WIN STREAK AT AN END
Local bowlers get underway on the green Six-game run goes against promotion chasers
Stirling Albion boss Dave Mackay has asked his side for a reaction against Berwick Rangers on Saturday after their six-game winning run was ended by Forfar.
The Ladbrokes League 2 leaders coasted to a 3-0 victory at Forthbank as the Binos suffered their first defeat in nine matches since losing to Montrose at the beginning of February.
Albion head for Berwick on Saturday, having failed to beat John Coughlin’s men this season with 0-0 and 2-2 draws at Forthbank and a 3-2 reverse at Shielfield, and Mackay knows a big improvement will be required after a disappointing display against Forfar.
He said: “We were second best from the first minute to the last. They were physically stronger than us and were sharper to things. They were better all over the pitch and deservedly won 3-0; it could have been even more.
“I was disappointed with the performance and didn’t see it coming. Whether we’ve started to believe our own hype I don’t know. We’ve had a good run recently and a few wee things going for us, which has maybe helped us but Saturday was poor.
“It’s maybe one too many injuries and suspensions and we are changing a lot of positions - we were missing a lot of key players but we have to be better than that. We’ve got a big squad and it’s a strong squad so you have to deal with these things.
“It’s alarming the amount of poor first halves we have had. We emphasise all the time how important it is to have a good start. We have come back a few times but you can’t keep giving teams a goal or two-goal advantage and expect to come back.
“Forfar are a strong team and they bullied us. At times it looked like men against boys. We have got a youngish squad, other than a few players, and that will be a steep learning curve playing against a team like that.”
Mackay will have Ross McGeachie and Sean Dickson available again after suspension to face a Berwick side who drew 2-2 away to Elgin City at the weekend.
He added: “We need to react. We have five games to go and hopefully we finish the season well. Any hopes or ideas of getting in the play-offs are basically dead and buried now. It’s nothing that I concentrated too much on but if we had won on Saturday there would have been a chance. It’s gone now, with Elgin six points ahead and with a better goal difference.
“It’s important that we finish strongly and try to build for next year. I don’t want to be too critical of the players as they have done very well for us in the last couple of months but that performance was back to what we were like two or three months ago.
“All the pressure was on Forfar. They potentially are losing a league title whereas we are a team who might have SEE PAGE 53 had a wee chance of the play-offs if we won all our games.
“We should be the team coming out and expressing ourselves but we were happy to get the ball and just launch it forward. It’s not how I want to play football. We are playing the ball up to Dylan Bikey’s head. It was the easy option and it’s not good enough.”
Saturday’s attendance at Forthbank was a healthy 738 and Mackay admits they were let down by a flat performance from his team.
He said: “A decent crowd turned out but they went home disappointed. I think we only had one shot on target when their keeper made a good save from Darren Smith and we conceded three cheap goals.”