LET’S KEEP CHALKING UPTHEWINS Rutkiewicz revels in win over play-off rivals Edinburgh City
have to adapt because there are not many players like him who can get on the ball and link the full team. He has every pass in the book and more often than not he executes them.
“Lewis looks like he has had a recurrence of an ACL injury – we’ve not had confirmation yet but it’s a real shame for the boy if that’s the case because he has worked hard to get fit.
“He played 80 minutes in a friendly against East Fife on the Tuesday night and did very well and was looking like someone who could have a real impact for us in the second half of the season so I’m bitterly disappointed for him and for us as a team. It’s a huge blow for
Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz was delighted to end the first phase of the season with a 3-2 win over Edinburgh City at Ainslie Park on Saturday.
First-half goals from Jack Leitch, Declan Byrne and Andy Ryan had the Binos firmly in control and they held on for victory despite Robbie Mcintyre and Liam Brown scoring for James Mcdonaugh’s men in the
Lewis but we will wait and see what the scan says and as a club we will look after him the best we can.
“Lewis can play centre-half or that holding midfield role but the positive thing is that we have a transfer window coming up and we can bring someone in. It’s two bits of bad news.”
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second period to set up an anxious finish.
Albion are level on points with second-placed Elgin City, who are the only team to have beaten them in League Two so far this season. Next up is a Scottish Cup first-round tie away to Berwick Rangers on Boxing Day before the league campaign resumes with the visit of Stenhousemuir on January 2.
Rutkiewicz (pictured) said: “It was a big win for us there is no getting away from that. It was very impressive and it was a game a lot of people probably wondered how it would go so it’s good that we have come away with three points at the end of the first third of the season.
“I thought we were sensational in the first half and made a very good Edinburgh side
look pretty average. In the second half the wind picked up a bit and we found it hard to get out but the two goals were from distance and I didn’t think they created too many chances.”
He added: “That type of victory when you are up against it in the last ten minutes can really galvanise a squad.
“Overall, there were a lot of good things and we’d all have taken 3-2 at a minute to three on Saturday.
“It’s a big victory and I did enjoy it on Saturday night. Normally by that time I’m in the office plotting the next game but I wanted to enjoy this one. Some of the football we played in the first half – similar to the Montrose game in the Betfred Cup – was excellent.
“In the first half to a man we were razor sharp and on point. The concentration levels were so focused and we were going after Edinburgh in packs. It was a joy to watch for me as a manager because we work on that sort of thing and the quality of the goals was high – the third in particular was a team goal, all about pace and movement.”
He went on: ““We had chances to kill the game in the second half and there are lessons to be learned but you can’t dominate a good side like Edinburgh for 90 minutes. They are strong and have scored a lot of goals from setpieces in the last few games but we dealt with them physically.
“It’s been a really good start to the season with 18 points from nine games so I’d score that a seven or eight out of 10.
“The important thing now is to go to Berwick in the Scottish Cup and get a good result to set us up nicely for the Stenhousemuir game in the New Year.”