STIRLING Albion returned to Division Two action for the first time since December 15 and contributed to an enthralling match – but the script was the same as prior to the enforced winter break.
Once again, Allan Moore’s men fell behind and yet again they battled back, but ultimately they could only manage a sixth home draw of the season.
It’s perhaps just as well that Saturday’s showdown with leaders Cowdenbeath is at Central Park. Stirling seem to thrive on the road but they just can’t get it right at Forthbank. As ever, there was much to admire in an attacking sense but they were undone by defensive woes.
It was, as both managers observed, a great game for the neutrals but for both sets of supporters frustration at what might have been. Victory would have taken Albion joint top of the table after Cowdenbeath’s long unbeaten run was ended at Dumbarton while East Fife were denied a third away win by what they felt was an unfair Ross Forsyth equaliser.
There were just eight minutes left when the former St Johnstone defender, an outstanding performer behind the equally impressive David O’Brien on the left, got in where it hurts to head an O’Brien corner past Michael Brown, arguably impeding Jamie McCunnie on the way.
Stirling deserved that and might even have snatched another of their speciality late wins, although thevisitors also had a chance to edge an epic contest when Paul McManus failed to convert a close-range header that would have given him a 20-minute hat-trick.
Devastating
McManus was denied a goal by the offside flag in the first half but made his presence felt with a devastating double blow to the hosts in the final quarter. In 71 minutes he lashed the ball past Scott Christie after shoddy defending down the centre of the Stirling defence and a couple of minutes later he profited again from a similar position.
The switch to a 4-4-2 system that freed Stevie Crawford to move up front from the left of midfield was pivotal to the visitors’ comeback and a subtle touch by the former Scotland striker saw Bobby Linn curl an effort wide just before Forsyth’s late intervention.
Albion’s last shut-out in Division Two came in a 3-0 win against the same opponents on this ground four months ago but any hopes that the new-look defence would celebrate with a clean sheet were soon shattered.
Brian Allison and Craig McKeown, on loan from Falkirk and Dundee, will surely go on to forge a solid partnership but it was a testing occasion against an adventurous East Fife team who had been denied victory by a late goal in last week’s local derby with Cowdenbeath.
After just seven minutes, Andy Graham and Chris Aitken got in a muddle at a throw-in and Lloyd Young seized possession before beating Christie with an angled drive that the keeper would have expected to keep out.
It was the 11th time in the last 12 Second Division fixtures that Stirling had fallen behind and worse almost followed when David Muir’s header was cleared off the line by McKeown, then Christie was called upon to thwart McManus.
The hosts were toiling but hauled themselves level in 25 minutes when the ball broke to Aitken on the edge of the area and he guided it into the net, via a deflection off defender Jonathan Smart, as he marked his return from Ayr United with a goal.
David McKenna had a chance to give Stirling the lead but shot straight at Brown as half-time approached. Earlier, the ex-Forfar keeper had tipped over a blistering drive from powerful Falkirk Amateurs striker Derek Colquhoun.
Sidelined
A player Moore has admired for some time, Colquhoun was included as a trialist ahead of two-goal midweek cup hero Michael Mullen who had to settle for a place on the bench, while leading league marksman Martin Grehan was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
It was winger O’Brien, relishing the freedom of the 4-4-2 formation, who prodded Albion in front on the hour mark for his fifth goal of the campaign after being put through by Aitken, but he later spurned a glorious opportunity to seal the points when clean through.
O’Brien and Forsyth were at the heart of Stirling’s attacking thrust and it was fitting that they combined for the equalising goal. The wait for a home win goes on but the Binos will go top of the table if they overcome the Blue Brazil this weekend.
East Fife: Brown, Watson, Ovenstone, S Campbell (Conway 66), Smart, McCunnie, Crawford, Young, McManus, Muir, Linn (Fagan 81). Subs not used: Stobie, R Campbell, Sludden.
