Jump to content

Stranraer vs Dumbarton


Recommended Posts

When are the Farrell out brigade getting here? 

But in all seriousness that was gutting and I was following on twitter never mind being there. It was going to be difficult enough on a Tuesday night never mind losing Carswell in particular. 

The streak is over, time to start a new (winning) one 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Nowhereman said:

Makes you wonder why the club would agree to play the match on a night when Carswell was unavailable. Especially given he has been one of our best players

He has been our best player so far this year, and I've wanted rid of him for the last couple of years!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

No complaints at all from me on that one. Stranraer were the better team for about 82 of the 90 minutes. Hungrier, braver and stronger all over the park.

Duffing it up from 2-2 against ten men after 86 minutes is a pain though.

That first paragraph is worrying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:

Makes you wonder why the club would agree to play the match on a night when Carswell was unavailable. Especially given he has been one of our best players

I may be wrong and someone like @Skyline Drifter will be along shortly to confirm, but i dont think its as simple as "we dont want to play cause we have a player missing" when the dates are rearranged.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:

Makes you wonder why the club would agree to play the match on a night when Carswell was unavailable. Especially given he has been one of our best players

 

24 minutes ago, pleslie99 said:

I may be wrong and someone like @Skyline Drifter will be along shortly to confirm, but i dont think its as simple as "we dont want to play cause we have a player missing" when the dates are rearranged.

Well yes and no. You can't refuse to play a game because a player is unavailable. However, this wasn't a scheduled game. It's the game rearranged following the passing of the Queen causing the initial postponement. The instructions from the SPFL with regard to those games was for the two clubs to get together and find a mutually acceptable date to play within the next few week or, if they couldn't do so, the SPFL would eventually impose one. Very few clubs chose to go for it straight away clearly. Only two games across Scottish football were replayed tonight (granted the Premiership clubs couldn't due to the international break). Those who have confirmed dates so far have agreed dates across the next five midweeks (Ayr and Partick Thistle agreed 25th October and that was approved). We've agreed to play Kelty on 11th October, mainly because it saves moving reserve matches from the other midweeks in the next month.

So basically Dumbarton certainly didn't have to agree to play tonight. If the clubs couldn't agree a date then ultimately the League would have imposed one, generally favouring the home club's preference as they have to organise the game. There's not a chance they'd have imposed playing this immediate midweek though if Dumbarton had objected to it.

If Carswell's all that important then presumably either they didn't know he would be unavailable when agreeing, or he has commitments that would have made him unavailable for any Tuesday so it didn't matter?

EDITED to add - If both teams are already out of the SPFL Trust Trophy then using this weekend would surely have made more sense, but maybe there was resistance from fans to playing Saturday and clashing with a Hampden day out and Sunday games are notoriously expensive to stage as stewards want double time, etc and transport is often harder to get. Friday night might have made more sense but if you are going to play "after work" I don't suppose it makes that much odds which night.

Edited by Skyline Drifter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

 

 

EDITED to add - If both teams are already out of the SPFL Trust Trophy then using this weekend would surely have made more sense, but maybe there was resistance from fans to playing Saturday and clashing with a Hampden day out and Sunday games are notoriously expensive to stage as stewards want double time, etc and transport is often harder to get. Friday night might have made more sense but if you are going to play "after work" I don't suppose it makes that much odds which night.

According to some reports this weekend didn’t suit as some of our players had booked holidays due to having a pre arranged free weekend which is fair enough I suppose. I’m still not entirely sure why we felt the need to agree to the game so quickly tbh. We will not doubt have to contend with some rearranged fixtures throughout the winter but we’re a good couple of months away from freezing temperatures and I’m sure our players would benefit from having advance notice. Not that it’s any sort of excuse, by all accounts Stranraer more than deserved the 3 points this evening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

According to some reports this weekend didn’t suit as some of our players had booked holidays due to having a pre arranged free weekend which is fair enough I suppose. I’m still not entirely sure why we felt the need to agree to the game so quickly tbh. We will not doubt have to contend with some rearranged fixtures throughout the winter but we’re a good couple of months away from freezing temperatures and I’m sure our players would benefit from having advance notice. Not that it’s any sort of excuse, by all accounts Stranraer more than deserved the 3 points this evening.

Makes sense I suppose, though they only knew it was free when you lost to Rangers B on 23rd August. Most clubs would use a spare Saturday for training but I guess given the start you've made it's perfectly feasible that they were told they could have a weekend off as a reward.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firstly, feel for any Dumbarton fan that made the journey. Never a good way to lose a game but that’s a real sickener. 
 

From a Stranraer perspective what a difference a few days make. Unrecognisable from the team that was on the pitch at the Forthbank. 
 

Felt we were worthy winners and unlucky not to be a couple up at half time,  with Hilton missing a couple of good chances and Woods missing one. 
 

Scored two decent goals and thought it was just a case of seeing the game out. 
Always felt Dumbarton were a threat at set pieces and sure enough it was set piece that got them back in the game. 
A moment of madness from our young keeper ended up in Dylan Forrest having to commit a foul for the Dumbarton keeper and it was very much a thought of here we go again but, credit to our players. Heads didn’t go down at 2-2 and managed to get what we deserved from the game. 
 

Pass marks for all in blue, Hilton grew in confidence after the goal, Hackshaw played one of his best games for us, Matty Grant one of the best on the pitch once again. 
Even O’Connor after his howler, still coming collecting crosses. 
 

Anyone that’s only watched us at home this season will be baffled as to how we’ve been beaten so easily away from home. 
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well that was a very entertaining game of football, one of those games where you could re-watch the whole game not cut anything out for highlights. Best for Stranraer were the back 4 for the whole game,  Grant and Eze in the first half and Woods/Hilton in the second.

Dumbarton surprisingly not that impressive, particularily up front.....their main tactic appeared to be using a lad that can chuck the ball quite far throwing it at 3 basketball players in the box, with more of the same at corners and free kicks,  this will no doubt gain a few goals at this level but probably leak a few at the back as well to tricky skillful players.

Dumbarton really wouldn't have deserved a point at the end and you could tack that howler from the Stranraer keeper onto any youtube football fails video, I hope someone was filming it because you have to see it and I guarantee the lad will never do anything like that in the rest of his career.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That’s a bit of a change from when everyone at Stenny from the fans to the Chairman were bawling their eyes out after we won at Ochilview.
That's fitbaw for ye eh.

No be long till the underlying poison for farrell comes back to surface when a bad run happens.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I said last night, we can have no complaints at losing that. Stranraer were better all over the park, and looked like a team who had a point to prove.

We, by contrast, looked to be playing with a bit of fear. And watching the sides in the first-half especially you'd never have guessed the run we were on.

Stranraer carved us open a few times down both wings, with Paul Woods and Matty Grant both causing plenty of bother for our full-backs. If they'd had a natural striker then they would've been at least a goal ahead at half-time.

We barely strung a handful of passes together, and barely threatened their goal. The game completely bypassed the midfield and Declan Byrne spent his night chasing balls into the corner or trying to win headers against a centre half about 5 inches taller than him.

All three of Stranraer's goals started in wide positions. The first after a good interception on Finlay Gray and drive forward, the second after Matty Grant found acres of space after Jinky Hilton had drawn in a good few defenders, and the winner after a tired and clumsy foul from Aron Lynas. Who looked absolutely devastated. 

Faz has obviously been loyal to a side that's winning games. And that's understandable. But I think now he should stick with the shape, but freshen things up.

Kalvin Orsi and Ally Love worked hard, but neither had any impact at all going forward. And we improved with Garrity and MacLean on the park. Likewise Div Wilson just isn't anywhere near as effective as Joe McKee. He's not as strong, he doesn't use the ball as well and his intelligence at dropping into wee pockets of space isn't as good. McKee was quietly vital to our start to the season, and we need to be getting him playing every week.

Without Stuart Carswell at centre-half we struggled to play out, and that led to the midfield being bypassed and, effectively, us gifting Stranraer back possession and getting ourselves under more pressure. It wasn't that McGeever was bad. It's that he wasn't Carsy. And he's been pivotal for us this season.

In terms of positives. Well fighting back from 2-0 down is a good sign. We only actually attacked the game when it got to 2-0, and we had Stranraer rocking a fair bit. 

After spending his first 10 minutes doing nothing but conceding fouls and shouting at people, Ryan Wallace really came onto a game. He used his arse well, he created chances and he looked very fired up. 

Finlay Gray did incredibly well chasing a lost cause to effectively win the penalty. And when McKee made it 2-2 we should've accepted it and got up the road.

As it was, the red card probably made the players think we could've snatched a win. And whilst I wouldn't ever have a go at a team for trying to win a game...We lost our discipline, our shape and got too excited pushing for a winning goal.

The run was always going to come to an end. And I'm glad it was a deserved defeat, rather than a fluke or a dodgy bit of refereeing. 

Hopefully it's a wee wake up call that you can't have off days in this division, and we see a reaction from the guys. In a way we seemed to be playing with fear of losing the run; today and on Saturday in the second-half. So it'll be interesting to see what the response is like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A poor way to lose but I'm not too disheartened. On the face of it, it was perhaps a poor decision to play the game last night with a key player out but I understand Faz looking to get it out the way with no game this weekend. For me though, no chance our team of last season pulls that game back to 2-2, so I'm pleased that we didn't capitulate like Peterhead last season but Faz talks about how good teams see games out and we really shouldn't be losing to 10 men with a few minutes left. 

I'd actually prefer we were right back at it this weekend, but hopefully the players use the break well and we come back with a full squad to get back on the winning trail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

As I said last night, we can have no complaints at losing that. Stranraer were better all over the park, and looked like a team who had a point to prove.

We, by contrast, looked to be playing with a bit of fear. And watching the sides in the first-half especially you'd never have guessed the run we were on.

Stranraer carved us open a few times down both wings, with Paul Woods and Matty Grant both causing plenty of bother for our full-backs. If they'd had a natural striker then they would've been at least a goal ahead at half-time.

We barely strung a handful of passes together, and barely threatened their goal. The game completely bypassed the midfield and Declan Byrne spent his night chasing balls into the corner or trying to win headers against a centre half about 5 inches taller than him.

All three of Stranraer's goals started in wide positions. The first after a good interception on Finlay Gray and drive forward, the second after Matty Grant found acres of space after Jinky Hilton had drawn in a good few defenders, and the winner after a tired and clumsy foul from Aron Lynas. Who looked absolutely devastated. 

Faz has obviously been loyal to a side that's winning games. And that's understandable. But I think now he should stick with the shape, but freshen things up.

Kalvin Orsi and Ally Love worked hard, but neither had any impact at all going forward. And we improved with Garrity and MacLean on the park. Likewise Div Wilson just isn't anywhere near as effective as Joe McKee. He's not as strong, he doesn't use the ball as well and his intelligence at dropping into wee pockets of space isn't as good. McKee was quietly vital to our start to the season, and we need to be getting him playing every week.

Without Stuart Carswell at centre-half we struggled to play out, and that led to the midfield being bypassed and, effectively, us gifting Stranraer back possession and getting ourselves under more pressure. It wasn't that McGeever was bad. It's that he wasn't Carsy. And he's been pivotal for us this season.

In terms of positives. Well fighting back from 2-0 down is a good sign. We only actually attacked the game when it got to 2-0, and we had Stranraer rocking a fair bit. 

After spending his first 10 minutes doing nothing but conceding fouls and shouting at people, Ryan Wallace really came onto a game. He used his arse well, he created chances and he looked very fired up. 

Finlay Gray did incredibly well chasing a lost cause to effectively win the penalty. And when McKee made it 2-2 we should've accepted it and got up the road.

As it was, the red card probably made the players think we could've snatched a win. And whilst I wouldn't ever have a go at a team for trying to win a game...We lost our discipline, our shape and got too excited pushing for a winning goal.

The run was always going to come to an end. And I'm glad it was a deserved defeat, rather than a fluke or a dodgy bit of refereeing. 

Hopefully it's a wee wake up call that you can't have off days in this division, and we see a reaction from the guys. In a way we seemed to be playing with fear of losing the run; today and on Saturday in the second-half. So it'll be interesting to see what the response is like.

When we get our best team on the park we can accumulate points; when we don't it's a much bigger ask.  And I absolutely agree with you on Byrne's isolation and the influence of McKee on the side's performance.  Let's hope also that McLean starts at Forfar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...