Scottish Reprise- Return to East Stirling

[Faramir]

25.3.06

East Stirling (4) Cowdenbeath (0)

We caught Cowdenbeath in a downward spiral, as they had lost their last five matches. I emphasized that we needed to get on them early and not let up, and the boys executed the gameplan to perfection. A brilliant pass from Mark Batty picked out a moving James Flood and he fired it inside the near right post past Alex Hards to give us the lead in the 3rd minute of play. The frustration seemed to quickly come out of the visitors and Robin Taylor earned an immediate redcard at 21 minutes for hacking down Steve McDonald in the area. We failed to capitalize as Danny Black missed another penalty (and I won't be allowing him to take any more in the near future). Black made up for it when he scored his 1st goal here shortly after. Black was trying to cross to McDonald on the far post on a free kick, but the ball instead hooked into the net. We stretched the 10 man Cowdenbeath side and they were in trouble with how well we were playing on the ball. Mark Ramsay, getting his 1st Senior start at rightback due to injuries, proved he has some talent when he threaded a pass through two defenders to Flood and James whipped it past Hards to send us to the dressing room up 3-0. Flood then capped our scoring by completing his hat-trick early in the second half when he deflected a cross from Kevin Howe past the despondant Hards. Cowdenbeath had no spirit left and went quietly as we finished out the clean sheet for Steven van der Deyl.

[Faramir]

31.3.06

I was pleased when the Board offered me a new three year contract. Chairman Alan Mackin was pleased that I had been able to stay well within the wage budget and mentioned that this was helping a lot with the club finances. I accepted the contract. A tougher choice for me is my Assistant- Gordon Wylde. He and I haven't seen eye-to-eye on several training issues and though it is a difficult choice, I plan on letting his contract run out and will pursue a new Assistant during the summer.

***

1.4.06

Our players are drawing a lot of interest from clubs in higher divisions. We now have scouts regularly following our club and the rumours are swirling. The players drawing the most interest are Graham McWilliam, Kevin Howe, Kenny McLean and Steve McDonald. In a related note a recent story tipped James Flood for Division 3 Player of the Year. Flood certainly has earned that recognition and if he captures the award is bound to get a lot of interest also.

[Faramir]

1.4.06

Albion Rovers (3) East Stirling (4)

I could do without these heart-stopping finishes. A match that we seemed to have fully in hand turned into a wild free-for-all in the second half, but we managed to escape with a 4-3 road win thanks James Flood's coming through again. We dominated the first half of the match, but it was mostly possession and not chances. We held the lead going to the dressing room thanks to Danny Black stepping up into the play on corner and he slotted the ball into the far left side of the net past Nick Baxter to give us the early lead. The hard tackling tandem of central midfielders John Adam and Mick O'Brien really seemed to be keeping the home side under wraps. Adam added to our lead when he boomed home a 25 yard free kick early in the second half. Though I was wary of a fightback, I wasn't prepared for all hell breaking loose. They got on the board when Martin Doherty deflected a cross from Steven Donnachie past Steven van der Deyl. Midway through the half, they equalized when Tom Lennox lofted a pass over our backline and George Wallace raced in and skipped a shot past van der Deyl. Needing a win, I brought on Ross O'Donoghue and Derek Ure to replace Adam and Steve McDonald. The move looked great when O'Donoghue scored a minute after entering as he flicked a header past Baxter. Just as quickly we gave that goal back when van der Deyl made a great save on Wallace, only to find Justin Harrington left unmarked at the far post and he pushed in the rebound for his 10th goal of the season. James Flood saved us when, though pretty tired, he made a great move past Carlos Brown and fired a shot inside the left post at 87 minutes for his 20th goal of the season. We hung on for dear life and finally were able to breathe again when the final whistle sounded on our 4-3 win at Cliftonhill. The win clinched us at least a playoff group spot and sets up our showdown match with 2nd place Arbroath next week.

Scottish Division 3- 32 matches played, 4 remaining

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

1- East Stirling 62 pts (+21)

2- Arbroath 59 pts (+16)

3- Stenhousemuir 51 pts (+5)

4- Queens Park 50 pts (+12)

5- Cowdenbeath 45 pts (-2)

</pre>

[Spav]

I make that 10 games unbeaten - no wonder you have moved to the top of the table. Good luck with the run-in, Faramir.

[Faramir]

Thanks Spav

***

2.4.06

I was pleased to sign just-turned 17 Stephen Hindmarch to new contract. I had hesitated featuring him too much before we had the new contract in place, but now he will start to see more action and playing time.

***

8.4.06

Arbroath (2) East Stirling (4)

After the mind games that Arbroath Manager John McGlashan tried to get us into during the week, it was almost a relief to get to the match. That feeling turned to horror though when Mathu King flicked a header past Steven van der Deyl to give them the lead in the 3rd minute. To their credit, the boys didn't panic and we got back to even when Terry Howard bowled over John Adam in the area. Steve McDonald converted the penalty kick and it was back to 1-1. We grabbed the lead when Mick O'Brien pulled off a beautiful through ball to James Flood and his well placed shot snuck past Gareth Bough. O'Brien and Flood turned the same combination into a 3-1 halftime lead when Flood scored his 2nd of the match in first half injury time. O'Brien proved he was opportunistic when he struck a 30 yard shot past Bough when Bough had punched away a shot from Flood. Arbroath had no quit in them and started a furious rally effort. van der Deyl had to be very sharp to tip King's header over the bar and then he stopped Anton Smith cold from close-in. They received a glimmer of hope when Alan Brazil scored on a nice shot after subbing on. We reverted to a more defensive outlook and withstand their rally efforts to close out a critical 4-2 win. The win leaves us 6 points up on them with 3 matches remaining and all our remaining matches are at Firs Park.

[Faramir]

12.4.06

I rewarded James Flood with a new contract. This will make him our highest paid player at 200/week through 2010. Flood has earned that contract, without him we wouldn't be anywhere close to the top spot.

***

13.4.06

Good news today as Dave McEwen is finally ready for Senior-side play again after missing a lengthy period due to injury. We face derby rival Stenhousemuir in our next match and they are still smarting from the 4-1 loss we handed them in front of their faithful. If we can win one of our three remaining home matches, we should have Arbroath in trouble- because of our goal differential advantage.

[Faramir]

15.4.06

East Stirling (3) Stenhousemuir (0)

What could be sweeter? Not only did we decisively defeat our derby rivals Stenhousemuir, but in doing so we have in all likelihood clinched the 3rd Division title. With two matches remaining we hold 6 points over 2nd place Arbroath and we also had a substantial 11 goal differntial lead. James Flood was again the catalyst for the win, but the real workhorses in our domination of Stenhousemuir was our backline. Carl Laurie and Mark Gourlay stood out in their fullback roles as they completely bottled up Stenhousemuir's passing attack. Danny Black and Graham McWilliam policed up anything the fullbacks let get by them. We took the lead midway through the first half when Flood's strong deflection of a sizzling cross from Kenny McLean sailed past Willie McCulloch. Kevin Howe then took a turn from his side with another driving cross and Flood again flicked a header past McCulloch for his 2nd goal of the match as we went to the dressing room ahead 2-0. I admonished the boys not to let them up, and they responded well as we never yielded them a good scoring chance all match. We could easily have been up 5-0 after hitting the post and crossbar and seeing McCulloch push Steve McDonald's shot around the post. Flood finished off his hat-trick with his 25th goal of the season as he was in the right place in the six-yard box to knock the ball into the net after it slipped out of McCulloch's hands as he tried to snare a cross late in the second half. It was a great win and we are on the verge now, just one more decent result will gain us automatic promotion.

[GM_Monkey]

Excellent stuff Faramir!!!

[Faramir]

Thank you GM Monkey

***

22.4.06

East Stirling (1) Queens Park (1)

The celebration is on as our draw against Queens Park will mean we are crowned Champions of 3rd Division! In reality, we should have won this match and had plenty of chances to do so- but just didn't execute as well as we had in our past several matches. We missed another penalty, when my players didn't see me waving frantically to let James Flood take it- instead Graham McWilliam hit it straight at Nathan Freeman. Queens Park grabbed the lead against the flow of play at 30 minutes when Mark Williams slipped his marking long enough to drive a low shot past Steven van der Deyl. We didn't panic and hit back immediately as Flood used superb vision and strength to hang onto the ball in the area until he could slot it to unmarked Steve McDonald for an open-netter. It was McDonald's 15th of the season. We controlled the tempo of play for much of the second half, but they hit the crossbar once in a close call in the late stages. Freeman made a sensational stop on Flood to deny him the match winner in second half injury time. The match was very chippy and 8 yellow cards were handed out.

[Faramir]

23.4.06

The Board went all out to hold a celebration at Firs Park for our capturing the 3rd Division title. It was especially momentous to do so in the 125th season of the club- adding to a remarkable legacy. The press discussed how I felt about moving up to Division 2 next season and my comments were I looked for us to carry our style of play and hard work into that level. In another question and answer from a different paper- I told them that I thought our players could handle the step up in competition. The reality is, though I do believe that, I have little choice in making changes- we are 64K in the black for the season, but still have no transfer fund and I don't anticipate a lot of additions.

[Faramir]

29.4.06

East Stirling (1) Elgin (3)

With the title in hand, I chose to give our 2nd & 3rd line players a chance today and they didn't impress the home crowd very much as we lost to Elgin 3-1. Following a scoreless first half, mostly thanks to Aaron Gillespie on our part, they scored the first goal early in the second half as our backline fell apart in coverage. They added two more goals in a two minute span later in the half to cement the win. Our only marker was a consolation goal by Derek Ure- his 5th of the season. With the season done, I told the boys to take a month off while the rest of the staff considered what changes might be needed for next season.

***

29.4.06

Our reward for capturing the 3rd Division title was 85K. This gives us a solid 150K in the black for the season, an accomplishment that I am proud of- given our performance.

[Faramir]

2006 East Stirling Player Evaluations

Steven van der Deyl

Steven was a key part of our success this season as his steady play in net was the cornerstone around which our defense was constructed. We will need to find at least one more new keeper to work in tandem with Steven as Aaron Gillespie and Derek Jackson both will be leaving when their contracts expire in June.

31(2) apps 7.18 avr 35 conceded 14 clean sheets 3 MOM

Paul O'Brien

The addition of the veteran fullback was a key addition as he helped solidify the backline. Provided dynamic play down the right side and was rarely beaten on opposition runs.

29 apps 7.07 avr 1 MOM

Carl Laurie

Carl was solid, but he could have played better this season. Still, he gave us adequate play down both the left and right side out of the fullback slots. His versatility was an asset in allowing me to mix and match on gameday to meet specific situations.

27(2) apps 6.83 avr 1 asst

Danny Black

Danny was a great addition to our lineup and was our 2nd best player behind James Flood. Black anchored the backline and rarely seemed out of place- especially in key situations.

28 apps 7.64 avr 2 gls 4 assts 4 MOM

Graham McWilliam

Graham helped anchor our central defense- almost always paired with Danny Black. Graham still has some developing to do, but he certainly showed flashes of talent lately.

17 apps 7.29 avr 1 gl 1 asst

Chris Robertson

Chris offered us some solid play in the middle, but Graham seemed a bit steadier option and took more of the playing time towards the end of the season. Chris is still solid cover.

22 apps 6.77 avr

Mark Gourlay

Initially I wasn't sold on Mark as cover for Carl Laurie at leftback, but I had changed my mind by the end of the season as Mark's solid play had really benefitted the club.

18 apps 7.22 avr 5 assts

Paul Moss

I had intially thought Paul would be playing a lot for us, but injuries limited his availability through much of the season. With Black, McWilliam and Robertson playing so well in rotation, Paul saw only limited duty when healthy toward the end of the season.

8 apps 6.88 avr

Mark Ramsay

Signed out of our youth development program, Mark provided surprisingly solid play at either fullback spot in limited usage.

4 apps 7.00 avr 1 asst

Johnny Walker

Johnny got playing time early in the season, but virtually none at the end. His contract expires and he won't be here next season.

6(9) apps 6.53 avr

Mark Batty

Mark was a key component of our success with his steady, sometimes flashy play in the central midfield.

29(2) apps 7.26 avr 1 gl 4 assts 1 MOM

Mick O'Brien

Mick's tough defensive play in the midfield was an asset in our most difficult matches. I look for him to occupy that same role next season, though he will have to share time with John Adam.

23(8) apps 7.29 avr 2 gls 4 assts

Kenny McLean

Kenny and Kevin Howe provided us very good bookend wingers for our attack. When either of them were out- our offense didn't function as well. McLean's pace terrified many opposing fullbacks.

30 apps 7.30 avr 1 gl 10 assts 1 MOM

Kevin Howe

Kevin seemed a bit fragile at times, but he really impressed with his dynamic play down the leftwing.

21(2) apps 7.13 avr 6 assts 2 MOM

Stuart McGrady

Stuart was the main cover on either wing for McLean and Howe and acquitted himself nicely when getting a chance to play. His play isn't quite up to their level though.

17(10) apps 6.93 avr 2 gls 3 assts

John Adam

Very tough, very rugged midfielder who was willing to work as a gameday sub for much of the season to help us win. He has an excellent talent level and will likely see more starting time next season.

7(8) apps 7.07 avr 3 gls 1 asst

Ross O'Donoghue

Ross started out the season playing very well, but tapered off midway through the season and that limited his playing time down the stretch. Needs to work on getting a bit stronger for next season.

17(3) apps 6.90 avr 1 gl 2 assts

Dave McEwen

I had high hopes for Dave as one of our impact players, but injuries kept him out much of the season and he really wasn't back to full caliber play by the end of the season.

5(4) apps 6.67 avr 1 gl 1 asst

Philip Creaney

Philip was largely a disappointment after arriving. He seems to have trouble fitting into our style of play and he may wind up on the transfer list this summer.

2(8) apps 6.60 avr 1 asst

Stephen Hindmarch

Young Stephen didn't get many opportunities to play after arriving, but he continues to look like a real 'find' for the club.

1(1) apps 7.00 avr

James Flood

Our Most Valuable Player and also Scottish 3rd Division Player of the Season. James is a dangerous scorer up front and is able to find the seams.

30 apps 7.97 avr 25 gls 7 assts 10 MOM

Steve McDonald

Steve turned out to be a good strike partner for Flood and they remained in that role all season. Flood has more talent and a deft scoring touch, but McDonald did well also.

29 apps 7.38 avr 15 gls 6 assts 1 MOM

Iain Diack

Originally, I believed that Iain was a bit worthless. Fortunately, he proved me wrong as the main cover for Flood. He didn't play well on left side when paired with Flood, so that limits him to playing on the right when Flood needs a breather.

Derek Ure

Derek's pace got him more chances to play than I had originally intended and he showed pretty well in his limited exposure.

8(4) apps 7.00 avr 5 gls 2 assts

Lee Wilson

Lee came on board to provide cover for Steve McDonald and he did his job well this season in limited play.

4 apps 6.75 avr 2 gls

Others that will likely figure into next year's equation:

Gordon Rae

Simon Jahn

[Faramir]

1.5.06

It was great news to hear that we had six of our players named to the Division 3 Players Team of the Year- five of them as starters. Named to the starting side were Steven van der Deyl, Danny Black, Kenny McLean, Mick O'Brien and James Flood. Named as a reserve was Steve McDonald. James Flood was also finally announced as Division 3 Player of the Year- but everyone had known that was coming as it was a poorly kept secret.

It was humbling to hear my name announced as Manager of the Year. Who could have wished for a more Cinderella-like season? I am afraid my acceptance speech was short and to the point as I thanked the players and said I was looking forward to next season.

***

14.5.06

Arbroath defeated Stenhousemuir 4-2 to gain promotion and a quick return to Division 2 play. It will be interesting to be battling them again next season.

[Faramir]

28.5.06

It was great to have the Board give me the news that due to our staying in budget last season and the 90K we received for winning Division 3 we would have a transfer fund of 14K. Even that small amount gives me a bit more flexibility to try for players that we might not have been able to.

***

In a surprise, our rival Stenhousemuir was the survivor in the Playoff for promotion as they upset Arbroath. It will be interesting to be battling them again in Division 2 play next season.

***

4.6.06

The opening of the transfer window brought us a pair of free transfer signings. 19 year old DR Stuart Noble joins us from the Albion Rovers and will immediately start working with veteran Paul O'Brien to learn the niceties of rightback. 22 year old D/WB/ML Darran Thomson arrives from Alloa and gives us leftwing depth that we needed.

[Faramir]

6.6.06

We absolutely needed another Keeper in camp, so I finally bid on Mark Peat. Arbroath accepted the free transfer bid and we quickly agreed on a contract so he will join us in training tomorrow.

***

17.6.06

As the World Cup moves on the Football World has been pretty quiet. We were able to land a #3 Keeper on free transfer when we agreed to terms with Russell Omand. He is a 16 year old that had played quite a bit as starting keeper for Keith last season. Though Gordon Wylde disagrees (one reason he will soon be ex-Assistant Manager here), I am glad we were able to find a decent youngster to slot in behind van der Deyl and Peat.

***

20.6.06

It was no surprise to see our fans appreciated James Flood as much as the press did, as they voted him as the Fans Player of the Year for last season. The Board told me they have very modest expectations for this year and would love it if we could avoid relegation. I didn't want to make promises to them, but I really do want to accomplish more than just that this season.

[Faramir]

1.7.06

Today was the exodus, as many of the original club were released after their contracts ran out yesterday. This included Ally Graham, Derek Jackson and Aaron Gillespie. Besides those three notables, 12 others were released. Also leaving today was Assisant Manager Gordon Wylde. I hope to have his replacement under contract in a day or two.

***

2.7.06

39 year old Brendan O'Connell joined our staff as the new Assistant Manager. O'Connell is much more in tune with what we are trying to establish at East Stirling and should be someone I will enjoy working with.

***

3.7.06

We signed what I think will be two key additions for us after both were released. 20 year old Adrian Nevins is a very polished DC who was released from the Manchester United side a week ago. Adding depth to our midfield is 25 year old Hugh Davidson. Alloa had recently released Davidson and I was quick to sign him as a reserve and likely gameday sub.

[Faramir]

9.7.06

Holland rolled over Germany 3-0 to win the World Cup.

***

10.7.06

We lost our first friendly by a 2-1 score in a trip to face Dunfermline. They outplayed us by a large margin and should have won by more, but for the fine work of Steven van der Deyl in net.

***

14.7.06

There was a lot more determination showing as we visited Dumfries Park and dumped Queen of the South 3-1. Steve McDonald had a brace of goals to give us the 2-0 halftime lead. Iain Diack came on to score on a nice deflection in the second half. They scored a late consolation goal, but it was a nice win- even though it meant nothing.

***

18.7.06

Clyde defeated us in a friendly at Firs Park. It was a closely played 1-0 win for the visitors.

***

19.7.06

It was comings and goings today as we sold two players and added two players to our roster. Leaving us will be Dave McEwen and Philip Creaney. McEwen, whose injury woes kept him from locking down a regular role, was sold to Dumbarton for 2K. Creaney was sold to Montrose for 1K. Coming to us are Lee Sichi and Kevin Gaughan. Sichi comes to us from Albion Rovers for 1K (hmm, we seem to have purchased a lot of players from them- but it is because of their superior fitness). Sichi impressed me when he played against us last season and I purchased him because of his overall solid play and his ability to cover any of our midfield positions. Gaughan was released by Hearts during the summer and it was a pleasure to sign the 28 year old to help out our central defense.

[Faramir]

21.7.06

We lost our last friendly to Livingston, as they gave us a good dose of superior pace and ball movement in winning 2-1 at Firs Park. It wasn't a terrible performance on our part- we had equalized in the second half when Derek Ure deflected a pass- but it certainly wasn't good enough to beat a superior club and Livingston deserved the win.

***

24.7.06

Although 18 year old Keiran Lee doesn't really fit into our attacking style, it was impossible for me to turn down a chance to add a talented midfielder to our club. Lee is better suited for a more attacking style than we play, but the ex-ManU youth player still should do Ok as a winger in our formation. Since he was willing to come to us after being released from the Manchester United youth program- we signed him.

[Faramir]

29.7.06

Dumbarton (1) East Stirling (2) Challenge Cup 1st Round

A solid effort, keyed by successful debuts from Lee Sichi and Mark Peat, led to us winning a close 2-1 match over Dumbarton. The first half featured flowing attacks from both sides, but our shooting was still in pre-season form as both clubs had difficulty putting their shots on goal. Martin Fearon's diving parry of Lee Wilson's header was the closest either side came to scoring by the half midpoint. We took the lead when Wilson ran down a ball in the left corner and then sent a smart cross that picked out unmarked Sichi in the area. Sichi wasted little time snapping a shot past Fearon to give us the lead. They answered immediately as Andy Love crossed into the middle and Iain Russell deflected it past Peat. The match-winner came late in the second half. Steve Noble, who also had a good debut, slipped a pass down the right sideline. Stephen Hindmarch, who had come on for tiring Iain Diack, made a move past one defender and then sent a slightly curling shot across the goal that hooked into the net off the left post. Adrian Nevins earned MOM honours in his debut and he anchored a strong effort from our backline. We finished them off with much better defensive effort and will move on to the 2nd Round.

***

31.7.06

TotalBet Division 2 Odds

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

Raith 4-5

Partick 4-5

Morton Evens

Stranraer 6-4

Peterhead 12-1

Alloa 20-1

East Stirling 50-1

</pre>

[Faramir]

4.8.06

An offer too good to refuse? As we readied ourselves to begin Division 2 play, I received an offer from fellow Division 2 club Alloa. They wanted Mark Batty badly, enough so that they offered us 40K with a 50% sell-on clause. For our club, this is a pretty enticing offer- we can really use the money. Is it worth selling the player who might be our best midfielder? Tough one on that decision. In the end, I felt that we had to accept the offer, because it is much above what Batty is rated at and I think we can replace him with a combination of Ross O'Donoghue-John Adam- future purchase and the money gained will leave us in a much better position. Football is a business when you come down to the bottom line and I felt this was a good business decision to accept their offer.

***

4.8.06

The other reason to accept the offer on Mark Batty was that I was finalizing the purchase of 17 year old MC Edward O'Neil from the Albion Rovers. Though Brendan O'Connell didn't feel he was worth purchasing, I am impressed at how well balanced this youngster is and if he contiunes to develop we may have a very solid central midfielder patrolling Firs Park.

[Faramir]

5.8.06

Stenhousemuir (1) East Stirling (1)

We opened up our Division 2 play with a Derby match against fellow promotees Stenhousemuir. Despite outplaying them, we had to settle for a 1-1 draw that saw us fight back to even the match late in the second half. We controlled goodly portions of the first half, but had little to show for it as Steve McDonald passed up shots on what appeared to be two golden chances. We handed them a goal when Steven van der Deyl bumbled a backpass from Steve Noble and Philip McCambley was right there to put it into the net midway through the first half. We spent the second half generating good chances, but David Orr stopped James Flood twice and another shot trickled just wide of the post. We equalized when van der Deyl made a terrific curving goal kick to pick out Lee Sichi racing down the left side. Michael Renwick was forced to trip Sichi from behind inside the area and earned himself a redcard and gave us a penalty kick. McDonald easily converted the kick past Orr to make it 1-1. We had one more excellent chance in injury time, but Orr stopped Sichi to preserve the point for the home side.

[Faramir]

6.8.06

The deal for Batty was finalized and the 40K that we received was welcome, though replacing Mark will be difficult. I also added ML Andrew Reilly from Dundee for 1K. Despite already having Howe and Keiran Lee there- I felt Reilly could really help us. Lee may actually move into central midfield.

***

8.8.06

Another nice addition, that we really didn't need, was 19 year old DRC Daniel Simpson. It was impossible to turn down the chance to add a fullback of Simpson's caliber. Simpson was released from the Manchester United youth program this summer.

[Faramir]

8.8.06

East Stirling (3) Stranraer (1) League Cup 1st Round

It may have looked comfortable on the final scoreline, but this match was anything but that. Steven van der Deyl played superbly- his best match for us so far- and that was the reason that we were finally able to take home a late win over Stranraer. The first half featured terrific work from both van der Deyl and Alex Hards as the clean sheet didn't really reflect the fact that both sides were attacking effectively. We finally took the lead at 61 minutes when Iain Diack was in the right place to direct a pass into the net after a poor clearing kick by Hards gave us our chance. We immediately gave the goal back as Leigh Hinds scored a highlight reel goal by dancing past two defenders and outracing Graham McWilliam before slipping a shot past van der Deyl. I had brought on Derek Ure for a tiring Diack and it worked out beautifully as he used his pace to split the defense and put us back into the lead midway through the half. Ure then put the icing on the cake as he knocked in a loose ball in a scramble in injury time to finish off the 3-1 win.

[Faramir]

12.8.06

East Stirling (3) Peterhead (0)

The doubters of Andrew Reilly were many, as our fans wondered about him upsetting the club with some of his antics, but a few of those fears were put to rest when Reilly earned MOM honours in his debut as he helped us to a convincing 3-0 win over Peterhead. A good centering pass from Reilly gave Ross O'Donoghue the time he needed to blister a shot past Luke Douglas to give us the lead midway through the first half. As we neared halftime, it was O'Donoghue's nice chip pass that set up Steve McDonald to fire a shot inside the far right post and send us to the dressing room up 2-0. Daniel Simpson didn't fare as well in his first time out and earned his 2nd yellow card at 57 minutes. Despite being a man down, we still were counterattacking effectively and a nice cross from Reilly gave Lee Sichi (on for a tiring Kenny McLean) enough room to slip a shot in for his 1st goal. Steven van der Deyl had to be sharp to earn his clean sheet and he was with a pair of sensational saves in the late going to keep the visitors' dream of a comeback just that- a dream.

[Faramir]

19.8.06

Forfar (0) East Stirling (2)

We passed our first true test in Division 2 play with flying colours as we made a successful trip to Station Park and defeated Forfar convincingly. The scoreline will only show the 2-0 final, but we dominated the match for the most part. James Flood was finally able to score his 1st goal of the season when he ripped a low shot past Michael Brown after Lee Sichi deftly laid the ball off for him in space on the right. Just before halftime, Ross O'Donoghue scored a goal certain to make the end of the year highlight reel. A quick header from Adrian Nevins found O'Donoghue just inside midfield. O'Donoghue blazed into open space down the middle and fired a crackling 25 yard blast by a stunned Brown to give us a 2-0 lead going to the dressing room. Though we weren't able to add to the margin in the second half, we did a nice job of keeping the home side under wraps as Steven van der Deyl earned another clean sheet.

[Faramir]

22.8.06

Inverness CT (1) East Stirling (0) League Cup 2nd Round

It was a credible effort on our part and we made SPL side Inverness sweat a bit in front of their home faithful, but in the end we made one defensive mistake and it cost us the match. Certainly Inverness deserved to be carrying a lead into the dressing room at halftime, but the match was still scoreless at that juncture thanks to exceptional work from Mark Peat in net for us. Especially in the first 10 minutes, Peat dazzled the crowd with fingertip saves. We didn't really get untracked in the first half and were happy to still be even. We started generating a few chances in the second half, but we were again playing a lot of 2nd line players and our up front tandem of Iain Diack and Lee Wilson wasn't making anything happen. They scored the lone goal of the match when we made a poor clearing attempt and it left Adrian Nevins trying to handle both Richie Hart and Juanjo. Predictably, Hart gave a touch pass and Juanjo rifled a shot past Peat into the far right side of the net at 79 minutes. They never left us a chance to equalize and finished brooming us from the League Cup competition. Despite the loss, I was pleased with effort we showed.

[Faramir]

23.8.06

Time to take quick stock of some of our new additions. Lee Sichi has been a real find- he is every bit the player I saw when he faced us on Albion Rovers. Keiran Lee has done a good job of soldiering on after finding out I needed him to play in the central midfield instead of his preferred wing. Andrew Reilly looks like a very solid leftwing. The main disappointment so far is Darran Thompson. Darran is highly paid- in our wage structure- but hasn't shown us anything so far. I may transfer list and offer him for that reason.

[Faramir]

26.8.06

East Stirling (4) Alloa (2)

Mark Batty's return to Firs Park wasn't pleasant- for him- as we scored 4 goals in the first 33 minutes of play and then held off a determined rally for a 4-2 derby win. James Flood gave us a quick lead with a precision shot past Sam Ashton in the opening moments. Steve McDonald followed with another well-placed shot- from 20 yards- three minutes later and it was quickly 2-0. McDonald forced Ashton to parry a blast and Lee Sichi was on top of him to push in the rebound as we moved up 3-0 at 15 minutes. McDonald made it a brace by whipping another shot past Ashton. We let up a bit too much from there and did not get back on a throw-in in their end as Warren Hunt raced down and scored in first half injury time. Things got a bit dicier when Alloa drew another goal back in the opening moments of the second half when Ross Hamilton's cannon blast sailed past Steven van der Deyl. Moments later, van der Deyl gave the ball away- but redeemed himself by pushing Andy Brown's shot past the post. We played very conservatively the rest of the way and allowed them to get no closer as we completed a solid 4-2 win.

[Faramir]

27.8.06

It didn't take long to find a buyer for Darran Thompson. Actually, a total of 7 clubs were interested in him and willing to pay the nominal 5K transfer price I had listed him at when offered to all clubs. The winner in the chase for Darran was Queens Park, which pleased me because he will move out of Division 2 (my preference was not to see him on the other side of the pitch- he does have a lot of talent...).

***

29.8.06

Berwick (0) East Stirling (5) Challenge Cup 2nd Round

Struggling Berwick was hoping to surprise us, but instead got swatted as our hungry 2nd line players did the job for us. Derek Ure, in his 1st start of the season, proved he has the finishing touch as he took nice passes from Lee Wilson in the 11th and 23rd minute and fired shots past Ben Hamer to quickly set us up 2-0. The hammer blow on the home side came at then end of the first half as Lee Wilson finally scored his 1st goal of the season on a rebound and then defender Joan Avoki committed a terrible blunder by sending a scorching backpass into his own net to send us to the dressing room ahead 4-0. Kenny McLean put the finishing touches on our scoring as he swooped into the middle and smashed a shot past beleaugered Hamer. Berwick was without spirit in the second half and we had an easy time helping Steven van der Deyl to finish another clean sheet.

[Faramir]

31.8.06

Our only transfer purchase wound up being 19 year old Scot SC John Voigt that we brought back home from Carlisle for 1K. Bob Pearson liked Voigt and I was impressed with his combination of pace-acceleration, something crucial to our attack. Voight had started at Forfar, but signed with Carlisle last season.

***

8.9.06

Raith (3) East Stirling (1)

Too much Eddie Annand for us, as the veteran striker bedeviled our defense and led Raith to a 3-1 win at Stark's Park. Annand scored midway through the first half when Lee Sichi made a bad mistake and hung on to the ball too long and Annand skinned him before firing it past Steven van der Deyl. Though Raith dominated the first half, we went in even as Sichi made up for his mistake with a beautiful cross that James Flood deflected past John Danby in first half injury time. We played with more authority in the second half, but suffered a three minute stretch of defensive meltdown. Annand slipped his marker to score on a cross from Paul McManus and then it was Annand crossing for Steve Marriner to flick past van der Deyl in a short span. The boys didn't quit, but we needed a little luck and didn't have it as they cleared two balls off the line and we hit the crossbar twice as we tried to rally. It was a disappointing loss, but overall I wasn't too unhappy with the effort of the club- just the execution. By a twist of fate we face Raith again in Challenge Cup competition at Firs Park in just three days.

[Faramir]

11.9.06

East Stirling (0) Raith (1) Challenge Cup 3rd Round

One youngster mistake and that was all it took to send our Firs Park faithful home disappointed as we were broomed out of the competition by our 1-0 loss to Raith. We played a much better first half this time, but still went in locked in a scoreless draw. Adrian Nevins was yellow carded for a trip on Paul McManus in our area and Eddie Annand calmly converted the penalty kick past Mark Peat for the only goal of the match. We tried to rally, but again found little space in their zone as their quickness frustrated our efforts to set up good scoring chances. The only way for us to be able to challenge a club like Raith is to play flawless football and our last two matches against them have been anything but that.

[Faramir]

16.9.06

East Stirling (3) Stranraer (1)

We rebounded from our pair of losses to Raith with a strong performance at home as we handled Stranraer 3-1. Steve McDonald gave us a quick lead with a stinging shot that eluded Alex Hards' diving grasp. As a precautionary move, I yanked James Flood out of the lineup as soon as it became apparent he was favoring his right leg- fortunately it was nothing serious. With Flood out, Derek Ure stepped up and scored twice in the first half to put us comfortably ahead 3-0 at the break. We could not add to the lead in the second half and yielded a consolation goal to Steve McLean which ruined Steven van der Deyl's clean sheet, but we finished out the match in calm manner and put another good win on the books.

[Faramir]

20.9.06

Stirling (1) East Stirling (1)

In a match that could have been a nice road win for us, we missed a boatload of good scoring chances and were left with a frustrating 1-1 draw when we allowed them a late equalizer. Despite assertions in the press that they were ready to redeem themselves for the 7-2 drubbing we gave them last season, we were much the better club through most of the match. Our execution was lacking close-in though and that kept us from gaining a goal until John Adam deflected a Danny Black corner past James Blanchard at 82 minutes. I dearly wanted to hang on for the win, but Adrian Nevins wandered too far forward and a lofted pass over him allowed Mark Brown to score the dramatic equalizer in second half injury time past Steven van der Deyl. It could have been a better result, but overall we played pretty well in a hostile Forthbank Park.

[Faramir]

23.9.06

East Stirling (0) Partick (0)

Despite playing without James Flood and Steve McDonald, we gave 1st place Partick all they could handle in their trip to Firs Park. If not for their keeper- Tommy Evans- we would have taken three points from this match. Evans came up with three sensational saves in the first half to keep things scoreless for the visitors. In all three cases we looked certain to score until he got a piece of each of them to keep them out. He had one more of those stops saved for the second half as well. Steven van der Deyl also did his part to earn us a point as he made a couple timely saves. We had much more of the possession in the midfield, but Lee Wilson just couldn't put the ball in for us today. The draw result was a fair one for both sides.

[Faramir]

30.9.06

East Stirling (1) Morton (1)

For the third straight match we outplayed a good club, but have only another draw on the books to show for our efforts. We found little space in their area, but we kept the tempo under control most of the match. We held a halftime lead after Gary Irvine tripped Keiran Lee in the area and James Flood converted the penalty kick. We were trying to close out the match when we again ran afoul of set piece problems. Botched coverage on a throw-in saw Stephen O'Donnell rocket a cross in that David McGregor was able to deflect past Mark Peat at 85 minutes. Neither side came close to the win after that point and though we could have had better, we earned the 1-1 draw. This last stretch of three matches has at least shown that we can tangle with the best clubs in the Division and hold our own- a very encouraging sign at this juncture of the season.

***

10.10.06

Scottish Division 2 Table- 9 matches played

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

1- Raith 21 pts (+13)

2- Partick 19 pts (+12)

3- East Stirling 16 pts (+7)

4- Morton 16 pts (+6)

5- Stranraer 13 pts (+2)

6- Stirling 12 pts (0)

</pre>

[Faramir]

14.10.06

East Stirling (2) Stenhousemuir (0)

We finally got back on our winning ways as we outplayed struggling derby opponent Stenhousemuir and handed them their 4th consecutive loss with our 2-0 win over them at Firs Park. We lacked consistency early in the first half of play, but James Flood made up for our inaccurate passing when he blasted a 25 yard shot past David Orr to gain us the lead. Orr came up with a couple big stops to keep the lead from growing as we went to halftime. There was no letdown for us in the second half, the boys were hungry for a win. Flood's 2nd goal of the match at 63 minutes on a good pass from Mick O'Brien left us in firm control of the match and our backline stepped up to give Steven van der Deyl the support he needed to claim another clean sheet.

[Faramir]

21.10.06

Peterhead (0) East Stirling (2)

Another strong performance saw us dump struggling Peterhead 2-0 in front of their disappointed Balmoor Stadium fans. Ross O'Donoghue keyed both our goals in the match. The first came when O'Donoghue rocketed a cross into the area and Steve McDonald slipped his marker and was able to flick a header past Richard Sanna. Though we controlled a good bit of play in the first half, we weren't efficient about turning our opportunities into scoring chances. I knew if we could get another one, it would be a severe blow to their spirit- but we had to weather their rally attempt to start the second half. Steven van der Deyl kept them from equalizing and earned MOM honours today. We finally put the match away when O'Donoghue threaded a pass through to Derek Ure, on for a tiring James Flood, and Ure hit a pretty half-volley that eluded Sanna's diving attempt to snare it. We played very conservatively after that, due to Danny Black getting redcarded at 77 minutes, but closed down the clean sheet for van der Deyl.

***

21.10.06

Mick O'Brien came down with the flu. I decided, since we don't have the depth to deal with a widespread outbreak on the club, to send Mick home until he is better.

[Bristol CityFC]

Just read!! Congrats on promotion

[Faramir]

Thanks Bristol C

***

28.10.06

East Stirling (0) Forfar (0)

It was another chance to pick up points from a struggling side, but Michael Brown did yeoman work in the Forfar net to salvage a point for the visitors. Brown stopped Steve McDonald's header in the first half and made point-blank saves on James Flood, Derek Ure (on for McDonald) and Ross O'Donoghue in the second half. Steven van der Deyl was little troubled in our net and earned his clean sheet without much pressure today as we held sway over the flow of play for much of the match. I would have loved to put another win in the books, but it wasn't to be today.

[Faramir]

1.11.06

Alloa (3) East Stirling (3)

It is hard to know how to feel after our wild midweek tilt at Alloa. We played a poor first half, but managed to reach halftime still locked in a scoreless draw thanks to good work in net by Mark Peat. I encouraged the boys to come out and show more life in the second half and they responded as the second half was one of the wildest roller coasters in my short managing career. After all his good work in the first half, Peat struggled in the second half and handed Alloa their first goal on a silver platter when he lost the handle on the rain soaked ball and it allowed Ross Muir to sail it past him. Sam Ashton had done a good job ot stopping us until then, but we broke through when Derek Ure whipped a cross in and Lee Wilson punctuated it by driving his header past Ashton to equalize. John Voigt came on for a tired Ure (the rain soaked pitch was really draining us physically) and scored his 1st goal at East Stirling when he flicked a header past Ashton on a sizzling cross from Carl Laurie. With the effort that we had spent to fight back to take the lead, it was time to play conservatively. I brought on Kevin Gaughan to replace an exhausted Stephen Hindmarch. Gaughan immediately had an impact on the match- a bad one for us. Gaughan nonchalantly flicked a header back toward Peat and Andy Brown zipped past a tired Graham McWilliam and drilled a low shot past Peat to even things at 2-2. Our backline then gifted them the lead less than two minutes later as a botched clearing attempt allowed Ross Hamilton to send his shot past Peat for his 5th goal. I wasn't sure we had enough to rally from falling behind, but the boys did it when Voigt took a nice pass from Paul O'Brien and fired a dramatic equalizer past Ashton at 86 minutes. We came very close to taking all three points, but a saving tackle by Ricky Newman and a Keiran Lee volley that drifted just wide of the left post left us with an exhausting 3-3 final score.

[Faramir]

4.11.06

East Stirling (1) Raith (1)

It was there for the taking for us, but a late fluke goal allowed Raith to equalize and it was a bitter pill to wind up with a 1-1 draw after all the hard work we had put in. To be fair, they had outplayed us by a large margin in the first half on our snowy pitch. Despite that we took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room when Todd Lumsden pushed Lee Sichi in the area and Steve McDonald converted the penalty kick past John Danby. The second half found them attacking with even more vigor, but our backline played a good match- led by Adrian Nevins who seemed to be wherever a crucial tackle or header was found. Steven van der Deyl had done an excellent job policing up their long passes as well. That is why it was with anguish that we watched Paul McManus' centering pass sail into the right corner of the net as van der Deyl slipped on the pitch and wasn't able to reach it. I suppose a draw against the top club in Division 2- and one that seems well able to counter our style of play- should be acceptable, but the whole club dearly wanted to beat them and stop their unbeaten string. James Flood was injured early in the first half and I had to remove him at halftime. His damaged elbow will keep him out for awhile, which is unfortunate at this stretch of the season.

***

5.11.06

Airdrie defated Partick on penalties to capture the Challenge Cup.

***

8.11.06

It was with pleasure that I took the call from New Zealand Manager Mick Waitt. It was a courtesy call to let me know that Danny Black had been asked up to their National side for their friendly against Morocco. I told Mick that he was free to use Danny as much as needed, because I was so pleased that he was getting his chance to possibly gain his 1st Cap.

[Faramir]

11.11.06

Mick Waitt called me after their friendly to let me know that Danny had played well, indeed Mick said he had been the best player for New Zealand on the day as they had lost 2-1. New Zealand's lone goal had been the result of Danny's cross that Craig Batty had deflected in to give them a glimmer of hope late in the match, but it wasn't to be as home side Morrocco had outplayed them for much of the match and kept them from fighting back after the late goal. He told me that Danny had really done the job for him at rightback in the match and that he might also play him against the Philippines on the 15th. It was exciting to both myself and our club to see a player of ours getting tapped to play Internationally.

***

15.11.06

Waitt called me to let me he was happy with Danny's performance against the Philippines as they had beaten them 1-0 in their friendly. He thanked me for allowing him to use Danny the entire match and that Danny had again setup their lone goal. I heard later from Danny that he had played nearly as well as in his debut and was happy that they had managed to win at Manila. Danny said he still wanted to be in the starting lineup against Stranraer on Saturday, but I told him I would decide after he got back from his flight.

[Faramir]

18.11.06

Stranraer (1) East Stirling (2)

We certainly made it hard on ourselves as we dominated Stranraer, but missed numerous good chances and gave away a penalty to make the match a tight one. In the end we managed to pull out the win when John Voigt, subbing on for tiring Derek Ure, made an excellent move in the six-yard box to finish off a good pass from Steve McDonald with the match winning goal at 84 minutes. We held sway over the first half of play, but had only a Ure goal as he deflected a pass from McDonald past Alex Hards. Hards made couple good saves, but our off target shooting was the main reason we weren't leading by more than a goal at half. Early in the second half, as Kenny Clark rained yellow cards on us, Kenny McLean got caught holding Scott McLean in the area and John Hamsher calmly converted the equalizing penalty kick past Steven van der Deyl. We came right back to try for the win, but it appeared all our efforts might be thwarted until Voigt scored. We still had to withstand Carl Laurie's 2nd yellow card that left us a man shy on the home side's final attempt to rally, but the final whistle found us still clinging to a 2-1 margin.

[Faramir]

25.11.06

Morton (3) East Stirling (0)

Our 11 match unbeaten string came to a crashing halt against 1st place Morton. In a match where we would need to play mistake free football, we did anything but that. Darren Carter victimized Adrian Nevins and Danny Black to score a brace in the first half as Steven van der Deyl had no chance on stopping either of them- Carter's 10th and 11th of the season. I was hoping we could come out and score early in the second half to challenge them, but instead they came out and scored with Stephen O'Donnell ghosting in from the wing to put away a nice cross from Carter for his 5th goal. I give the boys credit, we didn't quit- but Stewart Greacen showed why he has been Player of the Month three times this season as his tackling and heading kept ruining what appeared to be good chances. Twice, Greacen charged down shots that appeared headed for empty nets as our players shook their heads in frustration. We just have to pick ourselves up and get ready for next week.

[Guest]

Ah, it's been fun reading through this - you've done an excellent job! I recognise the whole sign-as-many-players-as-possible policy when you're a more, shall we say, 'minor' team. East Stirling is something I definitely want to try out in future (I distinctly recall taking Torquay to the Premiership in the 01/02 CM), though as someone who - after a love affair with this series from 97/98 through to 01/02 - hasn't played this type of game for a while, and has only owned FM '06 for two months, I'm stuck on Man. United for now

Still, nice to see you're getting some success, and keep up the good work!

[Faramir]

AndyM- Well, thank you and welcome back (from your time away). I came to FMS from the LLM (Lower League Manager) side of things and have always played sides up from the nether reaches. The only 'big' club I have played in my time with CM (since CM2) & FM is ManU, which I played to complete the Sir Alex Challenge a few years ago.

***

2.12.06

East Stirling (5) Stirling (0)

We rebounded from our loss to Morton with a great performance as we crushed derby opponent Stirling 5-0 in a win that left our Board and fans ecstatic. James Flood returned from injury and that seemed to spark us as he flicked a header past James Blanchard on a cross from Steve McDonald to start Blanchard's long day. Flood made it 2-0 midway through the half as he made a brilliant move with the ball past David Clark before scorching a shot past Blanchard for his 2nd goal. Mick O'Brien then laid the ball off nicely and McDonald blasted a rising shot into upper right side of the net. After missing two chances to complete his hat-trick, Flood did finish it off dramatically as he took a through ball from Danny Black and moved around a diving Blanchard before snapping his shot into the net to send us to halftime ahead 4-0. With the lead we were content to work hard defensively to finish things off. It was unfortunate that Steven van der Deyl wasn't able to complete the clean sheet, but a collision left him limping and I didn't want to take any chances, so brought on Mark Peat. Kenny McLean added the exclamation point on the win when he slipped in to the far post to flick header on O'Brien's cross and cap the scoring in our impressive 5-0 win.

[Faramir]

9.12.06

East Stirling (1) Morton (3) Scottish Cup 2nd Round

There were chances for us to come away with a different outcome, but in the end Morton showed they outclassed us by making the plays and finishing while we were thwarted. Derek Lilly overpowered Graham McWilliam to head past Mark Peat and give them the lead in the first half. We were a bit lucky not to be further behind, but we had also lost a goal on an offside call. Coming out from the dressing room, we started playing sharper and Lee Wilson capped off a nice passing sequence by heading inside the right post on a cross from John Voigt to equalize. It didn't stay equal long as Morton answered back. The right side of our defense- McWilliam and Paul O'Brien completely failed in a throw-in and that left Darren Carter cruising down to fire a shot past Peat. Our chances to equalize went awry due to missing the net and they finished us off in injury time when Kevin Gaughan missed a header and Chris Templeman pounced on the ball to fire a sharp angle shot past Peat to broom us from the Scottish Cup.

[Faramir]

16.12.06

Partick (2) East Stirling (2)

A match of moments for us as we played a superb first half and led 1-0, then played poorly for much of the second half and fell behind 2-1 before striking for a dramatic equalizer in second half injury time to salvage a 2-2 draw. Our first half lead came courtesy of Steve McDonald as he drilled a ball past Kenny Arthur after a fine play by Lee Sichi set him up for the chance. We couldn't add to the lead as Arthur was steady in net for them. It is hard to explain why our backline came out and played so poorly to start the second half- after playing great in the first. David Armour wended past Sichi and Daniel Simpson to fire an angled shot past Steven van der Deyl to equalize. We failed to clear the ball from a scramble and paid the price when Mark Stewart swept it into the open net to give them the lead. Derek Ure salvaged the draw when he got on a cross to the far post and flicked it past Arthur to send the Partick fans home a bit disappointed.

[Spav]

I figure that East Stirling are still in the top four or thereabouts. KUTGW Faramir.

[Faramir]

Spav- 'bout right- table update coming on next post after this one...

***

23.12.06

Stenhousemuir (2) East Stirling (1)

It was a bitter derby defeat to accept as we outplayed Stenhousemuir by a large margin, but fell prey to two bad defensive plays and superior work from their keeper Richard Acton. They struck for the lead early in the first half when Stephen Cosgrove turned on the jets and outraced Kevin Gaughan down the pitch before drilling a shot into the right side of the net past Steven van der Deyl. They took a 2-0 halftime lead when Chris Aitken made Ross O'Donoghue pay for a missed interception by booming a 20 yard blast past stranded van der Deyl. Other than those two plays, we played an excellent first half. We looked set to rally when Derek Ure, on for ineffective John Voigt, took a nicely laid out pass from Kenny McLean and drove a shot past Acton midway through the second half. We just couldn't get the equalizer though as Acton stopped both Ure and Steve McDonald on close-in chances to preserve the 3 points for the struggling home side.