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Annan Athletic vs Stenhousemuir/ Stenhousemuir vs Annan Athletic


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Fair play to some of the Stenny supporters elsewhere in this thread but I'd be very anxious about the second leg after this evening's performance. We were miles off it, with the wrong starting XI and the wrong tactics for the circumstances, against a good Annan Athletic side with one foot in the play-off final. They were better than us all over the park - Steven Swinglehurst and Ayrton Sonkur headed everything that came in their direction, Lewis Strapp had a great game at left-back, Tony Wallace and Chris Johnston played well on the flanks and Aidan Smith was a perpetual nuisance up top. There's a perception that Annan are little more than hammer-throwers but there's silk as well as steel in there.

Not that we gave them anything to think about. Other than a chance that fell inside the box to David Marsh midway through the second half, I don't think we tested Alex Mitchell at all. It was just long ball after long ball up towards Mark McGuigan. Most of them were nowhere near him; the ones that were, the two big centre-backs were on top of him. Playing Marsh in the midfield of a narrow 4-4-2 might have worked on a ploughed field against a terrible Brechin City side but it was useless here and we had no-one prepared to put their foot on the ball and pass it forward. I have no idea what Russell Dingwall brings to the team and the more I see of Kieron Gibbons, the more I see someone who drifts through matches without influencing them (at least we've got him for another season!) It was crying out for the involvement of Mark Ferry or Thomas Halleran, so God only knows what Colin McMenamin was thinking when he removed Alan Cook for Connor Duthie first. I thought McMenamin got his substitutes bang on against Brechin but they were poor here and made no impact. We badly missed Greg Hurst's spark and pace up front.

The two goals were poor. The first saw Andy Munro lose possession on his own byline, and the Annan player cut the ball back to Johnston for a clinical finish from 12 yards. The second saw Graeme Smith appear to misjudge a header and let it loop over him and just over the line. Someone tried to hack it away but it was too late. Two bad goals. Annan were dominant in the first half and kept us arm's length in the second, threatening to score at the death.

I hope Hurst is back for the second leg on Saturday, and I imagine Conor McBrearty will be back from his suspension after his red card in Brechin. Two goals is hard to come back from but it is not insurmountable. One thing's for sure though - play like we did tonight and we're going down.

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Trouble now. Got to hope Hurst is back on Saturday. Regardless, Mcmenamin will have to change his safety first strategy. Problem is we don't have any creative midfielders and we all know that our goals for record is not good. But two goals is not insurmountable. 

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Hi Jim there is one at the corner of the ground but entrance  round the corner from the ground if that makes sense - used to be called the Warriors Club or something. Usually has the football on,pool table and kids welcome- no food though. There is a very small bar under the main stand but will probably be full to capacity with home fans.

The Plough further up the street ripped us off years ago when they opened the room upstairs and charged us 10p a pint extra ! ! Kids not welcome there.

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Seemed a strange team selection. Still do not see what the manager sees in Dingwall.  Hope we throw caution to the wind on Saturday and really go for it from the start.  Rather get relegated going down battling than playing cautious and getting  nothing out the game.

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Just now, the philosopher said:

The Plough further up the street ripped us off years ago when they opened the room upstairs and charged us 10p a pint extra ! ! Kids not welcome there.

Under new management - there was a thread on here receently stating away fans welcome.

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Seemed a strange team selection. Still do not see what the manager sees in Dingwall.  Hope we throw caution to the wind on Saturday and really go for it from the start.  Rather get relegated going down battling than playing cautious and getting  nothing out the game.
Your mob better not make a horses arse of this auld yin. Hoping for the 4 derby games next season.
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49 minutes ago, Harry Kinnear said:
1 hour ago, Moonglum25 said:
Seemed a strange team selection. Still do not see what the manager sees in Dingwall.  Hope we throw caution to the wind on Saturday and really go for it from the start.  Rather get relegated going down battling than playing cautious and getting  nothing out the game.

Your mob better not make a horses arse of this auld yin. Hoping for the 4 derby games next season.

Fear the worst unfortunately.  You had better hope that your crowd do not do a Brechin.  Seems like there is much unhappiness behind the scenes at the moment? Day off today?

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Fear the worst unfortunately.  You had better hope that your crowd do not do a Brechin.  Seems like there is much unhappiness behind the scenes at the moment? Day off today?
Yeah pal club is a mess, need to hope we can get changes at board level and get the right folk in.

Changed my contract, only work Monday/Tuesday now, 5 days was a killer.

If you stay up will give you a shout, maybe get a beer before/after a game.
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2 hours ago, Harry Kinnear said:

Yeah pal club is a mess, need to hope we can get changes at board level and get the right folk in.

Changed my contract, only work Monday/Tuesday now, 5 days was a killer.

If you stay up will give you a shout, maybe get a beer before/after a game.

Nae bother - you'll make up the difference in days with the birthday cards!!!!

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24 minutes ago, marco44 said:

Do any of you Stenny supporters think you can get a win against Annan on Saturday?

Yes

 

Might not be enough to send us through though

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