Good and the bad for Airdrie coach Findlay

Airdrie first-team coach Stephen Findlay lamented his sides missed chances as they failed to break down their Monklands rivals.

The Diamonds had the better opportunities on derby day – however failed to covert that supremacy into three points despite playing against 10 men for most of the second half – and nine late-on.

However, Findlay felt they had done enough to put the humiliating 7-1 defeat to Arbroath behind them.

“First and foremost we had to show our fans that the Arbroath result was way below what we would expect,”said Findlay.

“We wanted to get that sense of pride back and prove to the fans that we do care.

“I think we played well. We commanded the middle of the park, but when they went down to 10 men it seemed to give them more of a boost than it did us.

“After that out intensity dropped and that became a problem for us.

“We didn’t win the game because we defended poorly in two situations and then weren’t clinical enough when we got chances.

“Had we done that I think we would have done that comfortably.

“We’ve pressed and took the game by the scruff of the neck. We should be finishing the chances we’ve got.”

Findlay highlighted the performances of both Scott Stewart and Tom Fry – who were the standouts for the home side.

He said:“Scott Stewart caused problems all day. We are trying to encourage him to push forward and be direct.

“Tom (Fry) is a very clever player. I think we can use him better, I don’t think we used the space well enough.

“But I’ve been working with the players for three or four weeks now and we hope to see improvements in those sorts of things.”

Star man Stewart celebrates his goal