we put together on our trip to Inverness as we stormed to a 4-1 win. James Graham and Marc McCusker were on their games today and Graham started our scoring with a superb sharp angled shot that Niki Maenpaa and slid inside the right post. McCusker made it a 2-0 halftime lead with a brilliant move past Terry Dobson and then a hard shot past Maenpaa. Graham then made it a brace in the opening moments of the second half with a lob over stranded Maenpaa. McCusker followed by making a brace himself when he slashed home a rebound after Maenpaa stopped his first shot. Nicholas Sharro had a brilliant first half in goal, making several timely saves to keep the home side off the scoreboard. They were finally about to put up a consolation marker and ruin Sharro's clean sheet when Ruben Hernandez picked out David Novotny with space. Before Christoffer Karlsson could close Novotney down he rifled a shot past Sharro. We tried to get McCusker his hat-trick, but Maenpaa tipped his last shot over the crossbar.

***

21.11.12

For how well the season is going, we certainly have a lot of turmoil. Sam Baldock already wants out because he can't play in our Europe games (came over after registration) and has missed a couple other games. He is on the transfer list at his request and there are likely to be several joining him soon.

[Faramir]

22.11.12

East Stirling (2) Bolton (1) Euro Cup Group A

It was a closely played match, but a brace of dazzling goals from James Graham was enough to allow us to defeat Bolton 2-1 at Firs Park. MOM Sergio Zijler set up Graham's 1st goal nicely with a curving cross that he volleyed past Alexander Hysen. We kept that lead going to the dressing room as Kenneth Stenild made saves on El-Hadji Diouf and Niko Kranjcar. In the early going of the second half Gonzalo Higuain made a beautiful layoff pass that Graham drilled past Hysen for his 2nd goal. Bolton drew one back when Kranjcar found a way to flick a header past Stenild. We held on tightly from there and the final whistle still found us with our 2-1 win. Sparta Prague beat AZ 2-0 in Prague in the other Group A match.

[Faramir]

25.11.12

East Stirling (3) Dundee United (1)

After handing them the first goal of the match, we fought back for a 3-1 win over Dundee United- who were immediately behind us in the table. Jonathan Bottinelli had an easy time giving them the lead as Jamie Ford failed to adequately mark him on a throw-in and he deflected it past Kenneth Stenild. It didn't take us too long to answer as Andreas Dahl scorched a 25 yard free kick past Mark Brown for his 1st goal of the season. Preben Vatle Hammersland was the architect of our 2nd goal as his vision allowed him to pick out Paul Hopkins as he found a seam just inside the edge of the area. Hopkins wasted no time firing a shot inside the left post to make it 2-1. Discontented Sam Baldock demonstrated for visiting scouts that he retained his scoring touch as he flicked a header past Brown to deflect a long shot from Ford to earn us a 3-1 halftime lead. We missed a chance to add to the margin early in the second half when Frederic Martins missed wide on a penalty kick after Dahl was tripped in the area. We were much steadier defensively in the second half and closed out the 3-1 win well.

***

29.11.12

The unrest continues to seethe through our club and I have had enough. The wires with the transfer list were burning up as I placed several players on the transfer list, including Havard Flo, Mark Staunton, Ian McIntyre, Carl Laurie and Scott Laird. There may be more to come as I am sick of the dressing room complaints. If they aren't happy here- we will see if we can find them a new home and move on with the players committed to winning here.

[Faramir]

1.12.12

I was very happy to hear that Marc McCusker had named BSP Player of the Month for November. Marc has improved this season and is now one of the key players in looking at our future. James Graham's goal against ICT was selected as Goal of the Month.

The bad news was that Kenneth Stenild was injured in practice yesterday and will likely miss 3 weeks recovering from the deep gash he received on his leg. Nicholas Sharro will have to shoulder the load in the meantime.

***

1.12.12

East Stirling (2) Hibernian (0)

I am really happy that we keep turning out workmanlike matches. We worked hard to beat Hibs 2-0 at Firs Park and we didn't make defensive mistakes. James Graham got us the lead midway through the first half when he made a terrific volley on a long looping cross from Sergio Zijler past Kevin McLaren. Graham deserved the goal as he had come close twice before he scored, just missing a whisker wide and skimming the bar with a header. Just before halftime we added our 2nd goal when Martin Fribrock blasted a curving 25 yarder past McLaren which helped earn him MOM honours. We played conservatively in the second half and helped Nicholas Sharro a clean sheet.

[Nathan Pike]

It's great to see you taking on the job as the Scottish national team manager - it adds yet another dimension to this fine story.

[Faramir]

Nathan- Thanks, it did make playing the story a bit more interesting

***

1.12.12

I was very happy to hear that Marc McCusker had named BSP Player of the Month for November. Marc has improved this season and is now one of the key players in looking at our future. James Graham's goal against ICT was selected as Goal of the Month.

The bad news was that Kenneth Stenild was injured in practice yesterday and will likely miss 3 weeks recovering from the deep gash he received on his leg. Nicholas Sharro will have to shoulder the load in the meantime.

***

1.12.12

East Stirling (2) Hibernian (0)

I am really happy that we keep turning out workmanlike matches. We worked hard to beat Hibs 2-0 at Firs Park and we didn't make defensive mistakes. James Graham got us the lead midway through the first half when he made a terrific volley on a long looping cross from Sergio Zijler past Kevin McLaren. Graham deserved the goal as he had come close twice before he scored, just missing a whisker wide and skimming the bar with a header. Just before halftime we added our 2nd goal when Martin Fribrock blasted a curving 25 yarder past McLaren which helped earn him MOM honours. We played conservatively in the second half and helped Nicholas Sharro a clean sheet.

[Faramir]

8.12.12

Celtic (1) East Stirling (0)

Argh! I could see the match winner coming as soon as it happened. We had played a good match against Celtic and the only reason we hadn't taken the lead is because Radek Kolenderski had our number with several superb saves to ruin good scoring chances. Celtic also had good chances throughout the match and Nicholas Sharro had played an excellent game. Just as it has happened so many times with us against Celtic, we made a killer defensive mistake in the last minutes of play with the match on the line. As soon as I saw Martin Kolar move up the pitch, trying for a loose ball he had no business going for, I knew it was trouble. Sure enough they reached it first- counterattacked into the opening Kolar left down our right side and then after Sharro came up with a brilliant stop on Emrah Ekin- we couldn't clear the rebound away and Ekin scored the match winner. With Celtic now unbeaten in 17 matches and with an 8 point lead on us in 2nd place (we still hold a 1 point edge on 3rd place Rangers), I don't see any way that they won't take the BSP crown. Despite the loss, I do feel encouraged in that we played without several key players and were still very close to taking the match against them at Celtic Park.

[Faramir]

12.12.12

Sparta Prague (1) East Stirling (2) Euro Cup Group A

Though it was a struggle, we held our nerves and manage to finally get the goal we needed in the second half to win 2-1 at Prague and assure ourselves a place in the Euro Cup 1st Knockout Round. After seeing Roman Hasek make several good saves against us early in the first half, it was Martin Fribrock's superb touch pass that put James Graham away free down the left. Graham's nice move and then his shot inside the near left post gave us the lead. We gave that goal back just before halftime as Anthony Hallam had a poor match in his return from the injury list. Hallam's poor clearance allowed Tomas Simr to sweep the ball past Nicholas Sharro for the equalizer late in the first half. It was more frustration from Hasek for us in the second half as he stopped Graham in close and then Jaroslav Marek threw himself in front of a shot from Andreas Dahl to keep the ball out of an open goal. The match winner was handed to us as David Limbersky's pass to fellow defender Jiri Hudec skipped past him. Steven Watson was lurking and snapped a shot past Hasek to score a dramatic match-winner in his debut for us. Palermo beat Bolton 2-1 to qualify as 2nd place to us in the Group, while Sparta Prague still earned a place on goal differential. Jukka Santala's stalwart work on the backline earned him MOM honours.

[Faramir]

13.12.12

Personalities are now a problem on the club as well. Andreas Dahl intensely dislikes James Graham. As much as I respect Andreas Dahl- Graham is one player I just do not have a replacement for- so Andreas is on the transfer list. Also joining him on the list is Pedro Esterilla. We have a wealth of good young Scot forwards and it makes little sense to hang on to a highly paid reserve.

***

14.12.12

We drew Turkish side Galatasary in the Euro Cup 1st knockout Round, with the first leg seeing us go to Turkey. With the 2nd Knockout Round already drawn, if we can get by them we will face either Manchester City or Sampdoria.

[Faramir]

15.12.12

Motherwell (1) East Stirling (3)

Though a brace from Marc McCusker keyed the win for us, there was no disputing the selection for MOM honours of Nicholas Sharro. After McCusker had gained us the lead in the opening moments when Sergio Zijler sent him a curling pass and he blasted it past Michael Langer, Motherwell surged to the attack. Darryl Knights was deadly to our backline as we could not keep him in check. Sharro made two dazzling saves on Knights before Knights finally got the better of him to equalize late in the first half. Knights bulled past Gregor Balazic and Frederic Martins to drill a shot inside the right post. Both sides sought the go ahead goal early in the second half and we again leaned on Sharro as he made a diving parry on a free kick from Jamie Smith. We took the lead against the flow of play as Balazic sent a terrific through ball to McCusker. As Langer moved to challenge him, McCusker flicked his shot over him to make it a brace. Nadir Belhadj then took down McCusker in the area, which earned him a redcard. Martins converted the penalty kick to make our final winning margin 3-1.

[Faramir]

22.12.12

East Stirling (1) Livingston (2)

We dug ourselves too deep a hole when we handed Livingston a 2-0 lead midway through the first half and then had to contend with their Keeper Ross Wilkinson playing brilliantly. Martin Kolar earned my anger for the first goal as he failed to cover Erton Fejzullahu and Erton made us pay by whipping a shot just inside the far right post. Six minutes later, Nicholas Sharro just plain missed a shot from Mariusz Zganiacz and it clanged in off the underside of the crossbar. They should have been ahead 3-0, but bounced another back off the right upright. For our part, we had excellent chances throughout the match, but were continually left shaking our heads as Wilkinson pulled off some dazzling saves. We had pressure on them the entire second half, but were only able to finally get a late consolation goal when Paul Hopkins, playing forward again as the midfield experiment is over for now, flicked a header past Wilkinson on a free kick to ruin his clean sheet.

BSP Midseason Table

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

1- Celtic 47 pts (+34)

2- East Stirling 38 pts (+24)

3- Rangers 38 pts (+20)

4- Dundee 26 pts (+1)

5- Livingston 26 pts (-3)

6- Dunfermline 26 pts (-7)

</pre>

[Faramir]

26.12.12

East Stirling (1) Dunfermline (1)

Another other-worldly performance by an opposing Keeper as Gaetano Romano starred this time and another result where we completely outplayed our opponent and wound up splitting the points with them. We took the lead early in the match as Romano made a nice save on Steven Watson, but James Graham was coasting in and slammed home the rebound. Graham had at least another half-dozen excellent scoring chances, but Romano kept robbing him blind. The equalizer was scored by John Moffat midway through the second half as Jukka Santala didn't mark him closely enough and he deflected a long centering pass by Kenneth Stenild. The frustration was clear for everyone on our side as we trooped to the dressing room.

[BenArsenal]

What a great story. Good luck in Europe, and hope you make the Champions League!

[Faramir]

BenArsenal- Thanks very much, glad you are enjoying the tale

***

29.12.12

Dundee (2) East Stirling (2)

Our third straight match where we outplayed the opposition and have only a draw to show for our good efforts. We took the lead in the early going as Anthony Hallam deflected a corner past Karl Dryden. Gregor Balazic smashed a curving 30 yard kick past Dryden to give us a 2-0 lead midway through the first half. Dundee quickly answered that goal as John Jairo Mosquera outleapt Davide Ferrante to deflect a cross past Kenneth Stenild. We hammered away at Dryden to open the second half and he made point-blank saves on Marc McCusker and Paul Hopkins to keep the home side alive. They made Dryden's effort pay off when Ferrante was called for a push in our area in second half injury time and Neil Woods slammed the penalty kick past Stenild to cement his MOM selection and a split of the points.

[Faramir]

31.12.12

I brooded about my evaluation of where our club is long and hard. The Rangers win, coupled with the draw, moved them back into 2nd place. Celtic is jetting away from both of us- still unbeaten in BSP play after 21 matches. Since this evaluation reflects on how I built this club, it is the hardest kind of retrospection.

What I see from our club is a perenniel runner-up, or perenniel 3rd place club. It pains me to say that, because I originally believed that the young players would develop and allow us to eventually overtake Celtic and 'Gers. Their resources outstrip ours by such a big amount that they have continually compensated for shortcomings, while I am left with the reality that I have four critical players that will not sign new contracts with us- Peter Merkestijn, Gregor Balazic, Sergio Zijler and Paul Hopkins. Where does this leave us? We could just play out the string and hope that the stars align next season and we make the biggest step. Reality intrudes on that theory though, and my conclusion is I now have the most difficult adjustment to make that any manager can go through- I need to tear down this club and yet build it back up at the same time.

Where I have spurned offers from Celtic and Rangers in other seasons, now I am listening and counter offering as we moved into the next transfer window. I believe our backline is solid- especially the center- and we have wingers I like. We have a whole host of good young Scot Forwards just waiting to start staking their place. The center midfield is our weakest area and that is a bad place to be weak. So, this time around I am going to see if I can't accomplish three things- 1) Move the unhappy players 2) See if I can't get some decent sales out of the players that won't commit to our future and 3) Try to bring in 'affordable' players that will enjoy playing here. It's going to be a difficult task and it could well jeopardize our 3rd place spot- but to move forward sometimes you need to take the step back first.

[Nathan Pike]

I'll be interested to see how you handle your 'dilemma', Faramir. KUTGW

[Faramir]

Nathan- Thanks It is about the most difficult spot you can find yourself in as a Manager- realizing the club you have spent a lot of time building isn't good enough to accomplish what you want from it...

***

1.1.13

The opening of the transfer window found a veritable exodus of players from our club. They were:

Martin Kolar (to Celtic for 4 Million +future clauses)

Sam Baldock (to Rangers for 2.5 Million +Imad Khalili)

Pedro Esterilla (to Rennes for 375K)

Ian McIntyre (to Barnsley for 22K)

Mardona (to Gretna for 85K)

Santiago Franco (to Kilmarnock for 45K)

Mark Staunton (to Northampton for 20K)

Arriving were:

Imad Khalili (from Rangers, part exchange for Baldock, 25 year old Swedish AMRL)

David Clarkson (from Rangers for 1.2 Million, 27 year old SC)

Khalili and Clarkson could both move into the starting lineup for us and Clarkson is certain to do so. He is an explosive forward who never really got a good chance- but could be a really good player.

***

2.1.13

In what may be a key addition in my attempt to makeover the club, we paid Aberdeen 1.4 Million for 18 year old D/MLC John Burns. Burns is a player I have been chasing for over a year now and could help us in either leftback (where we don't really need the help) or midfield- which is where he will get his playing time for the present.

[Faramir]

5.1.13

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

We had a chance to take revenge for the draw we suffered last match and thanks to wonderful performance from surprise starter at Keeper for us- Russell Omand- we accomplished a close win. The lone goal in the match came early on as Sergio Zijler deflected a Gregor Balazic corner past Karl Dryden. Dryden became a stone wall again after that goal and though we had 18 shots in the match, we could not score any further goals against him. Dundee managed some good chances in the second half, but found Omand playing his best match (and 1st Senior match in some 3 years) for us. Andrew McCarthy earned MOM honours for his polished backline play. Gary Simpson made a very good debut at rightback for us, which was an encouraging performance.

[Faramir]

8.1.13

In what turned into one our best deals ever, we sent Petr Korinek (who we originally paid 100K to Rangers for last season) to Celtic for Steven Hammell, Giancarlo Pepe and Jan Urbanek. Hammell was delighted to join us after wasting away on the Celtic Reserves and just as he is on the Scottish National side- the fleet 30 year old takes over as starting leftback (from Korinek). Pepe is 23 year old Italian AM/FC who had a brilliant first campaign with Celtic, but wound up not playing much after that. He also will immediately move into the starting lineup on the left side of center midfield. Urbanek is a 22 year old Czech AMRC who impressed me when he played against us, but hadn't earned much playing time at Celtic. With these 3 new players, added to John Burns, David Clarkson and Imad Khalili we have stretched our weekly wage budget up to 164K a week- just under the 170K the Board expanded it to after our transfer sales, but it has been worth it to add 6 quality players to our mix. This may take some time to get everyone fitting together, but so far the club improvement project is very satisfying to me.

***

12.1.13

East Stirling (0) Rangers (3)

Well, we obviously have work to do, but the scoreline doesn't accurately reflect that we showed well in the midfield during the match. They took the lead in the first half when we let Jamie Ferguson wend his way through 3 missed tackles before he beat Russell Omand with his shot. Omand, despite wandering ways, escaped the rest of the half and made several good saves to keep us in the match. What didn't happen from our side of the ball was that David Clarkson and James Graham were non-factors all match. We had the good midfield play, but no forwards free to get the ball too. When Davide Ferrante missed a tackle on Lasse Qvist and he buried his shot past Omand, it was clear we in trouble. Minutes later it was Salomon Kalou rifling a shot off the inside of the left upright to finish the scoring. We managed nothing resembling a comeback and it is clear we will have to endure some time for all the new players to gel.

[Faramir]

16.1.13

Another unhappy player found a new home today as we completed the transfer sale of Christofer Karlsson to Rotherham for 1.6 Million. With the players coming in, it was clear that Karlsson would be better off with another club and we would be better off with his salary elsewhere and some nice pocket change on the transfer.

***

19.1.13

East Stirling (2) Hearts (1)

We finally got a much needed win, but it looked like another disappointing draw until the dramatic match winner in second half injury time. Our first half was once again impressive as we moved the ball well. We took the lead when Keeper Peter Toth was forced to trip Marc McCusker in the area. Jan Urbanek converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal for us. We failed to add on that lead and indeed saw Kenneth Stenild make a pair of excellent saves to preserve the clean sheet. We began the second half the same way, but suffered another letdown in the backline as Nathan Weaver slammed home a rebound after Stenild made the initial save, while our backline stood around. We were saved from another draw thanks a McCusker nod-on off a throw-in that allowed Niels Ringoot to slip the match winner past Toth in second half injury time.

[Damien77]

Brilliant story so far...keen to see how u rebuild east stirling to challenge the old firm's teams of rangers and celtic...cheers man

[Faramir]

Damien77- Thanks much, glad you are enjoying the story

***

26.1.13

Morton (1) East Stirling (0)

Woeful Morton beat us in a disappointing effort- at least on our part. We didn't execute well at all offensively and made the one tragic defensive mistake that cost us the match when Gary Simpson didn't stick with marking Yannick Kitumba and he was quicker to a rebound and knocked it past Nicholas Sharro. The remaking of the club and all the distratcions of the transfer rumours swirling around us seem to have affected us. This just wasn't even close to the level of effort or play we have been showing.

***

27.1.13

Several moves for us as the transfer deadline approaches. Unhappy Paul Hopkins has moved back to England, as the MK Dons paid us 1.3 Million up front and possible additional future fees of 2 Million in appearance fees due us. We also spent small amounts to add 17 year old Scot AMC Paul Murray from Celtic (130K) and 21 year old Scot SWDC Paul MacDonald from the Rangers (1K). Both are part of future plans as I would love to get the club back to a more Scot-centric lineup.

[Faramir]

31.1.13

East Stirling (2) Livingston (0) League Cup Semifinal

After a taut first half at Hampden Park where neither side could score, we upped our play in the second half and thanks to a brilliant brace from James Graham it is on to face Celtic in the Finals. Livingston had a bit the better of play in the first half and Kenneth Stenild had to make several good saves to keep things scoreless. Ross Wilkinson was doing the same in their goal as he robbed Jan Urbanek. The second half saw us playing with more confidence and the introduction of Imad Khalili to replace Gonzalo Higuain really seemed to spur us. Khalili's beautiful pass found James Graham with space and he drilled a shot past Wilkinson inside the far right post at 64 minutes. Khalili and Graham repeated that effort at 73 minutes. East Stirling played stronger defense after the second goal as Stenild closed out the clean sheet.

[Faramir]

SCOTLAND

6.2.13

Scotland (5) Romania (0) Friendly

We were all over Romania with pressure on the ball from the opening whistle on and they didn't handle it well. Tim Burgess drilled a 20 yard shot past Bogdan Lobont in the opening moments and we were off on a flyer. David Clarkson fired a scorching low shot past Lobont to make it 2-0. Danny Howard then scored a brace to send us to halftime leading 4-0. We added one more early in the second half when Neil Woods scored in his debut as he converted a penalty kick. Woods also earned MOM honours for a terrific debut. David Marshall notched the clean sheet for us.

[Faramir]

9.2.13

East Stirling (5) Hearts (2) Scottish Cup 4th Round

In an impressive display, our Firs Park faithful got a full dose of what I hope Giancarlo Pepe can bring to us as he earned his MOM honours with two goals and two assists in our 5-2 destruction of Hearts. Everything clicked offensively in the match as I played a slight variation of our other lineup and was pleased with how well all the pieces fit together. Besides the two goals from Pepe, we also had a nice goal from Jan Urbanek, an excellent early goal from David Clarkson and the 1st ever goal from Steve Buchanan in the late stages of the match. When we had built a 4-0 lead we let down a bit defensively and Nathan Weaver scored a brace for the visitors on sloppy marking. Kenneth Stenild played superbly in the first half when we built the lead and was steady in the second, despite yielding the goals to Weaver. We now move on to host Rangers in the Scottish Cup Quarterfinals. The win cost us Preben Vatle Hammersland for 1-2 months with broken ribs and Steven Watson for 2 weeks to a month with a pulled hamstring.

[Faramir]

14.2.13

Galatasary (1) East Stirling (1) Euro Cup Knockout Round 1 Leg 1

My goal going into this match was to get an away goal and we managed to do that. Having said that it was terribly disappointing that we didn't win this match outright. We lost a goal in the first half when James Graham wandered offside on a play he had no business being offside on as Marc McCusker's fine goal was waved off. They took the halftime lead when Ciprian Andrei Marica was able to flick a header past Kenneth Stenild late in the first half. We had controlled much of the play, so were pretty disappointed to be trailing. We picked ourselves up and a long through ball from Anthony Hallam set up McCusker nicely for a chip goal past Ramazan Ozcan. We earned a penalty kick shortly after, but Steven Hammill blasted directly at Ozcan and he saved it before Sergio Zijler missed inches wide on the rebound. We missed closely several other times and will just have to play with the same kind of intensity in the second leg at Firs Park. Peter Merkestijn earned MOM honours for the match.

[Faramir]

17.2.13

East Stirling (3) Celtic (0)

Celtic won't make it through this season unbeaten was the first thought that crossed my mine when we added our 3rd goal of the match late in the second half. We played a terrific match, survived a penalty kick awarded to them, and generally earned this result with hard work and determination. We took the lead early in the first half on a well executed throw-in. Jan Urbanek sent a short cross that David Clarkson was able to dump inside the right post with a snapped header. It looked like Celtic was set to draw even when Davide Ferrante was called for a disputed push on Niklas Bendtner in the area, but Nicolas Sharro saved Marco Baroni's penalty kick and we managed to bundle the rebound away from the goal. It was strange to see their fullbacks- Martin Kolar and Petr Korinek- on the other side of the ball, but it didn't bother our midfield any as Urbanek and Giancarlo Pepe were playing ex-mates. I was incensed when Korinek tangled with Clarkson in their area and caused him to injure his ankle- but NO penalty was called- that was very galling after the disputed call on Ferrante. It was a taut second half and both sides were playing attacks up and down the pitch. With the second half winding down, we finally found a niche in Radek Kolenderski's armour. Kolenderski had denied us several good chances with difficult saves, but he couldn't save a well placed shot from James Graham as his shot snuck inside the far left post on a counter-attack. With Celtic still pushing men forward, Gregor Balazic capped our effort with an alert 25 yard shot into a more or less open goal as Kolenderski was caught straying by Balazic for his 5th goal of the season. Sharro closed out the clean sheet with one more good save on Craig Beattie to keep the final at 3-0 and end Celtic's unbeaten streak at 26 matches.

[Damien77]

I take it that Cetlic are still leaders in the SPL

[Faramir]

Damien- this is true

***

21.2.13

East Stirling (3) Galatasaray (0) Euro Cup 1st Knockout Round Leg 2- East Stirling advances on 4-1 aggregate

We built on our win over Celtic with an impressive effort as we broomed Galatasary from the Euro Cup on a surprising 4-1 aggregate thanks to our convincing 3-0 win at Firs Park. We took an imporant early step when MOM Martin Fribrock slipped a pass into James Graham. Graham whirled past Fatih Tiryaki and the slammed his shot past Ramazan Ozcan. The Turkish side tried to hit back immediately, but Kenneth Stenild was sharp and pushed a booming blast from Cirian Andrei Marica around the post. Stenild actually had a big part in our second goal as he picked out Niels Ringoot deep down the right side with a goal kick. Ringoot passed into Marc McCusker and McCusker overpowered Alp Mulla before driving a shot past Ozcan. We were content with the lead, but added one more second half goal when Ozcan saved a shot from Steve Lewis, but Santos fired the rebound past the off-balance Ozcan to cap the scoring in our 3-0 win. We will now face Italian side Sampdoria in the next round.

[Faramir]

24.2.13

Hibernian (4) East Stirling (3)

It was a terrific fightback by us, but we gave up a late goal and lost a thrilling match to Hibernian 4-3 at Easter Road. We started out on a flyer as Jamie Scott crossed and Steve Buchanan put it away to give us a lead in the first minute of play. We were let down by our center defenders as Andrew McCarthy and Jukka Santala were sub-par today and their poor play killed us. After taking the lead we gave up two goals in a three minute span as Derek Riordan and Herbert Schwab scored- both times because Santala and McCarthy failed to mark them and left Nicolas Sharro at their mercy from close-in. Schwab made it a brace when he again twisted Santala into the ground on the dribble and a 3-1 lead. We drew a goal back late in the half when Jan Urbanek whipped in a cross and Giancarlo Pepe flicked the header past Ole-Jorgen Abelsen. Urbanek and Pepe repeated that feat in the opening moments of the second half as we fought back to 3-3. We had a couple great chances to take the lead, but Abelsen made superb saves on Scott and Urbanek. The match winner came late in the half when Riordan cemented MOM honours as he left McCarthy looking foolish before firing a well placed shot inside the right post for the match winning goal.

[Faramir]

27.2.13

East Stirling (4) Rangers (3) Scottish Cup Quarterfinal

We turned what should have been a comfortable win into a nail-biter with our poor backline play in the second half. We had a glorious first half and James Graham got us on the scoreboard first when he flicked a header past Lars Rungo on a short cross from Imad Khalili. We went up 2-0 when MOM Marc McCusker drilled a shot past Rungo into the left corner of the net. McCusker's brace minutes later was also his 15th goal of the season and 50th goal for East Stirling as we were ahead 3-0 at halftime. Our problems began early in the second half as Davide Ferrante, who had an awful match, gave away the ball and Danny Segers drew a goal back. We pegged them back immediately as Gregor Balazic whipped a 25 yard shot past Rungo. The 'Gers weren't quitting though and Garry O'Conner wended his way past two missed tackles before scoring past Kenneth Stenild. It was mighty uncomfortable when Bjorn Jonas Ulvund deflected a corner past Stenild as the match moved to second half injury time, but we survived until the final whistle to move to Scottish Cup Semifinals against Dundee United.

[Faramir]

2.3.13

East Stirling (3) Motherwell (0)

The scoreline is decieving in our win over Motherwell, because we didn't play particularly well- other than a five minute span in the first half and right at the end of the match. Fortunately we made the most of our chances and converted them to goals as we beat them 3-0 at Firs Park. Motherwell controlled the midfield through most of the first half and it was against the flow of play when we took the lead as Jamie Scott scored his 1st goal of the season when he slammed home a rebound after Michael Langer had stopped both James Graham and Peter Merkestijn. Four minutes later it was 2-0 as MOM Anthony Hallam deflected a Martin Fribrock free kick past Langer. Motherwell took the flow of play back from us, but our backline- led by Hallam and Jukka Santala- was very sturdy today. We added the capper on the match when James Graham lofted a chip over Langer off a nice pass from Gonzalo Higuain. Nicholas Sharro celebrated signing a new contract extension today with a clean sheet.

[Faramir]

7.3.13

Sampdoria (0) East Stirling (2) Euro Cup Knockout Round 2 Leg 1

In a deserved effort we balanced strong defensive play in the first half with enough offense to put up two valuable away goals in the second half as we stunned the home side with our determined play in the 2-0 win. We had a few chances in the first half, but they had much more control of the play. Kenneth Stenild made several timely saves to keep us scoreless, including pushing a rising blast from Freddy Guarin over the crossbar. The second half started the same way as both sides were playing committed defense. We got a break when Zdenek Grygera was called for a handball in their area on a throw-in. MOM Gregor Balazic calmly converted the penalty kick and we had gotten the away goal I wanted. Our counter-attack paid off again late in the match when Steve Buchanan, on for a tired Marc McCusker, got free to drill a sharp angle shot past Gianluca Pegolo. Pegguy Luyindula came close to getting the home side on the board, but his 25 yard blast skimmed the top of the bar.

[Faramir]

10.3.13

Livingston (0) East Stirling (2)

It was a showdown match with the club immediately behind us in the standings and we played very well in defeating them 2-0 at Almondvale. Nicholas Sharro earned MOM honours- mainly because of his superb work in the first half as made several timely saves on Jan Machacek and Erton Fejzullahu as they gave our backline problems in the opening portions of the first half. We had trouble getting untracked offensively, but Steve Buchanan stepped up and made the difference in the win. Buchanan's well-timed header picked out Imad Khalili breaking in free from the left. Khalili fired a well placed shot inside the right post past Ross Wilkinson. We had to hold off a surging home side as they tried to rally and again leaned on Sharro to soak up the few shots we let them have. We missed a golden chance to go up two goals as Simon Salmon handballed in the area. Wilkinson saved Jan Urbanek's penalty kick to keep the home side close. Early in the second half Buchanan escaped marking in the area and slipped a shot inside the left post after getting a good pass from Jamie Scott. With the two goal lead we played conservatively and clamped down on Livingston as they desperately tried to get back into the match. We were happy to hear the final whistle still holding the 2-0 margin. Jamie Scott suffered a badly broken ankle which will keep him out until Summer- ending his injury plagued season for us.

[Faramir]

14.3.13

East Stirling (3) Sampdoria (0) Euro Cup Knockout Round 2 2nd Leg- East Stirling advances on 5-0 aggregate

Our Firs Park faithful were roaring with approval as we finished off an impressive 3-0 win over Sampdoria to move us on in the Euro Cup Quarterfinals. James Graham had a brilliant match and earned MOM honours for his hat-trick that carried us to the win. Even more impressive was that we survived a redcard to Niels Ringoot in the opening moments of the second half and 2 of Graham's goals came after we were down to 10-men. Kenneth Stenild deserved his clean sheet as he was brilliant in both halves and stopped several troubling shots. Our backline gave a great effort in support of Stenild and it was really a team effort in frustrating the Italian side after we went down a man. Both Ringoot and Danny Black will be suspended for our next Euro Cup match.

***

15.3.13

It was a huge loss for us when Niels Ringoot went out with a torn groin muscle. He will likely miss the rest of the season and with Sergio Zijler still out- it leaves us with problems in Euro Cup play on the right side. Ringoot had played extremely well against Sampdoria and was a big part of helping us move past them. We will face Stuttgart in the Quarterfinals and if we make it past them, will face the winner of Ajax-Celtic.

[Faramir]

17.3.13

Celtic (1) East Stirling (1) League Cup Final Celtic wins on Penalties

It was a grand effort, but they converted more penalty kicks in the end and added another League Cup title to their record, while we fell short in East Stirling's first ever try for the Cup. The first half saw plenty of good play on both sides of the ball, but scoring chances were hard to come by. Nicholas Sharro played superbly in goal for us and made several diving saves to keep Celtic at bay. Radek Kolenderski was doing just as well in the Celtic goal. Early in the second half we made a costly defensive mistake. Steven Hammill got caught flat footed as they attacked over him and the defensive rotation to challenge the ball allowed Craig Beattie to cross and Jefferson Farfan to head the ball inside the far left post. To our credit we pegged them back immediately when Jan Urbanek crossed into the area and Marc McCusker flicked a header inside the right post. The match was evenly played after that, but both sides limited the scoring chances. I was proud of our effort in the match. Gregor Balazic was selected for MOM honours.

[Faramir]

20.3.13

East Stirling (1) Dundee (0)

I was forced to field a patchwork lineup against struggling Dundee and we looked bad through much of the match. They should have had the lead in the first half when a backpass from Gary Simpson went directly to Juanma Pena with Kenneth Stenild out of position. Pena missed by a foot to the right of the goal, bringing a big sigh of relief from not only myself, but our Firs Park crowd. Pena also was frustrated when Stenild made a diving stop on another header as he slipped past Jukka Santala's marking. We started showing more life in the second half when Steve Lewis came on for a slightly injured Steven Watson. Lewis had a couple chances to break in free, but last moment tackles ruined the opportunities. Midway through the half, Lewis' header slipped just over the bar on a long cross. It appeared we were headed for a scoreless draw, but Lewis made a perfect flick header on a cross from Martin Fribrock for his 1st goal of the season. We had to survive one more great scoring chance by Pena and it was Stenild's fine parry of a blistering shot that preserved the close win. Peter Merkestijn earned MOM honours for his work up and down the pitch.

[Faramir]

SCOTLAND

23.3.13

Ireland (1) Scotland (2) World Cup Qualifier Group 8

In a match that appeared to be a disappointing loss after Steven Reid scored on a defensive mistake in the 86th minute, we suddenly turned it around and scored a stunning last moment 2-1 fightback win at Dublin. It had been a hard match as they controlled much more of the play. David Marshall played an excellent match in goal as he prevented them from taking the halftime lead with several timely saves. The second half wasn't much better as we just weren't able to get much offense going without injured Craig Beattie. Ireland struck for the lead when Stephen Kelly showed good vision and lofted a long pass down the center of the pitch off our corner kick. Marc Wilson failed to get over quickly enough and Steven Reid blasted a 25 yard shot past Marshall. Kelly quickly turned from hero for Ireland as he pushed Tim Burgess in the area while trying to win a header and handed us a penalty kick. Neil Woods calmly converted the penalty kick and we were back even at 89 minutes. The East Stirling connection paid off when Steven Hammill picked out James Graham with a pass. Graham, on for injured Danny Howard, then picked the perfect moment to slide a pass across and Marc McCusker flipped a dramatic match winner into the open goal. The win helped Scotland remain even with Italy atop Group 8 as both have 10 points after 4 matches.

[Faramir]

28.3.13

Stuttgart (3) East Stirling (1) Euro Cup Quarterfinals Leg 1

In what I can only classify as a disastrous second half, we handed the keys to moving on to the Semifinals to Stuttgart thanks to our costly defensive mistakes. We had really played well in the first half and the only reason we didn't have a goal on the scoreboard was because of brilliant work by their Keeper Libis Andres Arenas. Kenneth Stenild had been solid in our goal as well as it remained scoreless at halftime. The second half belonged to the home side as our backline blundered badly, beginning with allowing Mario Gomez to slip between Anthony Hallam and Davide Ferrante to flick a header off the inside of the right upright for a goal. Ferrante then handed them their second goal as he tried to dribble out of trouble against two of their players in our area. Gomez skinned him and scored past Stenild. Gary Simpson handed them the third goal as he passed directly to Thomas Hitzlsperger and the German lofted a 30 yard shot over Stenild to cement his MOM selection. I would count us completely out of the competition, but they handed us a gift in injury time when Robert Huth deflected a Peter Merkestijn cross past Arenas for an own-goal. We will have to play much better to have any chance of moving to the Semifinals.

***

31.3.13

The Board's reward for my years of working with the club to get it to the status it has was clearly apparent in the new contract they offered me. I received a raise from 725/week to 11,250/week as they wanted to keep me at the helm.

[BenArsenal]

That's a MASSIVE payrise! A 93% increase!

[Faramir]

Ben- Aye, I could use that in RL

***

31.3.13

Dundee United (1) East Stirling (1) Scottish Cup Semifinal

We were forced into a replay to gain the Finals due to a moment's loss of concentration by Anthony Hallam. We had scored in the first half when Jan Urbanek slid a pass across and MOM Imad Khalili slipped his shot inside a diving Mark Brown at the left post. We maintained control throughout much of the match, but handed them the equalizer- literally- when Hallam was called for a handball in the area midway through the second half. Marc Wilson converted the penalty kick- really their only good scoring chance all match- and we are left with another match cluttering our already overcrowded schedule, when we should have been through to the Finals.

***

1.4.13

It was a surprise to find out that Gary Simpson had earned March Young Player of the Month honours. Gary has given us steady play at rightback most of the season and it was nice to see him rewarded for it.

[Faramir]

2.4.13

East Stirling (2) ICT (0)

We used a goal in each half by Steve Buchanan as the scoring needed to get by last place ICT. Steve Lewis setup Buchanan nicely with a pass that was slightly deflected, and that all the opportunity Buchanan needed to pounce on the ball as he whirled and fired it past Niki Maenpaa. We controlled most of the play in the first half, but were able to score only once. The second half started out the same as the first and we remained only ahead 1-0. We got the goal we needed to feel more comfortable as Frederic Martins (just back from injury) sent a wonderful through ball and Buchanan made it a brace. Both sides finished the match out quietly as we continued to hold the scoreline at 2-0 and Nicholas Sharro kept the clean sheet.

[Faramir]

4.4.13

East Stirling (2) Stuttgart (2) Euro Cup Quarterfinals 2nd Leg- Stuttgart advances on 5-3 aggregate

Our European venture came to an end at Firs Park. The end actually really happened as soon as Thomas Hitzlsperger drilled in a 25 yard free kick past Kenneth Stenild to give them a 2-1 halftime lead and the advantage on 2 away goals. They scored first when Marc Werner blasted home a shot from in front after Anthony Hallam coughed the ball up to him while trying to clear it after a rebound. We answered that goal as James Graham slid a pass through and Marc McCusker showed good touch in chipping it past Timo Hildebrand. McCusker made it a brace early in the second half when he deflected a cross past Hildebrand, but that was all we could manage as Stuttgart moves on to the Semifinals.

[Damien77]

tough luck on cl though...

[Faramir]

Damien- thanks, but we just didn't play well enough to advance further...

***

6.4.13

Dunfermline (1) East Stirling (0)

With much of the club's regulars resting up for the replay of the Scottish Cup Semifinal with Dundee United we started a patchwork lineup on our trip to Dunfermline. We ran into problems right away when Jamie Ford let Christopher Fernandez walk right around him. Nicholas Sharro saved Fernandez's blast, but Italo Mattioli was on hand to drive the rebound past Sharro for what would be the only goal in the match. Gaetano Romano played well in earning his clean sheet as he stopped both Brian Anderson and Steven Watson from close range in the second half. It was a disppointing loss, but our 3rd place position in the BSP table is pretty much locked up at this point of the season.

[Faramir]

10.4.13

East Stirling (2) Dundee United (2) Scottish Cup Semifinal Replay- East Stirling advances on penalties

We were fortunate. That sums up my view of this lengthy match that was filled with many twists and turns. We grabbed the lead in the first half when Imad Khalili made a fine pass to David Clarkson and he blasted it past Mark Brown. The first half featured mostly our control of possession, but Brown made a couple dazzling saves to keep Dundee U close. On our side, I was worried, as Kenneth Stenild had picked up an injury early on- but wanted to stay in and I let him because I didn't want to use a sub. The second half saw us continuing to frustrate Dundee U as we kept the lead and were making timely counter-attacks. We paid dearly for our poor shooting, as those misses finally came back to haunt us when Sascha Laabs scored a dramatic equalizer at 87 minutes when he deflected a cross from Lorenzo Lai past Stenild. With the match moving to Extra-time, I felt I had to get Stenild out of the match and brought on Nicholas Sharro. The swap didn't pay dividends in the opening moments of Extra-time, but it was the fault of Davide Ferrante and not Sharro that Laabs made it a brace when he volleyed past Sharro on a cross from Ahmed Ghanem Soltan. We still had some fight left in us and Marc McCusker's well-timed pass allowed James Graham to bring us back even in the opening moments of the second half of Extra-time. The match went to penalties and the haunting spectar of our loss to Celtic in the League Cup Final was clear in my mind. This time turned out different though as we went 7 deep into penalties and Sharro's diving parry on Laabs' kick won us through to the Finals to face Airdrie.

[Faramir]

13.4.13

Rangers (2) East Stirling (1)

We faced Rangers at Ibrox with another patchwork lineup due to fitness problems from the Scottish Cup Semifinal Replay, but I can't lay the blame for the loss with the changes. We failed to play well enough on our backline and in goal to win this match. Zdenek Hruby gave them the lead at the 16 minute mark as he escaped the marking of Peter Merkestijn to drive into the area and power a header past Nicholas Sharro on a cross from Res Strebel. They went ahead 2-0 at 36 minutes as Soloman Kalou slipped a pass across to unmarked Garry O'Conner and he slammed his shot into the open goal. Lars Rungo was our bane today- he made at least a half-dozen brilliant saves on good scoring chances for us. Marc McCusker was the most affected and was left shaking his head three different times in the match. We kept battling in the second half and received a glimmer of hope when Andreas Dahl drilled a 30 yard free kick past Rungo, but they clamped down and never allowed us another scoring chance in closing us out 2-1. We will close out our last match before Playoff Group by facing Dundee United again- with them needing to beat us to secure a place in the Playoff Group- it is likely to be a war.