No positives in dismal defeat
Mackay admits it was‘an alarming performance’
Albion Rovers ........ 3 Stirling Albion ....... 0
David Ogilvie Dave Mackay’s near two– year reign as Stirling Albion manager came to an end in the aftermath of a heavy defeat to Albion Rovers on Saturday.
It was a dismal afternoon from a Stirling perspective as Rovers – who sit at the bottom of the Ladbrokes League 2 – claimed their first win of the season with embarrassing ease and kept their first clean sheet into the bargain.
This calamity in Coatbridge was a sixth league defeat out of eight for the Binos.
Coming on the back of a nine–match winless end to 2017/18, it wasn’t a big surprise when the club released a short statement just after 6pm to announce they had parted company with the former St Johnstone skipper.
Before then, Mackay spoke briefly to the press and you couldn’t argue with his summing up: “There were no positives. We shot ourselves in the foot with the opening goal but there was no reaction from us. It was an alarming performance.”
Albion seemed to be heading in the right direction after back–to–back victories over Elgin City and Queen’s Park in the first half of September.
But they were poor in losing to Annan at Forthbank last week and this was a nightmare on a chilly and windswept autumn day in North Lanarkshire.
There was a debut for on loan Hamilton Accies midfielder Ronan Hughes at right wing–back while Kyle Banner and Mark Stewart also returned to the starting line–up.
Evan Horne, Dominic Docherty and Jason Marr dropped out while Willie Robertson, Darren Smith and Lee Hamilton were all out injured.
Rovers were gifted the opening goal inside 10 minutes.
Goalkeeper Calum Ferrie had the ball in his hands but, with the stiff breeze against him and on a difficult bumpy pitch, he elected to play it from the ground.
It should still have been a routine clearance but instead he clattered the ball straight at attacking midfielder Lewis McLear, who took it round him and knocked it into the empty net.
On the touchline, Mackay had his head in his hands, and no wonder.
Probably worse than the concession of a needless goal, was Stirling’s response; it was almost non–existent for the remainder of the half.
They created nothing of note and might even have conceded a second goal when Larry McMahon’s cross smacked against the outside of the post.
The visitors showed some signs of life in the second half but managed to fall further behind within eight minutes of the restart.
McLear, who spent time on loan at Forthbank in his St Mirren days, danced away from several players on the right flank, delivered a low cross and Ryan Watters squeezed the ball home at the back post.
His dad, Willie, was a hugely popular and successful striker during his time with the Binos in the early 1990s.
He was watching on at the Reigart Stadium and must have been shocked at how far his former club have fallen in recent years. How Stirling could have done with him here.
With the wind at their backs, Mackay’s men did at least create some good chances in the second half but couldn’t find a way past on–loan Motherwell keeper Peter Morrison.
He made some fine saves, notably from a Marr overhead kick.
Banner hit the bar with a header from a corner and Stewart dragged a shot wide, but it just wasn’t happening.
Across their first nine matches of the season, the Coatbridge team scored just a single goal and had managed only five in 12 outings overall.
Remarkably, they added a third in the closing minutes here.
A neat passage of play allowed Gary Fisher to split the defence and Watters ran on to fire the ball past Ferrie.
It sealed a quite dreadful 90 minutes for Stirling, who complete the first quarter of their campaign with a trip to play fellow strugglers Cowdenbeath on Saturday.
They will do so without Mackay, who paid the price for a run of just three wins in 22 games since March. Stirling Albion – Ferrie, McGeachie, Allan, Banner, Thomson (Marr 31), Moon, Stewart, Jardine, MacDonald (McLaren 56), Hughes, Fell (McLaughlin 56). Subs (not used) – Binnie, Horne, Docherty, Barr.