Stenhousemuir -vs- Elgin City (Saturday 23 December 2023)

[Francesc Fabregas]

An entertaining encounter awaits as Stenhousemuir welcome Elgin City to Ochilview. On paper, this is a very presentable fixture for the home side - they've won seven games on the spin, they're playing good football and the lucky breaks seem to be going their way, while the visitors have lost their last two matches 4-0 and are conceding terrible goals on an industrial scale. The last meeting between the teams finished 1-1 but, by all accounts, Stenny should have been out of sight; wasteful finishing, a red card and a stramash allowed Elgin to equalise late on.

I'm confident going into this one - we should be given how the respective teams are performing just now - and I wonder if we'll see any alterations to the starting XI. The only suggestion I would make is swapping out Edin Lynch for Ross Meechan as I expect us to be on the front foot here and Meechan will give us more going forward but I wouldn't be averse at all to going with our tried-and-tested line-up:

- Matty Aitken -

- Euan O'Reilly - Matty Yates - Ross Taylor -

- Mikey Anderson - Nat Wedderburn -

- Kinlay Bilham - Gregor Buchanan - Nicky Jamieson - Edin Lynch -

- Darren Jamieson -

Elgin are not a good team - I watched the highlights of their defeat at East Fife and thought they played appallingly - but they have to be treated as a serious threat. Although new manager Allan Hale has yet to make an impact, it could come at the unlikeliest place at the home of a team flying at the top of the table.

Nevertheless: home win!

[Neilly]

Our motivation for this game has to be to boost the goal difference. Elgin are absolutely rotten and I can't see anything other than a battering on the cards.

I'll go for 6-0. Yates, Taylor and a hat-trick from Matty Aitken.

[afca32]

One of the dullest away days you could have right before Christmas but hopefully we play like we were in November and we can take something from it.

[CrispyMelon]

It’s hard to argue much of a case for Elgin considering the recent results of the two sides. 
 

One up front doesn’t work. Barron played well on Saturday but he needs help. I’m not sure how close to starting Matt Jamieson is yet, but if he’s able to I’d like him to get the nod on Saturday. I’d get Mitch back in the team as well, and MacLeman playing in the position he’s been thriving in, rather than being left out wide. I’d also get Draper back in defence. Assuming we’ve not accumulated any more suspensions (I lose track with the yellows, if any city fans could let me know if any will be absent for Saturday) I’d go for:

 

       Barron - Harvey/Jamieson

 

    MacLeman - BC/RM - Dingwall

 

Taylor                                       Cooper

       Ewan - Draper - Dolzanski

                       McHale

*BC/RM - Brian Cameron/Rory MacEwan

 

If there’s one cause of optimism, it’s that we were the last side to take anything from Stenny in the league:

 

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by CrispyMelon

[Burnsythebinman]

we must take 3 points from this game. simple.

[Wee man the jackass]

Stennie should win this comfortably. Not only are Elgin a total gang, but their new manager is clearly a chancer. Thank god they hired that clown.

[1993]

That’s a strong statement. What’s your knowledge of him that substantiates it?

[Am Featha Taigh Nan Clach]

This is the first time since 2005 I simply expect to batter a team.

Stenhousemuir 0-1 Elgin City

[CrispyMelon]

Team lines out.

Very surprised Barron has been dropped. Nice to see Jamieson back, and can only presume Draper is suspended after accumulating too many yellow cards

Edited December 23, 2023 by CrispyMelon

[CrispyMelon]

Wasn’t there, can someone summarise?

[Tonystenny]

6 minutes ago, CrispyMelon said:

Wasn’t there, can someone summarise?

You got beat and Clyde are coming after you.  Probably sums it up best.  

[Am Featha Taigh Nan Clach]

6 minutes ago, CrispyMelon said:

Wasn’t there, can someone summarise?

After an excellent headed flick on for Yates to volley home, the game became a bit of a nothingness for the next 60 mins. Sloppy play from both sides and not much quality. After the keeper cleaned out Aitken and he eventually scored the penalty, our greater quality began to shine through and we created a few good chances to extend the lead.

If Clyde add 4 or 5 mediocre (at worst) league 2 players, Elgin will finish bottom by a distance.

[Matty-RCFC]

Attended this today. I’ve seen a fair few Highland League games this season and I genuinely think this current Elgin team are worse than the vast majority by some bit. Be stunned if they don’t finish double figures adrift by the time Clyde finish adding to their team in Jan. 
 

Is this, finally, the year for Stenny? It’s looking that way…

[Broxi Bears]

It wasn’t the prettiest of games but the conditions didn’t help at all. Three points the main present and with Dumbarton and Peterhead dropping points it’s a very Merry Christmas to everyone at Stenhousemuir. 

8 wins in a row and 8 points clear at Christmas is something I never imagined Santa wound bring

Edited December 24, 2023 by Broxi Bears

[Francesc Fabregas]

A poor game of football all in, made worse by miserable conditions, but it was an important victory for Stenhousemuir and one that keeps our remarkable run of form going. Eight consecutive wins is an incredible achievement and the players and the management team should be be very pleased with their efforts over the past two months. With both Peterhead and Dumbarton dropping points today, we're in a terrific position at the top of the table - long may it continue!

After Matty Yates opened the scoring after three minutes with a tremendous finish from just inside the box, it felt as though we'd go on to net five or six. But we were sloppy and careless on the ball, taking one touch too many, under- and over-hitting passes between ourselves. Some of our slackness almost allowed Elgin City good opportunities and a better side might have capitalised on it. Matty Aitken's second-half penalty, struck down the middle and saved easily by Thomas McHale, summed it up - I think we were a little complacent and expected just to turn up and beat Elgin. Thankfully, Aitken scored with the rebound and the rest of the game played out in our favour.

A couple of players did well today. I thought Gregor Buchanan and Nicky Jamieson defended well in gale-force winds and did well with Elgin's limited attack; Mikey Anderson was sometimes a little haphazard with his passing but had another good game in the middle of the park; Euan O'Reilly made some storming runs down the left and made a superb tackle midway through the first half to deny a goal-scoring opportunity; and I was impressed with Aitken's general work rate and effort today. The rest of the team performed adequately for the most part and frustrated me at other points. I didn't think Edin Lynch had a good game at right-back - he's fine at keeping the ball as far away from the goal as possible but when you're looking to take the game to your opponents, he just doesn't have the skillset to contribute. It looked as though he was going to be substituted before his injury and I reckon Ross Meechan will now be restored to the starting XI. Ross Taylor was quiet and although he contributed to Yates' goal with a flicked header, he didn't get on the ball enough and was rightly hooked.

Elgin are terrible. They're one of the worst sides I've seen this season and other than a wind-assisted potshot from Brian Cameron, Darren Jamieson had a straightforward afternoon. The chances that did come their way mostly came from Stenhousemuir's slackness and they didn't have the wherewithal to break us down otherwise. Robert Jones especially is a spectacularly ineffective striker and could not get any change from Buchanan or Jamieson. I expect Elgin to drop into the Highland League at the end of the campaign.

It feels a little churlish to complain after a routine win, especially on this run of form, but we've set a high standard in recent weeks and didn't meet it here. We'll need to be a lot better against Clyde next time out - I've got a funny feeling about that match and feel we might come a cropper - but let's enjoy the victory and a successful weekend.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas. Thank you.

[1993]

On a positive note, it could have been worse.

[CrispyMelon]

Cheers for that. Didn’t expect anything from this game to be honest.

If you’d asked me before the game I’d have said 3-1 Stenny so… better than expected defensively I guess?

We really, really need a striker in January. Barron needs to be starting games and he needs help. Said before but we should look at getting Aaron Reid back from Aberdeen. He isn’t getting gametime at Peterhead and he played better when he was on from the start.

After hosting Peterhead next week, we have Stranraer (H), Forfar(A), Dumbarton (H), Clyde (H) and East Fife (H). Other than Dumbarton, these are games we need to be winning. As far as the fixture list goes that’s a kind run

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by CrispyMelon

[Old Fashioned Stramash]

I thought Bilham played quite well. Covered a lot of ground, made his tackles, covered well at the back and was always looking to go forward. Needs to keep his composure for the full 90 though, instead of just looking to put the ball down the touchline. 

O'Reilly put in a lot of effort, was brilliant first half and was delighted to see his determination to get back and make that last ditch tackle to prevent a 1-1 on with Jamieson. 

Agree with Lynch, there were a couple of opportunities to feed the ball into the channel or make an over-lap run and just doesn't have that ability. 

Didn't play well again but came away with another 3 points, 8 point lead and an 8 game winning run. Need to keep focus and keep pushing. 

Elgin are dugmeat. Just doing the basics wrong, that was a worrying sign. Constantly lost their shape, couldn't build any phases of play, woeful passing out from the back and some very heavy touches that just gave the possession back to Stenny or lead to a needless foul. Team playing, evidently, with no confidence. I don't want Elgin to go down but with performances like that, they're not going to beat anyone. 

[Francesc Fabregas]

 

That's some finish from Matty Yates for the first goal, superbly taken. (And what a rubbish penalty that was from Matty Aitken - he was lucky Tom McHale pushed it right back in front of him to finish a second time.)

As an aside, it's good to see Ben McAdam getting involved with our media team - I always really rated his stuff when he worked at Stirling Albion, so I'm pleased he's capturing content in FK5.

[1993]

2 hours ago, CrispyMelon said:

Cheers for that. Didn’t expect anything from this game to be honest.

If you’d asked me before the game I’d have said 3-1 Stenny so… better than expected defensively I guess?

We really, really need a striker in January. Barron needs to be starting games and he needs help. Said before but we should look at getting Aaron Reid back from Aberdeen. He isn’t getting gametime at Peterhead and he played better when he was on from the start.

After hosting Peterhead next week, we have Stranraer (H), Forfar(A), Dumbarton (H), Clyde (H) and East Fife (H). Other than Dumbarton, these are games we need to be winning. As far as the fixture list goes that’s a kind run