Dismay as former keeper keeps Brechin at bay

STENHOUSEMUIR 1 BRECHIN CITY 0

Brechin City’s hopes of getting their League One campaign off to a winning start ended in disappointment at Ochilview, with newly promoted Stenhousemuir winning 1-0.

The only goal came after just eight minutes when a Conner Duthie corner was diverted into the City net by skipper Dougie Hill, with the home side controlling the vast majority of the half thereafter.

The Warriors were reduced to 10 men seconds before the break when Kieran Gibbons received a second yellow card .

Despite their numerical advantage and the bulk of pressure and possession in the second-half, City were unable to pose much of a threat in front of goal – although former City keeper Graeme Smith brought off two great saves in the closing stages to ensure his team collected maximum points.

City manager Darren Dods said: “We didn’t start the match well and Stenny were on top for the first 20 minutes when we struggled to cope with them.

“We were very unfortunate with the goal we lost, with the ball coming off Dougie Hill.

“I thought we controlled the match in the second half after Stenny went down to 10 men but, unfortunately, we didn’t create enough chances in the final third although Graeme Smith brought off two unbelievable saves towards the end.

“That’s one game gone with 35 still to go but we’ve got a good squad of players with others who missed out today ready to come back in the next couple of weeks and I don’t feel that there’s any need to panic.

“We showed in spells of the secondhalf when we got the ball down and played that we can be a good team.

“We’re just making mistakes and passes at the wrong time but we’ll work hard on the training pitch and I’m confident things will turn.”

Graeme Smith made great saves to deny Brechin.