Binos lose the edge in first leg play-off
Peterhead take charge in Forthbank fixture
Stirling Albion ...... 0 Peterhead ............. 1
It’s advantage Peterhead after the first leg of the League 1 play-off semi-final at Forthbank on Wednesday evening.
The sides meet at Balmoor in the return match tomorrow, with the winners up against Stenhousemuir or Queen’s Park in the two-legged final.
Jim McInally’s men will be strong favourites to seal the deal after racking up a seventh straight success while Stirling’s barren sequence now stands at eight matches.
Peterhead were deserved winners thanks to a 29th-minute goal from central defender Mason Robertson. They were by far the better team in the first half and should have been further in front but Stirling were much improved in the second period, which at least gives some hope for the long haul to the North Sea coast.
Binos boss Dave Mackay sprang a surprise by giving a start to Liam Caddis and he came on to a good game after the interval by which time Kevin Moon had been replaced by Willie Robertson after picking up a knock.
The Blue Toon’s weekend win against Edinburgh City was in vain as Montrose grabbed the point they needed to clinch the Ladbrokes League 2 title but there was no hangover as the visitors made a storming start at Forthbank, where they had already posted two 1-0 wins this season.
Top scorer Rory McAllister had an early header from a corner cleared off the line then Russell McLean – who scored twice when Peterhead beat the Binos 4-3 at Balmoor in January – forced a smart stop from Cammy Binnie.
The Albion No 1 then made a superb save to push a McAllister drive on to the bar as Peterhead dominated and a goal looked inevitable but Stirling began to find some sort of foothold in the game and Peter MacDonald sent a free-kick over the bar.
Overall, though, Peterhead were well on top and it was no surprise when they fell behind as the half-hour approached. McLean’s header back across goal was turned into the net from close range by Robertson although it’s possible a defender got the final touch.
Binnie was again called into action a couple of minutes later as Stirling continued to struggle but the Binos were brighter in the second half, albeit keeper Greg Fleming didn’t have an awful lot to do.
Ross Kavanagh did well to set up Danny Jardine and the on-loan St Johnstone midfielder’s effort slipped narrowly wide of the left-hand post and there was another close call when Caddis picked out Kavanagh, whose low ball across goal somehow failed to find a taker.
Peterhead didn’t pose the same threat in the second half but were not without menace and Robertson had a header cleared after Binnie failed to gather a corner and Jack Leitch thumped a shot just wide in the closing stages as they made it a hat-trick of 1-0 wins at Forthbank this season.