Managers Post Stirling

28/08/10: JM "Yet again Kirkie has come up trumps and we got a great finish from Joe at the right time as well. We had so much of the play and yet at 2-1 you are never out of it.

Jim McIntyre was delighted with a 5-1 win away from home:-

"Going forward we were really good, it goes back to the old adage that we have got to be ruthless at times. I thought we totally dominated the game in the first 25 minutes and we should have been three or four goals up, maybe more, but we never took our chances then it was a poor poor goal to give away. We were not organised at a throw in, they break and they get a goal back.

"All of a sudden that changes the dynamics of it a wee bit. It gives Stirling the lift that goals do in changing games and for a wee spell after that we looked a little nervous. Credit to them, we spoke about it at half time and told them to keep doing the right thing - defend properly and the chances would come."

The bench had grown increasingly concerned as the scoreline remained at 2-1:-

"Yet again Kirkie has come up trumps and we got a great finish from Joe at the right time as well. We had so much of the play and yet at 2-1 you are never out of it. It is crucial to get that third goal. I said that at the time in the dugout 'if we score another one I could see us going on to get another couple and maybe take the wind out of Stirling's sails'. I think it did but we also had our keeper to thank for a magnificent save at a crucial time in the game."

Andy Kirk with his hat-trick took the Man of the Match title but Willie Gibson was a real star for the Pars:-

"Willie is still gaining in match fitness, he is still a bit behind in terms of the rest of the boys. That is another 90 minutes under his belt. He got game time during the week (against Clyde) but he will get better and better the more minutes he gets under his belt. He is a very dynamic player Willie and he sets up a lot of our chances."

The Manager reported that Gary Mason had to come off because he felt his back tightening up every time he went to pass. He said that he could feel it seizing up so he had to come off right away.

Stirling Albion Manager John O'Neill was very subdued when he spoke briefly to the waiting media:-

"We gave away two bad goals in the first half but we managed to get a goal back to get ourselves back in the game. Then our defending was suicidal at times. It was a 5-1 game and the scoreline doesn't lie."

A positive from the game from an Albion point of view was the performance of Jerome Heeking:-

"He did really well, he set up the goal and was unfortunate with another couple of opportunities."

Of the suggestion that Dunfermline were just too hot to handle on the day O'Neill replied:-

"I am not taking anything away from Dunfermline; they finished their chances well but we made life easy for them."