Play-off hopes finally dashed

May 6 2009 by Our Correspondent, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

ANNAN Athletic were pipped for a promotion play-off slot as they came up short at Ochilview.

Annan needed a victory to keep their hopes alive but Stenhousemuir clinched a place in the play-offs, thanks to Jordan Smith’s solitary goal.

Harry Cairney’s side had only lost one of their previous nine matches and reaching the play-offs would have been more than they expected when they came into the league set-up last year.

But hopes were still high going into the game, even if the Warriors had picked up their form in recent matches.

After three drawn games between the clubs this season, it was a finely-balanced encounter and so it proved.

Craig Summersgill made a fine stop to deny Kevin Motion in the first half as Stenhousemuir just shaded the opening 45 minutes.

The crucial goal came just a minute from half-time. Stenhousemuir won a free-kick just outside the area and Motion played a short one to Ian Diack who provided a perfect pass for Smith to side-foot the ball home.

It was a bad goal from an Annan standpoint as no-one picked up Smith’s run and he left Summersgill with no chance from close range.

It left Annan with a lot to do in the second half as they knew that a point would not be good enough. They breathed a huge sigh of relief five minutes after the restart when Diack beat Summersgill but the ball struck the post.

Annan bombarded the Stenhousemuir goal after that but found it difficult to find a way past Smith and his central defensive partner Chris McLeod.

Both were outstanding in the air and protected goalkeeper Scott Bennett well throughout the second half.

Annan dominated the midfield and Cairney sent on Ryan Adamson and Robert Campbell in the final quarter to give them different options and to try and turn the tide and unlock the home defence.

But Stenhousemuir held on for the three points after hitting form at the right time of the season. After losing five goals at Montrose in mid-April, John Coughlin’s side put together a three-match unbeaten run without leaking a goal to book their play-off spot with a game still to play.

Teams

Stenhousemuir: Bennett; Lyle, Reid, Thom, Smith, McLeod, Love (Brand 78), Tyrrell, Diack (Dalziel 64), Brazil, Motion; Subs Not Used: Renton, Thomson, Morgan.

Annan Athletic: Summersgill; Watson, Hoolickin (Muirhead 80), Townsley, Neilson, Jack, Sloan, McBeth, Storey, Bell (Campbell 75), Dunbar (Adamson 66); Subs Not Used: Calder, Jardine.

Ref: N Watters.