Stenhousemuir -vs- Elgin City

[Francesc Fabregas]

Another day, another game of football. This week we're playing Elgin City and Stranraer, two huge games that will shape the direction of our season: will we compete for promotion? Or will we be jobbing inconsequentially in the bottom half? By 9pm on Thursday, we'll know!

Tomorrow night's game against City is crucial for two reasons - win and we will potentially draw level with Stranraer (depending on how their game with Stirling Albion goes) and, with one eye on the split, come closer to the play-off positions. Lose it and while we still might sneak into top-half split, we'd have no chance of catching fourth place.

Elgin won't pose as formidable a test as Queen's Park but they're a very good side (the weekend's aberration at Cowdenbeath aside) with a strong spine and shouldn't be trifled with. Brian Cameron is one of the best midfielders in the division and plays well alongside Russell Dingwall in the middle of the park, while Kane Hester is a tricky striker who needs constant supervision. Chuck in a solid back four and a good goalkeeper and we'll have to be at our best if we want to beat them.

I'm not sure how we'll line up (how badly was Jonathan Tiffoney injured on Saturday? Is Alan Docherty able to play? Will Callum Yeats be made available?) but all things being well, I think we'll go with:

- Botti Biabi - Tam Muir - Alan Docherty -

- Callum Yeats - Ryan Blair - Callum Tapping - Jonathan Tiffoney -

- Creag Little - Jack Brydon - Adam Corbett -

- Paddy Martin -

There's a lot more riding on it for Stenhousemuir than there is for Elgin City and I'm hoping that's what spurs us on to victory.

[Guest Midnight Express]

Agree its a must win for Stenhousemuir. 

I would stick with 3-5-2 with a change to the dynamics of the 2 up top. 

           Biabi.    McGuigan

      Blair  Tapping  Hodge  

Yeats                            Hopkirk

      Little Brydon Corbett 

                Martin

Think Biabi off one of the big guys may limit going long as Stenhousemuir are a far better team playing it on the deck. 

Also Biabi coming short/dropping in would maybe boost the 3 boys in the centre mid areas as there has been a lack of flair/creativity through the middle this season. 

Also a shout for Collins to play this role but I haven't seen enough of him so not sure what his preferred position is. 

[true fan]

So hard to comment if you don’t see it. Have to go from others’ comments, results and what you know of players from past experience. What’s up with Hopkirk? Not playing much. Injured before Xmas? Is he just rusty? How does he do tracking back? This can only limit his goal scoring potential and last year he was “the man” goals wise. Why are we sold on 3 at the back?

I was expecting more rotation. Are we just going to hit the wall one of these games and the legs just won’t move. Got to admire the players efforts. I’m assuming Hibs wouldn’t let Yeats  be run into a brick wall. Not surprising really. Bryden in same boat I’m guessing. I wonder if any other teams in the division are going for greater rotation, would be good to know to compare results.

Still think Halleran worth a go and Brown was getting good reviews - think he may have been injured. We got a massive squad by our own standards but not using it. Suppose some are very young. Interesting times

[Thom & Gerry]

It’s yet another important game for both sides. Nothing between the teams. I would say we’re the weakest out of the current top 5 and our position is largely down to our work ethic and having a regular goal scorer. If he doesn’t score, or we are off the pace a bit we will get beat. I live in hope though, Cmon the City!

[afca32]

One thing about this schedule is you don't spend long feeling elated or depressed after the previous game as there will be another one to focus on a day or two later. I think the last time we played at Ochilview was when they scored a horribly late equaliser on a Tuesday in December 2019. At least I won't be as cold as I was that night.

[Guest Midnight Express]

Limited rotation may be attributed to the number of youngsters in the squad, the short season emphasising the need for 3pts every game hence a reliance on the experienced/tried and tested players? 

Would have preferred more rotation to keep the players fresh and limit injuries, good point you make on teams rotation preferences as it would be interesting to see the stats on results and injuries occurring. 

Yeats was just back from 6-8 weeks out through injury so it was risking further injury to keep playing him imo. 

Hopkirk was out with an injury earlier in the year but has been fit recently. 

[Francesc Fabregas]

42 minutes ago, Midnight Express said:

Limited rotation may be attributed to the number of youngsters in the squad, the short season emphasising the need for 3pts every game hence a reliance on the experienced/tried and tested players? 

Would have preferred more rotation to keep the players fresh and limit injuries, good point you make on teams rotation preferences as it would be interesting to see the stats on results and injuries occurring. 

Yeats was just back from 6-8 weeks out through injury so it was risking further injury to keep playing him imo. 

Hopkirk was out with an injury earlier in the year but has been fit recently. 

I think there will be some players who'll play every minute they're available (Paddy Martin, Creag Little, Ryan Blair, Callum Tapping, Jonathan Tiffoney, Tam Muir) while the rest of the squad will rotate around them. The younger players have looked very good in some games and mediocre in others, but I'm not sure Davie Irons trusts them enough to deploy, say, Paul Brown, Jack Hodge and Thomas Halleran in the same midfield while Blair and Tapping are rested. I wonder if the manager knows what his best XI is? Maybe you can't have one in "these unprecedented times".

In terms of injuries since the restart, the only Tapping (Brechin City) and Tiffoney (Queen's Park) have gone down (and Tapping had to play on till the end because we'd used all our substitutes). Everyone in the squad deserves a lot of credit for how they've handled themselves over the past few weeks, what a shift.

[Guest Midnight Express]

50 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

I think there will be some players who'll play every minute they're available (Paddy Martin, Creag Little, Ryan Blair, Callum Tapping, Jonathan Tiffoney, Tam Muir) while the rest of the squad will rotate around them. The younger players have looked very good in some games and mediocre in others, but I'm not sure Davie Irons trusts them enough to deploy, say, Paul Brown, Jack Hodge and Thomas Halleran in the same midfield while Blair and Tapping are rested. I wonder if the manager knows what his best XI is? Maybe you can't have one in "these unprecedented times".

In terms of injuries since the restart, the only Tapping (Brechin City) and Tiffoney (Queen's Park) have gone down (and Tapping had to play on till the end because we'd used all our substitutes). Everyone in the squad deserves a lot of credit for how they've handled themselves over the past few weeks, what a shift.

Yes the players have really put it on the line and cannot be faulted for their efforts, it's a tribute to their fitness and conditioning that they have competed physically in all of the games. 

I still think rotation should have been used more with such a big squad available as a big push is really required over the coming week and it would have been good to have some of the experienced players fresh enough to drive the team on, it's a big ask to keep going to the same players and expecting them to keep delivering over a hectic schedule like this. 

 

 

[cityloon]

tough one to call both teams will be wanting the win more so us i would say to cement a place in the play offs so hopefully we go for it from the start and come home with a win 

[Moonglum25]

Is there a problem with the cameras - not getting anything?

[afca32]

Purchased the stream at 6.59 and turned on during the the minute silence. The comment from @Francesc Fabregas immediately after was highly amusing and I knew it was all going to be downhill from there. It was.

[Francesc Fabregas]

That was a massive win for the Warriors and one of our best performances of the season. To a man, everyone put in a superb shift (perhaps with the exception of Botti Biabi, but we'll get onto him...) and I think we merited the three points. Some of the play in the second half, the one-touch passing and the incisive movement, really was a joy to behold, so was the willingness to cover, help each other out and dig in when required. Elgin City are a good side and players like Kane Hester and Brian Cameron did well but they didn't get in behind enough and didn't test Paddy Martin, a 20-yard free-kick in the first 10 minutes aside.

Stenny began the game sluggishly and weathered some decent raids forward from Elgin, including the free-kick, before settling into a nice groove. A lot of the play seemed centred around getting the ball out to Jack Hodge on the right flank, watch him beat Euan Spark, and then find a free man on the edge of the area. This seemed to be a profitable tactic and Hodge had a couple of gorgeous touches, but Ryan Blair's shooting from distance was really poor. I think he got the ball onto his left peg four times in the first half and four times he sent the ball flying wide or over the bar. Blair's delivery from set-pieces was inadequate too and it was telling Callum Tapping took all the corners and free-kicks after the interval.

Although both sides showed enjoyed some decent moments, the first half was a bit flat; the second, however, was superb, and Stenny started it brilliantly. Alan Docherty was released down the left, dropped the shoulder and drilled a lovely ball across the face of goal for Tam Muir to crash into the net. It was so well worked, from the pass to Docherty (it might have Tapping, it might have been Callum Yeats), to the cross, to the finish. Muir is such a likeable player and it's great to see him finally scoring in open play for the Warriors.

From that point on, the match just saw the teams swap attacks, without ever really working the opposition 'keeper. For Stenny, Docherty and Muir continued to work well, while Tapping, Hodge and Blair all gracefully buzzed around them; for Elgin, Cameron began to take the game by the scruff of the neck and stretch his legs in the middle of the park and Hester looked threatening whenever his team-mates found him. Gavin Price made a number of attacking changes but I don't really think any of them worked and brought about a greater offensive threat. There was never any point in the match where I felt under any real peril.

Docherty had ran himself into the ground and was replaced with Biabi with about 15 minutes to go. Three times Biabi found himself in space and three times he made a complete mess of it. The third time, where he ran through on goal, only to slow down and then crumple on the turf, was dreadful. It was shaping up to be one of the worst substitute performances I think I had ever seen until the 85th minute - Muir worked hard to get the ball before flicking a cute pass to Blair in the corner, who controlled it before thumping a low cross towards goal for Biabi to steal in and prod it between Thomas McHale's legs and put the game beyond doubt.

While it was a brilliant victory, it will count for nothing unless we beat Stranraer on Thursday night. Lose or draw at Stair Park and we can well and truly say goodbye to a top-half finish. I'm hoping they'll have one eye on their upcoming Scottish Cup match with Hibernian, a game that's going to be broadcast on national television, and hold something back against us but they're a decent side when they put their minds to it. The meeting between the sides in December was good fun (Stranraer were good in the first half but shite the second, while Stenny were shite in the first half and much better in the second) and I think we'll see something similar in two days. Weirdly, I feel quite confident going into it, and I don't say that often.

[Brian Carrigan]

10 hours ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

Docherty had ran himself into the ground and was replaced with Biabi with about 15 minutes to go.

Aside from his work rate, how was Docherty looking? Watched him for a fair few years on my occasional but enjoyable sojourns to Camelon and felt like he's really came on to a game the past couple of seasons. Of all the players to move from the lower leagues up to the Valhalla-esque heights of the Scottish Professional Football League I was most interested in him and Sean Brown, given their lack of 'senior' experience. Hopefully he kicks on in contrast to Kieran Anderson *inserts meme - Homer Simpson with KA's face disappears into bush with Bo'ness Utd's badge on it*

[beaver1]

Docherty has been excellent. He now needs to show that he can sustain those levels of performance, but certainly encouraging signs.

[Francesc Fabregas]

2 hours ago, Brian Carrigan said:

Aside from his work rate, how was Docherty looking? Watched him for a fair few years on my occasional but enjoyable sojourns to Camelon and felt like he's really came on to a game the past couple of seasons. Of all the players to move from the lower leagues up to the Valhalla-esque heights of the Scottish Professional Football League I was most interested in him and Sean Brown, given their lack of 'senior' experience. Hopefully he kicks on in contrast to Kieran Anderson *inserts meme - Homer Simpson with KA's face disappears into bush with Bo'ness Utd's badge on it*

I've only seen him twice but I've been really impressed by him. He's already formed a handy attacking partnership with Tam Muir and he links really well with our midfield players. His assist last night was lovely - he showed great movement to pull away from his marker and drill in the cross for Muir to score - and he's really brought a new dynamic to our frontline.

I think he's signed up with us for next season which, on current form, is a huge positive.

[Guest Midnight Express]

Great result and good performance from Stenhousemuir, thought it was a deserved 3pts at the end of the 90mins.

Elgin had their moments and impressed at the start, if they had taken their chances it may have been a different outcome. 

Interesting side note for Stenhousemuir was the absence of Hopkirk from the squad and also one of the coaches? 

[true fan]

Fall out? Guessing not mentioned as mere casual observation. Top player last year. Goals being golden

[Francesc Fabregas]

I don't think there's anything too sinister involved in David Hopkirk (and Kevin McGoldrick) being absent from last night's match - someone mentioned work commitments which seems a more likely explanation.

[true fan]

Fingers crossed he isn’t following in midnight express footsteps into a Turkish prison.

[Guest Midnight Express]

3 hours ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

I don't think there's anything too sinister involved in David Hopkirk (and Kevin McGoldrick) being absent from last night's match - someone mentioned work commitments which seems a more likely explanation.

Thanks for clarifying, got the goals needed last night without Hopkirk and hopefully he will be available & fresh for tomorrow night's game.