[Fudge]

The Warriors' charge to the promotion playoffs begins here

This post has been edited by Fudge: 09 March 2010 - 15:20

[Blue Brazil Forever]

Fudge, on 09 March 2010 - 15:16, said:

The Warriors' charge to the promotion playoffs begins here

[dubs]

It's a shame such an important game in terms of league position is so tarnished by injuries and suspensions on both sides. I just hope we can at least take a point although to be honest I think we might come unstuck tonight such is our selection headache. Then again I always think that...

We are so ravaged by injury and bans that our team can't even 'pick itself'.

[dubs]

Blue Brazil Forever, on 09 March 2010 - 15:29, said:

Thanks for that pissbag Pete, back to the home for you auld yin.

[doulikefish]

dubs, on 09 March 2010 - 15:32, said:

It's a shame such an important game in terms of league position is so tarnished by injuries and suspensions on both sides. I just hope we can at least take a point although to be honest I think we might come unstuck tonight such is our selection headache. Then again I always think that...

We are so ravaged by injury and bans that our team can't even 'pick itself'.

aye same for us,
5 a sides 10 mins each way then we can all go to the pub and we will both take a point

[Blue Brazil Forever]

dubs, on 09 March 2010 - 15:33, said:

Thanks for that pissbag Pete, back to the home for you auld yin.

[Francesc Fabregas]

dubs, on 09 March 2010 - 15:33, said:

Thanks for that pissbag Pete, back to the home for you auld yin.

doulikefish, on 09 March 2010 - 15:34, said:

aye same for us,
5 a sides 10 mins each way then we can all go to the pub and we will both take a point

That's plenty, even although we're struggling for a team at the moment, I'd like to think that we can give Peterhead a game tonight. Would like to see some of these U-17s get a run out tonight.

[The Moonster]

Do the Stenny boys think that all these injury's and suspensions will carry on through to Saturday?

[Neilly]

Scullion has been back for two games now.

I think Iain Thomson only has a one game ban so he should be back for Saturday but Motion starts a two game suspension on Saturday so they cancel each other out. Molloy will definitely be in the squad for Saturday and there is probably an outside chance he could make the 16 tonight as he is running fine and kicking a ball. Bradley will also be back tonight and likely to start.

So it looks like Lyle, Motion, Smith and Brand out for Saturday which isn't too bad considering what it has been like.

This post has been edited by Neilly: 09 March 2010 - 17:16

[Fudge]

This Hunter character is captain of the Scotland Schoolboys team. I've not seen much of him but he must have a bit of quality and if he's captain, his temperament must be good as well. Eat your heart of West Ham Acadamy.

[The Minertaur]

2-0 win for Stenny tonight. Totally forgot all about Dalziel until his name came up on the vidiprinter!

[bluetooner]

"not" looking forward to seeing how bad we were - although looking at the team, we weren't as badly hit by injury as i thought we were going to be. (when i put down a 2-0 loss in our prediction league.....at least i have that to be "happy" about).

It is getting interesting at the top again....... shame we will be nowhere near it.

This post has been edited by bluetooner: 09 March 2010 - 21:44

[Fudge]

Thought Peterhead were the much the better team in the first 10 minutes as they passed the ball around brilliantly and had 3 reasonable shots on goal. I really feared a doing at the point, but we soon got back into the match. Both teams played some reasonable football, but there wasn't much in the way of clear goal scoring oppertunities for either side and it was no shock when the first half finished goaless.

Second half we stepped it up a little and were marginally the better team, but apart from a couple of speculative long range efforts never offered much infront of goal. I thought the game was going to fizzle out with both team accepting a point, but with about 15 mins to go, our old friend set piece came to the rescue and Scott Gibb bundled home after a scrimage from a corner.

Peterhead pushed forward after that and had a couple of reasonable openings, but McLuskey dealt with everything that was thrown at him. With time running out, Dalziel was played down the right wing and everyone expected him to take it to the corner, but he neatly cut inside, beating his man before sclaffing it through the keeper's legs.

2-0 definitely flattered us, but I think we just about deserved to win the game.

Motion was my MOM. Won numerous headers in the middle of the park and linked up well. Another shout out to 'Larry' Hunter who was pitched into right wing back, but looked like he'd be playing there all his life. If the rest of the youth lads are half as good as him we're onto a winner.

With Arboath and Clyde both failing to win, it's been a brilliant night!

This post has been edited by Fudge: 09 March 2010 - 21:54

[Neilly]

The Minertaur, on 09 March 2010 - 21:36, said:

2-0 win for Stenny tonight. Totally forgot all about Dalziel until his name came up on the vidiprinter!

Was dropped tonight and came on as a sub and looked a different player.

Massive three points for us tonight and we are now 7 unbeaten. The subs made the difference tonight so kudos to JC for that as Stirling, Dalziel and Quinn all came off the bench to give us that wee bit spark that was missing.

We look really solid at the minute though and looking at the quality, or lack of, of the teams around us I just can't see us dragged into this relegation battle in the slightest. Larry Gibb has been a tremendous acquisition at the back and is yet to be on a losing Stenhousemuir side whilst McLeod and Thom aren't putting a foot wrong at the minute.

17 year old Michael Hunter made his debut tonight and didn't look out of place despite playing out of position at right wing back and he was up against a player who is no mug in Sharp.

Peterhead look like a team on the slide to me, they have some decent players but they never looked likely to score tonight apart from McCluskey saving well from a long range effort. Dalziel had the defence on toast when he came on and they probably missed Mann's organisational skills.

Brilliant win for us - well done lads.

[Ivo den Bieman]

A couple more wins and the Stenny will be safe. Surprised at how poor a season Peterhead have had though, I really thought they'd at least make the play-offs again...

[beaver1]

Amazing. We scored a goal that wasn't from a set piece.

Drab game until we scored. Then I thought there was only going to be one winner.

Young lad looked quite impressive, especially in the first half. Good to see Bradley back; and Molloy back on Saturday?

Biggest compliment is that we don't miss Jordan Smith. Gibb, Thom and McLeod were very effective tonight. Again.

[dubs]

[bluetooner]

Ivo den Bieman, on 09 March 2010 - 16:58, said:

A couple more wins and the Stenny will be safe. Surprised at how poor a season Peterhead have had though, I really thought they'd at least make the play-offs again...

It seems we are too inconsistant, and have too small a squad to really be up there. I am just happy that we aren't down battling with Clyde and Arbroath right now, as at the start of the season, when i saw how thin our squad was, i was fearing the worst.

[frazzyAKL]

Yes ! Really happy at this result, this unbeaten run has gave us a big confidence boost and sounds like were performing well by what people have been saying about the games i've missed. Onwards & Upwards for the Warriors then ... .. . . . .

[JackDFC]

How did Stenny play?

Should we be worried for Saturday?

[Pol]

Neilly, on 09 March 2010 - 17:15, said:

So it looks like Lyle, Motion, Smith and Brand out for Saturday which isn't too bad considering what it has been like.

It gets better - Lyle was only suspended for 1 game as he hasn't reached the points limit yet!

What a brilliant 3 points that was to get tonight!

First 10-15 minutes or so Peterhead were on top as we started extremely poorly. Started to get back into it but the first half was a rather shabby affair but the second half was a little better.

As Fudge said not too much was created other than a few long shots. A massive well done to Chris McCluskey for pulling off another wonder save! - Peterhead boy rifled one in, destined for the corner of the netting and Lil' Chris someone manages to stop it going in! A good break sees Stenhousemuir get a corner and a good delivery from yours truly sees Scott "Larry" Gibb score his first for the Warriors. Despite being relatively quiet in January Gibb has turned out to be a tremendous acquisition of late. Solid as a rock, has a decent long throw and has as mentioned before has never lost a game at Stenhousemuir FC.

Second goal came from another break, great through ball by Paul Quinn(!!!), Dazzler turned his man and nutmegged the hopeless Paul Jarvie. Take note: Stenhousemuir score from open play!!!

The whole team done well tonight but stand-outs were;

Iain Diack:- At one point young Hunter was down injured and Diack back heeled the ball out of play. A sarcastic, young "fan" then shouted,"thats the best thing you've done all season." In true Iain Diack style this was rewarded with a glare that would put Tyson to shame. In my opinion he played his best game of the season tonight. His touch was superb, he held the ball up well, but the best part of his play tonight was that he seemed interested in his football again - something he has recently lacked. If we can get this performance out of Diack more often then he should be on the scoresheet a good few times through the remainder of the season.

Michael "Larry" Hunter:- Centre midfield by trade drafted in at right back yet didn't look a bit out of place. One of the lads who has played in this 17's team I mentioned at the weekend. Brilliant to see another budding talent come through and break rank in the first team. He captained his country on Friday night and played the full 90 minutes tonight. If a few more boys like this can get their chance in the first team i.e. Lawson (15 y.o), Dickson and Plenderleith, then the future will be very bright for Stenhousemuir.

The subs:- Coughlin used all 3 subs tonight and all three were extremely sharp and looked like they deserve to be playing in this team:-
Andrew "Magic" Stirling came on for Taz and done really well considering his previous performances from us. He skinned the Peterhead RB twice at the touchline and on another occasion weaved in and out of the midfield and created room for a shot but instead tried to feed it in. If he can get his confidence up and anywhere near what it is like when he turns out for the reserves we could be onto a winner here. Watch this space ...
Paul Quinn looked like a footballer for the first time tonight! His touch, passing and movement all showed signs of him kicking a ball before. Glad to see him look sharp and make a contribution rather than get his head down and chase lost causes!
Scott Dalziel was surprisingly dropped tonight for Diack and in all honesty it could be the best tactical change of the season! It got Diack interested and playing well and got oor Dazzler a well taken goal from open play. His celebrations after the goal and after the game showed he really enjoyed it and this could be him finding his shooting boots again.

Now sitting in a comfortable 5th place, only 6 points away from promotion play-off. I don't think we'll get there in the end and I also don't think we will be in the play-offs at the other end either now. Okay, all the teams below us have games in hand over us but we have the points on the board and the pressure is now on them!

What a brilliant attitude all our players have at the minute. Since the Dunfermline game there has been very few occasions in which I have felt worried by opposing teams. Even going down to 9 men at Gayfield didn't seem to trouble us. Other than Brechin away we have not looked a bit under the bar. Especially the four games after the Clyde win - with the exception of Arbroath we could (should) have won all the games. Cowden-chances not taken, East Fife-chances not taken, Stirling Albion-missed chances.

We are now 7 games unbeaten, with Dumbarton on Saturday I reckon a point and an 8th game in out unbeaten streak would be a good result given their result tonight.

[Neilly]

Pol, on 09 March 2010 - 22:56, said:

Iain Diack:- At one point young Hunter was down injured and Diack back heeled the ball out of play. A sarcastic, young "fan" then shouted,"thats the best thing you've done all season." In true Iain Diack style this was rewarded with a glare that would put Tyson to shame.

The thing is I actually think it was an older fan that shouted it. Absolute clown.

[Fudge]

The person who shouted at Diack was an old boy I'm sure. Most of the auld cronies who go to our games don't know their arse from their elbow so Diack would be stupid to take any notice of it. I thought that shout actually spurred him on. He definitely had one of his better games tonight. More of the same on Saturday please.

[doulikefish]

Fudge, on 09 March 2010 - 21:53, said:

Thought Peterhead were the much the better team in the first 10 minutes as they passed the ball around brilliantly and had 3 reasonable shots on goal. I really feared a doing at the point, but we soon got back into the match. Both teams played some reasonable football, but there wasn't much in the way of clear goal scoring oppertunities for either side and it was no shock when the first half finished goaless.

Second half we stepped it up a little and were marginally the better team, but apart from a couple of speculative long range efforts never offered much infront of goal. I thought the game was going to fizzle out with both team accepting a point, but with about 15 mins to go, our old friend set piece came to the rescue and Scott Gibb bundled home after a scrimage from a corner.

Peterhead pushed forward after that and had a couple of reasonable openings, but McLuskey dealt with everything that was thrown at him. With time running out, Dalziel was played down the right wing and everyone expected him to take it to the corner, but he neatly cut inside, beating his man before sclaffing it through the keeper's legs.

2-0 definitely flattered us, but I think we just about deserved to win the game.

Motion was my MOM. Won numerous headers in the middle of the park and linked up well. Another shout out to 'Larry' Hunter who was pitched into right wing back, but looked like he'd be playing there all his life. If the rest of the youth lads are half as good as him we're onto a winner.

With Arboath and Clyde both failing to win, it's been a brilliant night!

wouldnt argue with that fudge,i thought my 5/2 for the draw was looking good

[Ancient Warrior]

Fudge, on 09 March 2010 - 23:11, said:

The person who shouted at Diack was an old boy I'm sure. Most of the auld cronies who go to our games don't know their arse from their elbow so Diack would be stupid to take any notice of it. I thought that shout actually spurred him on. He definitely had one of his better games tonight. More of the same on Saturday please.

Not exactly a compliment to say that it was one of his better games - it was but it was hardly a vintage performance. Funnily enough the auld cronies think guys like you also don't know their arse from their elbow but we do at least support the team and not stay away when the going gets tough.
Main suspect for the Diack shout has to be Steely.