Last gasp equaliser robs Binos of a win
Mackay’s men are now four games without a victory
Annan Athletic ..... 1 Stirling Albion ...... 1
Stirling Albion were denied their first win since early November as in-form Annan hit back for a deserved draw at a freezing Galabank on Saturday.
Liam Caddis’s early goal had the Binos on course for a big three points but substitute Brandon Luke slammed home the equaliser from outside the box with only three minutes remaining.
The result extends Annan’s unbeaten run to seven matches while Dave Mackay’s men are four without a victory going into Saturday’s home game with leaders Montrose.
This was a better performance than the displays that brought back-to-back defeats to Berwick and Peterhead and there was frustration at the concession of a late equaliser but Peter Murphy’s team hit the woodwork three times and didn’t deserve to lose.
Albion were thrashed 4-1 here at the end of January but their away form since then has been excellent – with only two defeats – and this has to be seen as a good point against an Annan side who would have drawn level with the Binos if they had made it three wins in a row.
On a day when fixtures at Alloa and Falkirk were postponed despite their artificial surfaces and Queen of the South v Dundee United was abandoned at half-time, conditions became tricky as the game wore on and temperatures dropped.
Andy Little, Steven Noble, Callumn Morrison and Andy Black, the latter beginning a two-game ban, were all out but skipper Willie Robertson returned from injury and there was a start for Kyle Banner, who played as part of a back three alongside Lee Hamilton and Ross McGeachie, with Cammy Thomson and Ewan McNeil acting as wing-backs.
Binos boss Mackay has been rightly critical of the way his side have started games recently but they were in determined mood at Galabank and went ahead when Darren Smith picked out Caddis with a low cross from the right at the end of a fine move involving Banner and Peter MacDonald and the former St Johnstone player bundled the ball into the net.
It was the midfielder’s first league goal of the season – his only other strike was a penalty against Brechin City in the Betfred Cup. Deployed in a more advanced role, Caddis almost netted another one just after half-time but his low drive from a MacDonald assist flew just wide.
Top scorer Darren Smith, with 15 goals already, also had the chance to perhaps put the game beyond Annan when he was sent clear by MacDonald – he beat advancing keeper Alex Mitchell but the ball rolled wide of the left-hand post.
It was a big chance missed but Annan also had their fair share of opportunities. Former Albion striker Blair Henderson bagged a hat-trick in the previous week’s 3-1 win at Stenhousemuir and he was denied by the bar after getting his head to a Rabin Omar free-kick and defender Steven Swinglehurst might have done better than nod the rebound over.
As the interval approached, Henderson saw another header bounce against the top of the crossbar and Annan were thwarted by the woodwork for the third time in the second half. They were always a threat in the air and Swinglehurst’s effort struck the foot of the post before being cleared.
The Galabankies continued to press but Albion defended well and looked as if they had done enough to hold on until Luke, on loan from Dunfermline, latched on to a perfect switch of play from Omar and struck a sweet, low shot in at the post from 20 yards.
It all means that Stirling stay third in the Ladbrokes League 2 table, seven points behind leaders and next opponents Montrose but with a game in hand on the Links Park high-fliers. Annan Athletic: Mitchell, Brannan, Creaney, Omar, Watson, Swinglehurst, Orsi (Luke 71), Sinnamon (Hooper 33), Fergusson, Henderson, Smith. Subs (not used): Atkinson (GK), Sonkur, Bell, Murphy, Rutkiewicz. Stirling Albion: Binnie, McGeachie, Thomson, McNeil (Kavanagh 72), Hamilton, Banner, Caddis, MacDonald, D Smith, Robertson (R Smith 72), Dickson. Subs (not used): Foden (GK), McLaughlin, Davidson, McMullan.