Stenny 3 v Airdrie 3 - 8/2/03
By Gordon Thomson
February 9 2003
John McVeigh's team of niggly £$%&@%*@ 'entertained' the Diamonds in this blood and thunder grudge match. Airdrie United looked a tired outfit at the start of the match following Tuesday night's exertions in Perth. Could their tired bodies stand up to another battle?
David Dunn came into the Airdrie starting line up against Stenhousemuir and young centrehalf Scott Wilson made his first appearance since his calamatous debut on the same ground earlier in the season. Sandy Stewart, David McGuire and Alan Gow missed out through injuries sustained in the Cup. Stenny had former Diamonds Mark Booth and Gerry McKenna missing as was right wing back Baldie Waldie. McVeigh included a Safeway checkout operative in his midfield. AIRDRIE UNITED
STENHOUSEMUIR
Airdrie started the game slightly the more dominant against what did look like a weakened Stenhousemuir side. Gone was the earlier season 'bite' that was distinctively McVeighish. Youngster Scott Wilson was settling down at the back with some timely interventions and reasonably good passing out of defence and things seemed 'under control'. It wasn't a surprise that we took an early lead after about quarter of an hour. Ronald seemed to connect with a cross from the left by Dunn, and somehow the ball squeezed over the goalie for either Dosser or Armstrong (too many blondes) to help over the line. Ronald took the praise from his teammates.
That goal sparked Stenny into nigglers mode. Five minutes after having a hand in the goal Paul Ronald gave away a needless free kick on the edge of the box. The resultant free kick wasn't dealt with at all well in our six yard box and the nigglers equalised through McCormick. I didn't see who was to blame for failing to clear because of an over exited Standard Life brolly but there was a fair bit of finger pointing in the home defence. It didn't take too long to go behind. The nigglers to their credit breached the Airdrie backline, McVey and McGowan were dissected with ease, and the cross was emphatically turned home by McFarlane.
By this time the referee, Mr Hallmark I think, was completely ruining a semi decent, competitive game by throwing yellow cards about like he was on some bonus scheme. The two Wilsons were needlessly booked, Dunn, Dosser and a few others were treated pretty harshly, usually on the say so of the irritatingly irritating Stenhousemuir midfielders, Jamie (where's the milk?) McKenzie and Scott Murphy. Amazingly there were ten yellows split evenly between the two sides by the end of the match. Airdrie were thrown a lifeline before half time when Easton stupidly handled in his own box. He wasn't booked funnily enough. Dosser stepped up and sweetly stroked the penalty home. Pity he was subbed before the shootout midweek? How many shouts of "Don't give it to Marvyn" did you hear? Classic.
Level at halftime but looking a bit bedraggled Airdrie were on the ropes as Stenny were finding their feet. Defensively we looked a bit suspect but we were losing out in midfield. Fair enough Dosser had scored, maybe twice, but he isn't dominating in there. Marvyn looks a fetcher and carrier, not a dominant, ball winning, holding player. He looks like he needs a 'strong' player to let him 'breathe'. Dunn patrolled the left channel in midfield in a style similar to Hadji McPherson last year or Colin Lindsay over a decade ago but was it worth changing our style back to the dreaded 532 formation to accomodate him? Personally I feared the game would be won or lost in the midfield and I hoped that Armstrong would have played beside Marv in there to give us that edge physically and had hoped that he'd be moved there at half time with maybe Willie Wilson replacing Scott Wilson. Moving McKeown back up front where we were very short of movement seemed a logical step to consider too.
This time I was wrong. Sandy was reluctant to make any changes this match and in the short term his decision looked justified when Dunn blasted home a free kick from 25 yards out. The ball was played to him and he unleashed a ferocious left foot drive that was so well controlled it kept rising till it bulged the onion bag. After taking the lead only minutes into the second half a neutral would think we were playing for a draw. The tired midfield and front line gave the defence no help by consistently losing possession and inevitably we lost the lead to the unlikely former Diamond, and half time sub, Robert Coulter. He beat his marker, Paul Ronald again, all ends up from about 15 yards out.
Not long after, about midway through the half, youngster Scott Wilson needlessly halted the nigglers progress by scything down an opponent. After an unjust first half booking, Mr. Hallmark had no option this time, he had to walk. A bit of a shame for him personally as he seemed to be settling but his lack of experience let him down. As always happens Airdrie played much better with a back four and contained the visitors with a touch more ease. We even managed to put a bit of pressure on in the closing minutes as the players visibly raised their game in the knowledge that the win was vital, but when a decent cross comes into the box to the front post and both the strikers are holding hands at the back then your unlikely to score. News that old Owenie had bagged himself a hat-trick up in Siberia rubbed salt in that particular wound. How we could do with a predator like that again!
In summary the draw felt more like a defeat as the aim of the fans was three points. To be fair to the players they tried and looked to be struggling to move their aching limbs as the game wore on. Many were baffled by the reluctance to make any substitutions but a glance at the bench probably answered that call. Let's just say that McGuire's pace and Gow's ability were badly missed in that second half. Sandy Stewart will have a tough task reorganising his troops for Tuesday night's crucial 'six pointer' against Cowdenbeath, shock away win at Berwick on Saturday, in what could be deemed a relegation battle. But we're only seven points off second place with Berwick coming up next week.
| McGeown | Not really to blame for much | 6/10 |
| S.Wilson | Obviously his decision to foul an opponent will haunt him but otherwise he showed some promising signs. How can he get some experience though without compromising the team? | 4/10 |
| Docherty | Held the defence together pretty well. Certainly seems more at home in defence where he reads the game well and distributes the ball infinitely better than Berti Brannigan ever did. | 7/10 |
| McGowan | Typical agressive display. | 7/10 |
| Armstrong | Probably our best performer. As I said though I'd have rather seen him in midfield holding role in this match. | 7/10 |
| McKeown | In the midfield three he had a freer role than of late but he's wasted in midfield. Never commanding. | 6/10 |
| M.Wilson | As poor as I've ever seen him. His passing was off, he always seemed to be 'wrong side', and he doesn't look happy at all. | 5/10 |
| Dunn | Scored a screamer and got booked. He had some decent passes and crosses and had a bit of life about him at times. I've still to form an opinion on him yet but he does have some strong points. | 6/10 |
| McVey | Defensively he did OKish but he never controlled his flank, especially going forward. Maybe there was a bit of fatigue but his dominant display last week seemed a long time ago. | 6/10 |
| Varielle | Never got a sniff from Easton. He did have some interesting moments but maybe his injury inhibited his display. Looked to be seriously toiling late on. | 5/10 |
| Ronald | The joke is starting to wear thin. Firstly he looked lifeless after his shift in Perth but he still worked very hard, as the colour of his strip bears witness. However his lack of movement when we have possession, his inability to hold up play, and his overall lack of strikers instinct, make us look like a midtable D2 side. I know what Sandy is doing with him but he's not Steve Cooper, or indeed Andy Smith for that matter. Would Dosser have made a difference up front? Very probably! | 5/10 |