Preview Stirling Albion
Saturday, 10th Jan 2015The Pars have won both matches against Stirling this season. Admission £13 adults, £8 seniors & students, £5 U17s, FREE for U12s
With John Potter's side in search of their first win of his reign and their first win since 6th December it would seem that foot of the table Stirling Albion might be ideal opponents. The Binos will have other thoughts however even though they have only 12 points from the opening 19 fixtures and have yet to win a home match this season.
Stirling were play off winners last season and so returned to League One after two seasons in the lower league. This will be just the third meeting between the teams since March 2011 in a season that saw the teams both depart the Scottish First Division, the Pars upward and Stirling downwards.
| Pars v Stirling Albion: The Full League Record | ||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| At East End Park | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 67 | 34 |
| At Annfield Park / Forthbank Stadium | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 48 | 51 |
| League One | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Division One (up to 1975) | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 34 | 17 |
| Division Two (up to 1975) | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 26 |
| First Division (since 1975) | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 25 |
| Second Division (since 1975) | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 17 |
| TOTALS | 62 | 28 | 14 | 20 | 115 | 85 |
The Pars have won both matches against Stirling this season although the first fixture was not as comfortable as the 2-0 scoreline suggests.
In October it took until 80th minute to take the lead at Forthbank. Josh Falkingham was instrumental in setting up the much wanted goal. He connected well with his team mates on the edge of the box before picking out Michael Moffat. He just touched the ball right for Shaun Byrne to crash the ball low into the bottom left. The home side were down to ten men by the time Faissal El Bakhtaoui killed the game with the Pars second in the second minute of added time.
The return at East End Park was a convincing 4-0 win with Gozie Ugwu heading home an early opener on his way to a hattrick.
|
Milestones v Stirling Albion (Away) |
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|
Last League Victory |
04/10/14 |
2-0 |
League One |
|
Last League Defeat |
27/10/07 |
0-3 |
Div 1 |
|
Best League Victory |
05/09/92 |
5-0 |
Div 1 |
|
Worst League Defeat |
11/08/79 |
0-4 |
Div 1 |
|
*Pre league reconstruction |
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Dunfermline defeated Stirling Albion 3-0 in the 2008-09 Alba Challenge Cup but in the last ten league games the Fifers have won eight. The only Stirling win, the 3-0 game at Forthbank was under Manager Stephen Kenny and was one of a number of results that led to his departure.
| Last Ten League Games | ||||
| 2014/15 | ||||
| 22/11/14 | Dunfermline | 4-0 | Stirling Albion | League One |
| 04/10/14 | Stirling Albion | 0-2 | Dunfermline | League One |
| 2010/11 | ||||
| 19/03/11 | Dunfermline | 4-1 | Stirling Albion | First Division |
| 15/03/11 | Stirling Albion | 1-1 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 30/10/10 | Dunfermline | 3-0 | Stirling Albion | First Division |
| 28/08/10 | Stirling Albion | 1-5 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 2007/08 | ||||
| 25/03/08 | Stirling Albion | 2-3 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 29/12/07 | Dunfermline | 2-1 | Stirling Albion | First Division |
| 27/10/07 | Stirling Albion | 3-0 | Dunfermline | First Division |
| 25/08/07 | Dunfermline | 2-1 | Stirling Albion | First Division |
A win for Stirling Albion in their first match of 2015 brought to an end their 18 match run without a win. Prior to Saturday Stirling hadn't won (except on penalties in the William Hill Scottish Cup) since 23rd August.
| Stirling Albion | Dunfermline |
| Current League Position | |
| 10 | 4 |
| Form last six SPFL matches | |
| LLLDLW | LWWLLD |
| League Points | |
| 12 | 28 |
| Goal Difference | |
| -23 | +10 |
| League Record | |
| P9, W0, D3, L6 | P8, W3, D1, L4 |
Stirling have not won at home this season, their three wins came away at Elgin in the Petrofac Training Cup and twice at Stenhousemuir. This is in stark contrast to last season when they finished the season with seven home matches unbeaten. The Pars last away win in League One was five matches back at Ayr on 10th October. From a defensive point of view after managing eight shut outs in the first fourteen matches of the season they have now gone eleven games with only one clean sheet.
| Recent Form this season - home / away | ||||||
| Stirling Albion (home) |
|
Dunfermline (away) | ||||
| Morton | L | 3-4 | Airdrieonians | L | 0-3 | |
| Peterhead | L | 2-3 | Stranraer | D | 2-2 | |
| Raith Rovers |
L |
0-2 | Stenhousemuir | L | 0-1 | |
| Stranraer | D | 1-1 | East Stirlingshire | W | 4-1 | |
| Hurlford | D* | 2-2 | Ayr United | W | 1-0 | |
| Airdrieonians | D | 2-2 | Stirling Albion | W | 2-0 | |
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Peterhead): Ryan Scully; Ross Millen , Gregor Buchanan, Lewis Martin, Alex Whittle; Josh Falkingham (c), Shaun Byrne, Andy Geggan, Ross Forbes (Andy Stirling 75); Michael Moffat (Allan Smith 86), Ryan Wallace (Faissal El Bakhtaoui 57)
SUBS NOT USED: Stuart Urquhart, Lewis Spence, Declan O'Kane, Ryan Goodfellow (GK)
STIRLING ALBION (v Stenhousemuir): Greg Paterson; Ross McGeachie, Craig Wedderburn, Chris Smith, Jamie Creaney; Phil Johnston, Craig Comrie, Angus Beith, Alex Cunningham (David McClune 80), Lewis Small (Lewis Coult 5), Gordon Smith (Lee Hamilton 90)
SUBS NOT USED: Willie Robertson, Dale Fulton, Kieron Magennis, Cameron Binnie (GK).
Referee will be Crawford Allan
C'mon Ye Pars!
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