Blues Get Result: Stranraer 3 Hamilton 2

The Blues should have taken the lead after only ten minutes when Ian Harty finished a promising move rather poorly. George Shaw started the move down the win and his inch-perfect cross found Harty with plenty of time and space at his disposal. He took his time to pick his spot, in the end the shot was directed straight into the hands of Hamilton 'keeper Ian McFarlane.

Midway through the first half Paul Kerr (on trial from Glenafton) had an attempt from close range stopped by McFarlane, and the 'keeper was again on hand only a couple of minutes later when he made a fine save from an Ian Harty shot.

However, the match was not all Stranraer and Hamilton came close on two separate occasions to open the scoring. The first attempt fell to David McFarlane, but his shot went narrowly wide of the upright. In the closing stages of the half Paul Macdonald had a chipshoot which Mark McGeown managed to tip over the bar with his fingertips.

On the stroke of half-time Paul Kerr broke the deadlock for the Blues. The midfielder broke through the Hamilton defense and struck a powerful shot high into the right corner from fifteen yards out. This was Kerr's second goal in two games for the Blues.

Hamilton started the second half looking more determined and they were soon rewarded in the 54th minute when Jered Stirling made a extremely poor clearance which fell at the feet of Paul Macdonald. Macdonald setup David McNiven and the forward had the simplest of tap-ins to draw the score even.

McNiven found the net again ten minutes later with a tremendous pile-driver which gave McGeown no change to stop the short ranged shot.

With Hamilton up 1-2 most fans thought the Blues would thrown in the towel like they had done in so many games since Christmas, but Fraser Wright had other plans.

In the 76th minute Stranraer won a corner and Jered Stirling took the kick and found Wright unmarked in the box. The defender's header went in like a bullet.

Five minutes later Wright almost scored the winner, but his shot was blocked in the box by Steve Renick. The referee judged that the player had used his hand and a penalty was awarded. Ian Harty stepped up to take the kick and turned McFarlane the wrong way to take is goal tally up to 15 for the season.

Some solid defending by Stranraer in the closing minutes kept the points safe and the Blues could finally celebrate their first win of 2002 at Stair Park. It was a long while coming, but worth the wait!

In summary, the Blues were a different team in this match and deserved the win. It was good to see Kevin Gaughan on the subs bench and hopefully on the park next week.

Stranraer MOM: Trialist 1 (Paul Kerr) - Kerr was again all over the park and was rewarded with a goal on the stroke of half-time. Maybe McLaren should get the chequebook out secure his services for the rest of the season?