Late drama denies win for Airdrie

Stenhousemuir...2 Airdrieonians...2 Advertiser reporter Plenty of thrills and spills in Larbert as struggling Stenhousemuir fought back to rescue a point on Saturday.

Colin McMenamin had given the Warriors the lead in the 15th minute.

However, Iain Russell’s penalty and an Adam Brown goal turned the match on its head – only for Fraser Kerr to equalise as time ran out.

Stenny’s No 2 Davie Irons was sent to the stand while Kerr was red-carded.

Points dropped

Last season, Airdrie coughed up six points by conceding goals in the final five minutes of matches. Kerr’s leveller means that’s the first two thrown away this term.

Familiar outcome

Stenny took advantage of Airdrie being unable to see out games in 2015-16 on three occasions by turning draws into victories. The difference between coming away from those matches with nine points instead of three played a major role in securing them League One football.

High emotions

After the match, Stenny boss Brown Ferguson accused a member of the Airdrie team of making homophobic remarks towards his No 2 Irons.

It was out-of-character for Ferguson who is one of the most pleasant managers to speak to when the dust settles.

Alas, he retracted his comments on Sunday and said he regretted his choice of words.

Diamonds head coach Kevin McBride was happy to let the matter rest. He said that nobody had come to him with an issue to raise.

Crime count

Busy day for referee Gavin Ross. As well as dismissing Irons and Kerr, he booked seven players.

Managers’ views

Warriors chief Ferguson said:“I’d say that the officiating of the game, in my view, constituted to a lot of the problems as we’ve had two red cards.”

Airdrie boss McBride said:“We dominated the second half.

“But credit goes to Stenhousemuir as they dug in and got another late goal.”

Stats a fact

STENHOUSEMUIR: McCabe; McCormack*, Meechan, Kerr**, Summers*; Gilhaney* (Smith 81), Millar* (Sinclair 78), Stirling, Cook; McMenamin (Roy 75), Shaw. SUBS NOT USED: Robertson(gk), Hamilton, McCroary, McMaster. AIRDRIE: Ferguson; Stewart, Boateng, Fitzpatrick*, MacDonald; McIntosh; Scullion (Loudon 85), Conroy, Brown*; Russell*, Ryan. SUBS NOT USED: Kerr(gk), Higgins, Truesdale, McLaughlin, Daly, Gorman. REF: Gavin Ross. ATT: 597. *booked **sent-off

Goal Adam Brown was on target for Airdrie