Stirling Albion 2 Forfar Athletic 1

The Forfar Athletic players provided a guard of honour to the newly crowned Cinch League2 Champions upon taking the field at Forthbank, Stirling Albion having secured the Champions status the previous week.

The Loons started brightly and had a great chance to take the lead on five minutes when Roberto Nditi found himself in space out on the right and closed in on goal however his shot didn’t trouble Weir in the Stirling goal.
It was a fast-paced opening to the game with both teams playing entertaining football and both having chances to open the scoring. Darren Watson had a left-footed shot on seven minutes from the centre of the box but missed the target.

Unfortunately for the large travelling support, it was the Bino’s who opened the scoring on 16 minutes when a well-worked move down the right found Cooper centre of the box who didn’t miss the target.

Losing this goal didn’t deflate the Loons in fact it spurred them on and they were the better team for the remaining minutes of the first half, creating several chances. Stefan McCluskey had the best of three very good chances just two minutes after the home team took the lead, but again sliced his shot high and wide.
Callum Moore and Darren Watson missed the other chances to close out the first half.

Halftime 1-0

In the second half, the Loons continued to push for the equaliser and were rewarded on 57 minutes, Stefan McCluskey made no mistake with his right-footed shot from the centre of the box following a corner and an Andy Munro flick-on.

With an upset in sight, the Loons continued to push for another goal however a Craig Slater free kick failed to clear the wall from a good attacking position and Mark Docherty couldn’t quite connect with a half chance properly.

As has been the case more often than wanted this season, the Loons gave away a penalty. Roberto Nditi was adjudged to have fouled Duffy in the box after a quick breakaway from the Binos on 69 minutes. Greig Spence narrowly beat Marc McCallum whose frustrations were clear as the ball squirmed under his body, despite his best efforts to keep it even.

With their noses in front and a trophy presentation to come the home team managed to keep the visitors at bay for the remaining 20 minutes which was heavily disrupted by substitutions. Craig Thomson replaced Mark Docherty, Seb Ross came on for Darren Watson and Matty Aitken for Ben Armour immediately after the penalty but the fresh legs couldn’t influence another equaliser. Stirling used all 5 subs running down the clock and the game died out despite the Loons players giving it their all.

Fulltime 2-1.

The result unfortunately means the Loons can no longer reach the playoffs but manager Ray McKinnon was delighted with the effort of his players as they pushed hard to cause an upset. He commented “The guys gave everything today absolutely no issues with their attitude but it just wasn’t to be. We missed chances today but listen we go again next Saturday and try to finish strong and then look to next season.”