Albion crash out after last-gasp spot kick cock-up
Stirling Albion .............. 1 Queen’s Park ................ 2 There will be no Scottish Cup run to lift the gloom around Forthbank after Queen’s Park booked their spot in the third round on Saturday.
The Spiders now face Raith Rovers at Hampden Park on Saturday, November 24 after inflicting a fourth straight defeat on the Binos.
Albion’s last win was 1-0 against Queen’s Park at Forthbank in League 2 on September 15, but nothing has gone right since then.
Stirling looked down and out when they trailed by two goals after a dreadful first half.
But Dom Docherty got them back in it on the hour mark and Jordan Allan had the chance to force a replay on October 30, only to miss his stoppage-time penalty.
It was a moment that summed up Albion’s miserable season, although interim boss Darren Barr was right to point out that the main reason for successive second-round exits was the defence going to sleep at a pair of set-pieces.
This was the third meeting of the teams in the Scottish Cup – Stirling won 3-1 at Annfield in 1965/66 and by the same score at Forthbank in 2003/04.
How they could have done with a similar result on Saturday.
But it was always unlikely after recent losses to Annan, Albion Rovers and Cowdenbeath – with only a single goal scored in the process.
The injury list was again a lengthy one and Barr – still short of fitness himself – had to do without Darren Smith, Peter MacDonald,