Stenhousemuir 2 Accies 2: Saturday, 18 January 2003

Scottish League Division 2, Ochilview, Stenhousemuir

Saturday, 18 January 2003

Report by Gilbert Mowat

If Accies are to achieve anything this season, then they will look back on this match as one of the key moments of the season. It would be easy (and probably correct), to state that Stenhousemuir were the better team and deserved all three points. But this Accies team really fought hard for the point they collected at the end of the game.

With Ian Dobbins not fit to play, his place in the heart of the defence was taken by young debutant Stephen Thomson. The emphasis on youth was shown by the inclusion of 16 year-old Darren Gribben on the bench, fresh from his goalscoring exploits in Malta earlier in the week.

Stenhousemuir had several familiar faces in their side, including their talented winger Jay Stein, masked man Colin Waldie and the ex-Accies pairing of Steve McCormick and Davie McFarlane up front. So it was no real surprise that they took the game to Accies right from the start. Graham Potter's goal led a charmed life for the first 20 minutes of the game, although some solid tackles from Mark Nelson and Sean Sweeney in particular gave him some protection. Both sides had goals ruled out for offside during this spell and one of the Stenhousemuir attackers flung himself to the ground in a vain bid to gain a penalty.

So it was a bit of a shock when Accies took the lead after 23 minutes, and a total surprise to see that it was the diminutive form of Martin Bonnar getting onto the scoresheet for his first goal of the season. Allan Russell was forced wide on the left wing, but he managed to curl the ball beautifully onto the penalty spot for Bonnar to score with an excellent downward header. He was mobbed by his teammates.

Unfortunately, Accies only managed to hold onto the lead for about 10 minutes. Jay Stein's corner was blocked at the near post and the ball went back out to James McKenzie. He returned it into the area where Mark Booth's header looped over Potter and into the net. Not the first time that Booth has scored against Accies. The goal naturally gave the home team a lift again and they were unfortunate not to take the lead before half time. The best chance came when Waldie cut in from the wing with only Potter to beat. Instead of trying to shoot, he squared the ball for Davie McFarlane and his side footed effort missed by yards, to hoots of derision from the Accies fans behind the goal.

Accies came really close to scoring as well, when wee Ally Graham's excellent left footed shot was tipped onto the top of the bar by the home goalkeeper.

Perhaps it was the gathering gloom. Maybe it was the fact that it started to rain. But from the terracing behind the goal the second half didn't seem to be as entertaining as the first period. Stenhousemuir continued to be the better team, with Johnny Walker being his usual ineffective self in midfield. (One to "thank" Ally Dawson for!) Alarmingly, however, he was not the first player to be substituted. That dishonour fell to Allan Russell, who had himself turned in yet another lacklustre performance. The new player was young Darren Gribben, making his top team debut at the age of just 16.

Just three minutes before this, Stenhousemuir had taken the lead with a well taken if rather fortunate goal. A crossfield pass seemed to cannon off wee Stevie McCormick and the ricochet left the Accies defence flat-footed. The wee guy ran on and beat Graham Potter comfortably.

As you will imagine, the goal seemed to knock the heart out of the Accies support, if not the team. There were the usual mutterings about potential relegation although no-one I heard was calling for the manager's head. Hilly made two further substitutions in quick succession, with big Ally Graham and Mahdi Elfallah replacing Stephen Thomson and Johnny Walker. To my mind, regardless of the fact that these changes were necessary, the team seemed to lose their shape completely for a while. I therefore expected the home side to increase their margin of victory.

So it was utterly fantastic to see young Darren Gribben grab an equaliser with just a few minutes left. The ball broke to him about 12 yards out and he thumped the ball high into the roof of the net. The youngster exploded with delight (not literally!) and Accies held on for a draw they didn't really deserve.

Potter , Nelson, Cunnington, Thomson (Graham 70), Sweeney, Graham, Bonnar, Walker (Elfallah 72), Russell (Gribben 66), McPhee, Callaghan

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