WHAT A SORE POINT
Mackay felt Binos deserved draw
Stirling Albion manager Dave Mackay felt his side deserved something for their efforts against leaders Peterhead on Saturday.
A Jamie Stevenson goal earned the Blue Toon a 1-0 win and all but ended the Binos’ title hopes, although they remain third in Ladbrokes League 2 and on course for the play-offs.
Stirling now face three away games in a row against Berwick Rangers (last night), Edinburgh City on Saturday and Elgin City next Tuesday before they host bottom club Cowdenbeath on March 24.
Mackay said: “A draw would have been fair. There was very little in it, very little quality and that’s maybe down to the conditions a little bit. The two teams cancelled each other out so it’s disappointing to lose – it was a great strike for their goal but it took a bit of a deflection off Lee Hamilton’s head and that just lifted the ball slightly.
“We could have defended it better and we could maybe have got out a bit quicker but it’s hard to criticise too much.”
Albion were twice denied by the woodwork as Peterhead won 1-0 at Forthbank for the second time this season, with top scorer Darren Smith twice coming close.
Mackay said: “The first one would have been fortunate for us if it had gone in. The keeper has made a mistake but on another day they hit the post and go in. For the one in the second half I think the defender has touched it on to Darren and it’s come off the bar so we’ve not had much luck there.
“We didn’t get many decisions either. Some of the decisions were baffling and I would love to see the report the assessors put in.
“I’m not going to be too critical of the guys. Yeah, we never played great and we lacked a bit of zip and quality but the last five weeks or so they have been excellent.”
The Binos boss believes his side are still looking good for the playoffs but the squad will be tested by a packed fixture schedule between now and the end of March.
He said: “It’s a huge gap now between ourselves and Peterhead and we’ll just keep going and trying to win games and see where it takes us but the play-offs look most realistic. We are in a good position – Elgin won to close it a little but we still have a cushion over them and Stenhousemuir.
“We’ve got a lot of games coming up in March but if I was a player I’d want to play rather than train.
“It would have been nicer not going to Berwick then Elgin in the space of a week but that’s the way the fixtures came out and I think the league were keen to get games played as soon as possible.”