Binos battle on to salvage point
Third red card of season for Clark
Cinch League Two
EAST FIFE ..................................... 1 STIRLING ALBION ....................... 1
Stirling Albion had to settle for a battling point at a blustery Bayview – after playing for more than half an hour with ten men.
The Binos had taken the lead through Greig Spence’s deflected free kick, but Cammy Clark’s third red card of the season proved a pivotal turning point as East Fife came back into the game.
Jack Healy’s 66th minute curler was, in truth, a deserved leveller for the home side, with Stirling having to hold on under pressure to avoid conceding any ground in the League Two promotion fight.
It was a fairly drab opening half hour to proceedings, with both teams struggling to create in the swirling winds.
Greig Spence spurned the best chance of that period after his effort was denied by a good stop from Allan Fleming from close range.
However, the first half did eventually ignite – with both teams enjoying good periods of pressure and opportunities to score.
The home side spurned a glorious chance to open the scoring when Jack Healy was played in by a lovely reverse ball down the left, but he blazed over from 12 yards.
The Fifers’ bench was screaming for a spot kick on 34 minutes when Hearts loanee Aidan Denholm fell under the challenge of Cammy Clark, but referee Ross Hardie waved away the appeals.
Stirling had to fight to get back into proceedings and mustered up a close chance when Josh Cooper’s free kick deflected just wide of a wrong-footed Fleming’s left post.
Cooper missed another good opening three minutes from the break after a passing move involving Robert Thomson and Jack Leitch found its way to the winger in the box, but he shot straight at the keeper.
The second half started much more brightly – and the Binos opened the scoring on 49 minutes.
Leitch was tripped on the edge of the East Fife box and from the free kick, Spence’s drive took a big deflection off the wall to beat Fleming and open the striker’s account for the Binos.
However, arguably the game’s decisive moment was to follow four minutes later.
A long ball caught the Stirling defence napping and Clark was adjudged to have tripped Healy, with ref Hardie issuing a second yellow card to the full-back for his third dismissal of the season.
Healy then stepped up to rattle the post from the resulting free kick.
But the winger – who was proving a major threat – wasn’t to be denied and notched a delightful leveller on 66 minutes.
He cut inside from the left side and under no real pressure, curled a sumptuous effort beyond Blair Currie from 30 yards.
From that point, Albion were clinging on to what they had, with the Bayview side nearly forcing the ball over the line after a scramble from a Healy corner.
But for all of the East Fife pressure, Stirling enjoyed the game’s last real chance, with Aaron Dunsmore foiled by Fleming after intercepting a short defensive backpass.
East Fife – Fleming, Steele (Walls 77’), Schiavone, Slattery (Shepherd 85’), Trouten, Healy,