Darren doubles up in Binos win
Smith is first player in SPFL to hit 20-goal mark
Stirling Albion ...... 3 Elgin City .............. 1 It’s not quite Fortress Forthbank just yet but this was a third home victory in a row for Dave Mackay’s men and lifted them three points clear of play-off rivals Elgin in fourth place.
It was a strong all-round performance but Darren Smith deserves special mention for becoming the first player in the SPFL this term to reach the 20-goal landmark.
The former Motherwell man is enjoying the goalscoring season of his life and took his tally to 23 in all competitions with a terrific first-half double.
Peter MacDonald added the third and Jordan Allan’s deflected effort was little consolation for City.
Stirling have still to visit Borough Briggs twice this term and those matches will be vital in determining who finishes in the top four come the end of April but this had the feeling of a big win.
There were two changes from Wednesday. Centre-half Darren Barr made his debut after signing from Morton until the end of next season as Ross Smith dropped to the bench while Ross Kavanagh replaced Neil McLaughlin in attack.
On a cold and dreich afternoon, Stirling warmed their fans with the opening goal after 10 minutes.
On-loan St Johnstone midfielder Danny Jardine shone in only his
second appearance and combined with MacDonald to play in Smith, who guided a cool finish beyond Brett Long and inside the right-hand post.
City then enjoyed their best spell of the game and created a couple of half chances before being caught by a superb counterattack shortly after the half-hour mark.
MacDonald sent Ross McGeachie away on the right flank and he did brilliantly to pick out Smith - the finish was emphatic, the ball swept low past on-loan Dundee United keeper Long.
Stirling were fortunate to escape a few minutes later when keeper Cammy Binnie failed to deal with a corner and was grateful to one of his defenders for clearing the ball off the line in the melee that followed but the Binos were always dangerous going forward and MacDonald twice failed with attempted lobs when he might have done better.
The second half was generally short on clear-cut opportunities at either end but Albion looked comfortable and they conjured up a third goal with 20 minutes left.
It was another stylish build-up, with Lee Hamilton’s clever pass releasing Kavanagh who crossed from the left with the outside of his foot for MacDonald to bag his fifth goal of the season with a header from a few yards out – fitting reward on a day when he gave Elgin’s young central defenders a difficult time.
The only blemish for Stirling was the concession of a late goal.
Left-back Allan should perhaps have been closed down quicker but his speculative 25-yarder wouldn’t have caused a problem had it not taken a massive deflection to leave Binnie with no chance.
It hardly mattered, though, and six points in four days have made things around Forthbank look a lot brighter after a difficult few months.