The Spartans maintained third spot in the SPFL 2 table despite
suffering a 0-2 defeat to Stenhousemuir at Ainslie Park.
Gaffer Douglas Samuel making just the one change to the
starting XI that won in Peterhead the previous week with Cammy Russell replaced
by Bradley Whyte. New signing Mason McCready,
who joined the squad on Friday from Partick Thistle, joined the bench.
Despite the chill the game kicked off with blue sky gracing North
Edinburgh. The ball spending most of the
opening five minutes up there. As the
Sultans of Ping FC once noted, “If God meant game to be
played up there, he
would’ve put goal posts in the air”.
Neither team was able to secure possession
enough to make significant in-roads on either penalty area as many of the 702
inside the crowd shielded their eyes, not from what was playing out in front of
them, but the pesky low setting sun.
The first opportunity came from the visitors who flung in a
free-kick into the home box. Gregor
Buchanan found himself on the floor with muted appeals for a penalty waved
aside.
Then, at the other end, Jamie Dishington was inches away
from the opener when his effort via the outside of the boot shaved the outside
of the post.
As is often the case in sport, moments after that narrow
miss, it was Stenhousemuir who grabbed the advantage. Matty Yates coming up with the ball after an
interaction with Jamie Dishington, play raged on despite claims on the validity
of how possession was won and the Stenny striker sent the ball beyond Carswell
to make it 0-1.
Spartans rallied and a fantastic run by Blair Henderson through
the heart of the visitors defence saw him made good progress however he was
adjudged to have given the defender a wee tug and was pinged accordingly.
Blair Carswell was to make one final spectacular save before
the teams headed to the sheds as he got down low to deny Yates a second,
pushing a shot behind from close range.
HT: The Spartans 0-2 Stenhousemuir
An early half chance for Blair Henderson saw the Spartans man
send a half volley towards goal only for it to dip too late and fall just
behind the goal.
The visitors had an opportunity of their own when Meechan flashed
his shot across the face of Carswell’s goal with no-one coming in to pick up
the scraps.
Henderson could count himself unlucky not to have levelled
proceedings when Kevin Waugh’s through ball found the No.9. He still had lots to do before digging out a
shot that went narrowly wide.
A first swap of the day saw Danny Denholm come on for Kieran
Watson midway through the half.
Bradley Whyte was next to have a pop at goal as Spartans
pressed for the equaliser. It looked a
potential for top bins but the trajectory and pace of the ball saw it go over
the bar.
Paul Watson was next to enter the fray as he replaced Ayrton
Sonkur.
Then, in the 81st minute, the visitors struck
again. A wee flick following a headed
clearance inside the Stenny half found Matty Aitken flirting with the offside
line however he collected the ball before racing in to slide beyond Carswell to
double the lead.
A double Spartans swap to salvage something out of the game
saw Sean Brown and Sam Newman come on for Booth and Whyte however despite some
intense bombardment of the tourists box, there was to be no reward for the late
endeavours.
FT: The Spartans 0-2 Stenhousemuir
Malt and Hops Man of the Match: James Craigen
