Sweet Pete

Have you tried having a right good cry about it?

I've watched loads of juniors over the years and the refs there usually let a lot more pass. Today's was finicky and seemed to react to too much first half and then go back and forth with himself on whether he'd blow for things, card for things or let the game flow. Not a good officiating display.

That's why we love you, wee fella. That mind for details.

That's how @Clarko_son sounds internally.

I should, in balance, have also bemoaned the Sons fans who whinged. Particularly some nugget in the middle of our stand who spent 90 minutes screaming over and over that the ref should go back to the juniors. If you read this, f**k off and give all our ears a rest. Yes, the ref was shite, but repeating yourself for an hour and a half is just annoying. I didn't see a foul on our keeper for either Stirling goal. All i saw was 2 very similar lack of efforts to defend a simple corner. At the 2nd it looked to me like our first couple of players nearest the corner jumped, and the rest didn't, hence a Stirling player got the ball in the net.

Today was a match between 2 sides that are the best this division has to offer. The football at this level has never been b'allon d'or standard, and the crowds have never been huge (not in my near 40 years certainly). It was well contested, evenly matched and engaging. We were having a conversation on the return trip about parallels with our 08/09 title win and although that team scored a lot more and played more free flowing football, it also lost it's way badly in the bad weather months and suffered from Chapman's constant tinkering of players and formations. Someone like Jan or Dave could probably confirm more accurately, but I'm sure we used circa 34 players that season, and we limped across the line towards the final weeks, passing up the chance to seal it away at Cowden with 3 games to spare, only wrapping it up at home to Elgin and Annan (the Annan win being the real winner, bar a tens of goals swing on the final day). So these 2 sides may not be free flowing and free scoring, but they're what we have and we can't demand this or that from them. This is reality, not champy and the teams will only do what they're capable of. So we'll see what happens in the next 8 matches, but there's sure to be plenty of twists, turns, drama, frustration, elation and heartache before the trophy is handed out.

It looked from our side like standing as no seats left. Commendable and enviable support. Few Albion fans on here looking a bit silly. Just a few.

I'm going to break ranks and say the home game against Albion won't be a title decider. Both teams' form has shown that teams all throughout this division will take points from each other. Plenty more peaks and troughs in store.

Entertaining game played in the right spirit. A patch work Sons side did well to lead twice, but sloppy to concede more or less the same corner in both halves. Plus marks for Grant, Long, Buchanan, Blair. Russ MacLean isn't showing up to be my favourite player. Ref was picky and inconsistent. Stirling look a well drilled side, but didn't carve us open many times, both their goals coming from corners and both of ours from open play. Point on the road against our nearest rivals for the title with 8 to play isn't bad at all.

Good crowd through from Sons. The Facebook group mob bus is never a barometer of our support. Forthbank seems a nice wee ground, albeit it seems to be 75 minutes walk from Stirling.

Very few of them go. Only a handful of the worst offenders attend.

Sitting in a pub called the cold beer company enjoying the neck oil they have on tap. 3pm seems a long way off and I'm doing my best not to think about the game, given the poverty of players we have available.

Death to fake football teams! Death to the Lowland League!

Scotland game's off little interest tbh. Decent pint is the criteria. Maybe a decent selection of malts.

No' mine and the Queens lad's fault that you speak in ignorance

I'll be travelling in hope rather than expectation. But the pints and Clarko's shite tactical chat will make it worthwhile.

Kilmarnock have a 3 person board.

He was done in the same way about 4 times in the first half before I chucked it. Hopeless. I've seen most of his appearances and yet to see what he offers.

It's Peter to the likes of you.

That being said, I, respectfully and sincerely, hope we're not sharing a league next season.

Pitch wasn't a factor. Rovers were fantastic, and Sons were shite. Not that our poorness today should detract from how good Rovers were. Credit where it's due.

No idea how we fix that mud field. Looks like it needs re-laid.

Congrats today, Vers. Reilly and Bevan are players. You lot will be fine this season. I suspect league position is temporary here. You've given Sons a tough game twice and a hammering today. A solid side you have there. I've seen every team in the league several times and aside from Hester you look far better than Elgin and miles ahead of Bonnyrigg. Stranraer maybe aren't terrible, they're tough opponents, but Rovers to finish above them and Elgin if they pick up some consistent form.

Joe Bevan had Wylde on toast for 2 of them, and Gray took a booking for another time it happened. Wylde should never have had the armband. I said in pre-season, he's got the heart of a mouse. All 4 Rovers goals I saw were excellent goals, but all could have been arguably prevented by a team who actually turned up, paid attention and did their jobs at the most fundamental level. Today was more than just poor form or an off day for the champions elect, it was it was an absolute, abject failure on every level.

Like a tattie field that's been freshly plowed