Rovers boss Stirling rage

ALBION ROVERS...................................0 STIRLING.................................................3 Albion Rovers boss Kevin Harper slammed his players for a horror first half showing in the defeat to Stirling.

A Darryl Duffy hat-trick in the first 40 minutes secured a comfortable afternoon for the Binos.

Disappointed Harper told the Advertiser:“We were very poor.

“It wasn’t just one or two all of the players just weren’t at it and it’s not good enough.

“In the first half we really were just bad. We were a bit better in the second half but the game was over by then.

“Before they score Euan [East] has a chance to score and maybe if that goes in it changes things a bit, but we can’t have any complaints.

“When we play like that we don’t give ourselves a chance and it just goes against all the hard work we have put in over the past four games.”

With a five-point cushion over bottom of the table Brechin, Harper is still confident that Rovers can challenge for the promotion play-off spots.

The gaffer believes that the clash with Cowdenbeath could prove cruical for that run-in.

He went on:“We are still hoping to kick on and climb up the table.

“When you look at it we are still only eight points off the play-off’s.

“Yes, the Stirling game was a poor performance, but the players have got to go out now and show they are better than that.

“Nothing has changed in my view. We still want to be closer to the top four than the bottom four.

“We have a game in hand and a five-point gap over the bottom side so if we win on Saturday you don’t know where we could be looking.

“We need to pick up points in every game now I would say.

“There is a lot of inconsistency in this league and in a couple of weeks we could be in a much better situation.

“We look at last season and we are in a much better position than we were this time last year.

“We need to stop the mistakes and make sure we don’t repeat the Stirling performance.

“If we play like that first half every week we will be in trouble.”