Win sends Binos clear at the top
Boost ahead of Dumbarton showdown
Stirling Albion moved to the summit of League Two ahead of Saturday’s crunch visit of fellow title contenders Dumbarton following a comfortable win over Forfar Athletic.
The kick off for the match was delayed for five minutes to allow a strong home contingent to make their way into the ground and they were rewarded with a good opening 45 minutes from the Binos.
Stirling’s talisman Dale Carrick was looking bright and flashed a long-range snapshot over the bar.
The former Hearts and Airdrie man had a much better chance on 16 minutes,
firing straight at Mccallum from close range.
Stirling were well on the front foot and Carrick was nearly the beneficiary of neat interplay when he was laid through by Jack Leitch but his effort was brilliantly blocked by Roberto Nditi.
Those missed chances nearly came back to haunt Stirling when Adam Hutchinson glanced a header just wide from a free kick.
Stirling nearly had the perfect start to the second half, with Mccallum saving Carrick’s audacious overhead kick almost straight from the kick off.
There were strong appeals from the home side seconds later when Kieran Moore appeared to be brought down in the Loons box but the ref waved away appeals.
The Forfar defence was being stretched and Danny Denholm was denied by a valiant sliding tackle as he was ready to pull the trigger.
It looked like the Binos were going to be denied the three points their performance merited. However, Stirling stalwart Ross Mcgeachie was to strike the crucial blow with a deserved opener on 70 minutes.
Substitute Josh Cooper curled in a lovely corner with almost his first touch of the game and it was met with a thundering header by the right-back.
There was a scare for the hosts on 76 minutes when Matthew Aitken flashed a shot wide of Currie’s left post.
But Carrick was to finally get his goal – his 20th of the season – to seal the vital three points two minutes later.
A delicious turn by Leitch on halfway allowed him to slide a pass through to Cooper, who beat a defender to set the ball back to Carrick who made no mistake as he hammered the ball home.
It prompted rapturous scenes as the Albion players celebrated with delighted supporters as they moved two points clear at the top.