sebsy Posted May 6, 2004 Share Posted May 6, 2004 I have enjoyed your story so far D_S and thought to myself I may try a similar thing with Leigh RMI in the English conference with the top flights of the top european leagues in background detail so as I could do similar euro roundup like you. However I would need to change my database down to medium so that it ran at the speed I am used to from my England only conference and above full detail large database game. And in doing this I would lose, even though I would have England on full detail, from what I can see, all the players who have no current club which in this sort of game are just the sort of players you need to be looking at buying. So I have decided that I won't bother as all these players would be missing. I looked at your original post and saw you were playing small database. I can only imagine the amount of players missing from the game that have no club as opposed to if you had large database that would have been ideal for you to bring to East Stirling. I must say you clearly enjoy a challenge. Keep up the good work. I will continue enjoying to read how you get on with this mission: virtually impossible. Perhaps that is what makes it all the more of a challenge, the fact that all the no club players aren't there. I bow down to you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Thanks Sebsy and good luck with Leigh RMI if you have taken it up! Well the small database thing i didnt notice in the options until later on when i had starting posting so i just kept with it!...I'm not the most skilled manager at this game so it might be impossible but ill keep trying. Enjoy 15th of June 2004 Another shock result today occurred in a Group C match. Ireland played the mighty French side looking to win a second consecutive European Championship. Birmingham’s Clinton Morrison scored the Irish’s first goal in the 25th minute when they caught the French defence cold. The French had a saviour by the name of Thierry Henry when he scored the only other goal of the game in the 52nd minute. Henry scored totally against the run of play and the Irish should feel aggrieved at dropping two points. In group C a less fancied clash between Greece and Bulgaria produced four goals. Bulgaria struck in the first minute through Dimitar Berbatov to send the Bulgarian fans into ecstacy. The Greeks scored the equaliser ten minutes later through Udinese’s attacking midfielder, Giorgos Karagounis. In the second half the Greeks scored a deserved second through the player who scored their first goal of the match. Fifteen minutes from time the Greeks made sure of all three points when Dimitrios Grammozis found himself unmarked from a corner and headed his side 3-1 up. 16th of June 2004 Germany, who needs a victory to stay in contention to qualify out of group B, plays against Scotland today. Kenny Miller put the Scots in front after 25 minutes before the Germans finally awoke from their slumber and started peppering shots on goal. The German pressure payed off in the second half through Bayern Munchen’s Michael Ballack rocket shot beat Neil Alexander in the Scotland goal. The match ended 1-1 and the Germans need a win in their last match to have a slight chance of qualifying. 17th of June 2004 In Group B England sits in pole position after holding Spain to a 1-1 draw. Diego Tristan scored after the 25th minute mark before Jay Bothroyd struck in the second half to give his nation a great chance of progressing to the quarter finals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 18th of June 2004 Portugal played Italy today with both sides aiming for a win and a place in the round of 16. The home nation shocked Italy when Rui Costa scored in the 15th minute to put his side in the lead. Pauleta struck five minutes before the first half ended. Italy couldn’t get back into the match in the second half and slumped to their second defeat in two matches. The Portuguese have a great chance to top their group after three matches while Italy may not even make second in the group. Belgium was looking for their second win out of two matches and qualification to the quarter finals after the other result between Portugal and Italy went their way. Belgium scored their 1st goal through a penalty in the 10th minute dispatched successfully by Timmy Simons. Emile Lokonda Mpenza scored a brace in the second half to put Belgium 3-0 up before Johan Elmander scored a consolation goal for the Swedes two minutes before time. 19th of June 2004 Denmark versus Holland is a clash of two sleeping giants of world football. Holland came up trumps after Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored a brace in the first fifteen minutes and Patrick Kluivert put the Dutch 3-0 ahead with ten minutes left. The Dutch’s win put them top of the group with six points and in a excellent position to qualify for the quarter finals. In the other match today Czech Republic played Switzerland for the right to take 2nd spot behind Holland in group A. In the end the Czech side was just too strong and scored two goals through Jan Koller and Tomas Ujfalusi to confirm victory and taking second spot in the group with one match to go. Today the fans’ voted on their player of the year. This year Sean McAuley won that honour and proved that the fans favourite tag he had acquired over the season was genuine. A new sponsorship deal was signed today with a local company. The deal is worth £30K over four years. The board announced today that they are pleased with my performance as manager and the transfer budget for the up and coming season. The £12K given to me was a big shock to me after having to work with nothing all of last season. The one thing I feel we need to let me bring in better quality players is a larger wage budget but I unless our crowds pick up that won’t be possible. 20th of June 2004 Ireland played Greece today in a seven goal thriller. Damien Duff struck in the first five minutes to give his country the lead. The Greeks struck back through Zisis Vryzas twenty minutes later to bring the score level. Greece was only on level terms for a minute after a mistake in the defence let Lee Carsley in and he punished them scoring Ireland’s second goal of the game. Just before half time Zisis Vryzas scored his second of the game and brought Greece level at two all. In the second half Ioannis Amanatidis put Greece 3:2 in the lead straight from the start of the second half. Zisis Vryzas completed his hat trick and Greece further in the lead with only twenty five minutes to go. Just before the end of the match Zisis Vryzas scored his fourth and he had almost single hand idly won the game for his country. The other match in group C today was France versus Bulgaria. The French ran the show from the word go and scored three times to seal all the three points. Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieria and Sylvian Wiltord all got their names on the scoresheet as France finished the match as comfortable 3-0 winners. Ilian Kiryakov today announced he would retire before the start of the season instead of retiring at the end of our next season. Ilian moves to take on a full coaching role at the club. Leeds United has now taken back control of their club from the receivers. The Yorkshire club is now in the position to refuse and negotiate transfers again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 21st of June 2004 Group B came to a conclusion today with the 2nd last match of the group played between England and Scotland. Michael Owen struck on the 10th minute to give England a 1-0 lead before Barry Ferguson brought Scotland level nine minutes later. The England Captain, David Beckham, had the final say in the 68th minute with an excellent free kick which found the top corner of the net to make it 2-1. The English held on to qualify top of the group with seven points. While in the other match in Group B saw a massive clash between Germany and Spain. Both nations could take 2nd spot in the group with a win today so this result was all important. Miroslav Klose scored his 1st goal in the 31st minute and had to wait another half an hour before scoring his 2nd in the 63rd minute. Germany was flying high and scored again through Jorg Bohme in the 90th minute to cap off a wonderful victory. Raul did score once in the second half but in the end it was only a consolation goal as the Spanish crashed out the tournament. 22nd of June 2004 In Group A the final two matches were being played. Switzerland and Denmark both had a chance to qualify for the quarter finals if the result in the other match went their way. Denmark got off to the perfect start with Jon Dahl Tomasson scoring with his first touch of the game in the 2nd minute. Bruno Berner equalised for the Swiss two minutes into the second half and that’s how it stayed. Both sides don’t make it to the next round as they both needed more than a point to overtake the Czech Republic. While in the other match Holland played against the Czech Republic in a dead rubber. Holland knew they were already qualified after their 2nd match while the Czech Republic received the news from the other Group A match before the kick off against Holland. The Dutch showed their class scoring twice through Wilfred Bouma and Roy Makaay and taking the group with a maximum of nine out of nine points. 23rd of June 2004 In Group C Bulgaria and Ireland played out a five goal thriller to give all the fans their monies worth. Robbie Keane completed his hat trick in the 62nd minute to give Ireland a 3-0 lead. Valeri Emilov Bojinov scored in the 68th minute to give his side a glimmer of hope but that was extinguished with Robbie Keane’s 4th goal in the last five minutes to complete a 4-1 win to the Irish. The Greeks knew they had already qualified before the match against France and that really showed with their play today. The French broke the deadlock when Thierry Henry scored on the stroke of half time. Patrick Vieria added a second in the 60th minute before Zinedine Zidane got his name on the scoresheet to give his side a 3-0 win. While over in Group D Belgium played the tournament hosts Portugal. Manchester United’s wonderkid Cristiano Ronaldo proved the difference scoring in the 70th minute to give the hosts three wins out of three. Italy and Sweden both came into the match winless and no chance of progressing any further in this European Championship. Italy just edged out their Swedish opponents with a goal from Francesco Totti in the 53rd minute. Next the completed group tables and the quarter finals! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 8, 2004 Author Share Posted May 8, 2004 Group Tables <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - France / Hosts - Portugal GROUP A | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Holland | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Czech Republic | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Denmark | | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Switzerland | | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 1 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| GROUP B | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | England | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Germany | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Scotland | | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Spain | | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| GROUP C | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | France | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Greece | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Ireland | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bulgaria | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | -8 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| GROUP D | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Portugal | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Belgium | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Italy | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Sweden | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> The European Championship 2004 quarter finals have been drawn. They read <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Germany V Holland England V Czech Republic Belgium V France Portugal V Greece </pre> Just after the draw the Scottish FA surprisingly announced a new manager (I didn’t know they had sacked their previous manager). Derby manager,George Burley, takes over the Scottish national team and his first challenge is to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 8, 2004 Author Share Posted May 8, 2004 24th of June 2004 In the first quarter final Germany played Holland. The game was tight all match but one moment of brilliance on the stroke of half time gave Holland a European Championship Semi Final match. Roy Makaay curled his shot around Olivier Kahn from just outside the box and that was that. Another player joined East Stirling today from Elgin. Tam McAllister (32 y/o, Scottish. MC) Tam was at Elgin for two seasons and made only eleven appearances for the black and whites. The experienced central midfielder will hopefully strike up a good partnership with Sean McAuley blending youth and experience. 25th of June 2004 England and Czech Republic played today in the second quarter final. Both sides had over seven shots on target but just like the first quarter final the match was decided by one goal the 45th minute mark. Just after the second half started Ashley Cole was put through on goal by Steven Gerrard and the Arsenal left back finished it off. The English were put under pressure for most of the second half but kept the ball out of their net and went on to take a semi final spot. 26th of June 2004 The third semi finalist was finalised today from the quarter final match between Belgium and France. Thomas Buffel gave the Belgians a surprise lead on the 25th minute mark. Juventus’s David Trezeguet scored his 25th goal for France ten minutes before half time to bring the French back on level terms. The game was on a knifes edge until Thierry Henry had his say on the match. The phenomenal striker scored in the 77th and 90th minutes to give his side a 3-1 victory. 27th of June 2004 In the last quarter final the host nation Portugal took on Greece. Pauleta got Portugal off to a dream start in the 11th minute capping off a wonderful passing move. Figo capped off a stunning performance with two goals in the second half to give Portugal the last semi final spot and a 3-0 win on the night. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 29th of June 2004 John Allison today informed me he is now a qualified coach. He was awarded the Bronze Coaching Badge to show the ability he showed during his coaching training. John told me even though he could now coach he felt he would like to stay on the playing side of the game as well at the club until his contract runs out. Newcastle United has appointed ex Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan as their new manager. 30th of June 2004 The first semi final of Euro 2004 was played between Holland and Portugal. Newcastle winger, Hugo Viana, put the host nation in the lead after one minute with a wonder goal which looked to be a cross but somehow went into the goal. The Dutch didn’t equalise until ten minutes into the second half through their top scored Roy Makaay. The match finished 1-1 at the final whistle and extra time was needed to separate the two sides. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be a fairy tale for the Portuguese in their own country as Roy Makaay scored his second of the game with five minutes to go and Holland was the first nation to make it to the final. 1st of July 2004 The start of a new month brings the 2nd semi final between great rivals England and France. The French struck the first blow through Arsenal’s sensational forward Thierry Henry in the 35th minute. Two minutes later England’s talisman up forward Michael Owen hit back to tie up the scores 1-1. Ten minutes before time another Arsenal player, Patrick Vieria, scored for France to give them a 2-1 lead. England threw all they could at the France goal but it wasn’t enough as the French defence and Fabien Barthez repelled all that came their way. The final whistle blew and the French celebrated a second consecutive final appearance in a European Championship and are on their way to back to back championships. Its a Holland-France final what are your predictions?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 11, 2004 Author Share Posted May 11, 2004 No takers, well my prediction to win Euro 2004 is France 3rd of July 2004 Another signing today and a higher profile one too. Eddie Annand joined from St Mirren to be guaranteed first team/rotation football at East Stirling. Eddie Annand (31 y/o, Scottish, SC) Eddie didn’t play for the St Mirren first team last year but the season before that he scored thirteen goals in thirty one appearances and this was in Division One too! He has great balance and strength on the ball while having the knack of being able to get into good scoring positions. I am hoping he will strike up a good partnership up forward with Brian Crawford and maybe being able to come off the bench as a super sub. 4th of July 2004 The biggest match in the European Championship has finally arrived. The final is between two big footballing nations. Holland has won all five of their matches of the road to the final scoring ten and conceding just one. While the other finalist France won four out of their five matches to get to the final scoring twelve and conceding three. The bookmakers are favouring the defending champions France giving them 5-4 odds of clinching back to back European Championships. In front of 60,000 fans the match finally kicked off. Holland scored the first goal through Kevin Hofland on the 20th minute mark. Zinedane Zidane showed his class equalising for France ten minutes later. Just after half time the Dutch scored again through Wilfred Bouma to lead France 2-1. The French always had hope while Thierry Henry was on the pitch and he didn’t disappoint scoring his first of the match with twenty minutes left on the clock. Both sides played flowing attacking football but neither could score again and the final moved to extra time. At 2-2 the first half of extra time kicked off without incident and so the second half of extra time was needed. With fifteen minutes left of the match both sides starting playing safely and defensively just keeping chances for the opposition to a minimum. The referee blew the second half of extra time to a close and a penalty shootout was needed to decide the European Championship 2004 winners. The Dutch held their nerve scoring four goals out of five while France could only manage three with Thierry Henry missing his and condemning his side to defeat. Holland proved the bookmakers wrong by defeating France 4-3 on penalties and taking home the European Championship trophy. After all the drama of the final it was back to business for all managers except Rudi Voller, Inaki Saez and Giovanni Trapattoni who were relieved of their posts by Germany, Spain and Italy respectively. 5th of July 2004 With the league campaign kicking off just over a month away I finalised one friendly against Huntly for the 13th of July. My East Stirling annual cup this season has also been finalised with defending champions Arbroath returning with Gala Fairydean and Threave Rovers. Chris Baldwin stubbed his toe today in training and will be out for two weeks missing our first friendly against Huntly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 8th of July 2004 Partick Thistle has shocked the Scottish public and their own fans announcing Arsenal great Martin Keown as their new player/manager. The defender recently gained his coaching badge and has told the media he is extremely proud to manage an SPL side in his first attempt of trying. 11th of July 2004 The Scottish League Cup 1st Round was drawn today and in attendance I sent my assistant Alec Cleland. The club was lucky enough to be drawn at home but that’s where the good news finished. We will play Ross County who was one of the clubs relegated from Division One last season. The match will be played at Firs Park on the 7th of September 2004 While I went to see the Scottish League Challenge Cup 1st Round draw. Again we were drawn at home to a second division club. Forfar was that club making the trip to Firs Park. The match will be played on the 7th of August 2004 12th of July 2004 The hotseat at Manchester City left by Kevin Keegan when he went to join Newcastle United has been filled by another high profile manager. After one season with Chelsea having an unlimited cheque book the Italian manager decided he would rather try his luck in Manchester. The Spanish FA today announced their replacement manager by the name of Rafa Benitez while the Italian FA announced Luigi Cagni as their new national team manager. 13th of July 2004 Today we signed another St Mirren attacking player on a free transfer Kevin Twaddle (32 y/o, Scottish, AM/FR) Since St Mirren was relegated to Division Two they have needed to release a few high payed players. Kevin was unfortunately one of those players and he has agreed to join us with a reduced pay from £800 to £100. He has great crossing ability while his dribbling and pace makes him a menace on the wing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xx2 Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Dark_Soccer, this is a great story, and it inspired my to start a game with East Stirling aswell. They are so crap, that I couldn't believe it, when I assesed the squad. I offered a contract to 20-30 freebies, they all said, they weren´t interested, but two signed anyway. A good right back and a decent left back. After that I offered 0 pounds for 10-15 players that were transfer listed for 1.000-3.000 pounds. That way I brought 7-8 new players in. The team is still crap, but a bit better than the original team. Currently I´m first in the league with three wins and three draws. The last match was a 0-5 defeat by Aberdeen in the league cup. East Stirling is a great team to manage, and certainly a challenge. KUTGW!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 13, 2004 Author Share Posted May 13, 2004 Thanks xx2 , if you think this is a great story look around the board because this isnt the best one! It seems like you are doing well as East Stirling after six games well better than i did....if you look back i think i was rock bottom with six games! I hope you continue reading and drawing inspiration from my story 14th of July 2004 Today we play against lower league side Huntly in our first kick of a ball in anger since last season. I will be hoping for complete domination in this match but I am mainly looking to gel the players I have brought in during the preseason. July 14th, 2004 Friendly (h) East Stirling V Huntly East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- Roddy Maughan, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Alex McColl- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Sean McAuley, Jamie Mackay- Eddie Annand, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, John Allison, Tam McAllister, Kevin Twaddle, Jordan Leishman, Dougie Polwart, Gerry Boyle, Stuart Kelly, Paul Rodden, Derek Ure, Craig Reid The line up today has only two of the new players taking a spot. Alex McColl gets his chance to shine in centre defence while I expect big things from Eddie Annand and his partnership with Brian Crawford. Our first goal of the season, maybe not in a competitive match though, was scored after a nice run up the right wing by Maughan to put in a cross. Maughan picked out Mackay on the edge of the penalty area and the midfielder controlled the ball and lined up a shot at goal. The ball flew like an arrow from the midfielders foot into the top left hand corner of the net. Later on in the first half Annand and Crawford played a one two with the latter putting the ball into the back of the net only to see it cancelled out due to offside. Ten minutes into the second half and the Annand-Crawford combination finally proved fruitful. Annand received the ball just outside of the Huntly penalty area and swivelled before passing to the feet of Crawford. The striker made no mistake clinically beating the advancing keeper. Eight minutes later an unorthodox Jackson corner found McLaren all on his own and he buried the ball with his head to make it 3-0. With only ten minutes left in the match Crawford had his second goal of the match. The other ex St Mirren player was sent free on the wing and Twaddle crossed a perfect ball onto the head of his strike partner. Crawford has two and we have four. East Stirling 4:0 Huntly East Stirling Goals: Crawford (2), Mackay (1), McLaren (1) Huntly Goals: - MoM: Graeme McLaren (East Stirling) Rating-9 Subs: Boyle on for Lappin (51’), Twaddle on for Annand (51`), Flitney on for Connolly (51`), Allison on for Maughan (51`), White on for Stewart (51`), McAllister on for Mackay (51`) Booked: John Reilly (Huntly) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 186 An excellent win by the boys scoring four and never looking troubled at the back. Of course I would have expected no less but today was mainly to see how the players brought in during the off season would fit into the first team. McAllister had a solid game in centre midfield while the ex St Mirren double Annand and Twaddle both played well with each player making a goal for Crawford. The German FA appointed the new national manager today. Matthias Sammer has taken the reigns of the Germany national team while staying involved managing his club side Borussia Dortmund. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 I'm having a go with East Stirling as we speak. Inspired by thee! Great stuff, KUTGW! Rich Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 I got the urge to start a new game in SD3 a few days ago too (inspired by your East Stirling battle )- started off by managing Stranraer and Stranraer Athletic (moved them there using the editor - they had no players to start!), but part way through the season I noticed Elgin miles adrift at the bottom so I took them over too for a big challenge and promptly led them to a 12th placed finish Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Bleh @ no editing...10th placed finish I meant of course keep up the good work btw! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 14, 2004 Author Share Posted May 14, 2004 Thank you both. Richey I write the story to inform and entertain but if it inspires well i cant complain . Glamdring you could defiently call it a "battle" but good luck on your battle! 19th of July This morning I received a kick in the teeth to my season preparation with Sean McAuley sidelined for two months after sustaining a torn groin muscle in training. 21st of July The Dutch FA has appointed Guus Hiddink as their new national team manager. Guus had a good season last year reaching the UEFA cup semi finals with PSV. 23rd of July 2004 In the first match of the East Stirling Cup 2004 Threave Rovers won narrowly over Gala Fairydean 2-1. Our first match of the tournament was probably the biggest test against Division 2 side, Arbroath. Luckily it was at home and my strengthened squad should be able to do the business here today. July 23rd, 2004 East Stirling Cup 2004-Game One (h) East Stirling V Arbroath East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- Roddy Maughan, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Alex McColl- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, John Allison, Tam McAllister, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman, Gerry Boyle, Stuart Kelly, Paul Rodden, Derek Ure, Craig Reid The line-up had two changes made to it with Kevin Twaddle taking Eddie Annand first team spot while the forced change with Sean McAuley injured for two months sees Dougie Polwart take his spot. Just seven minutes into the match Anthony put the visitors one nil up after receiving the ball unmarked in the area and lashing the ball past Connolly. Twaddle repaid my faith in his ability when he latched onto a long ball by young McColl and thumped us level. Just before half time Lappin and McAuley determination to win the ball finally made a big impact on the games scoreline. McAuley won the ball in the midfield and fed Lappin down the wing. Lappin with a first time ball picked out Crawford and he made no mistake passing the ball into the right hand side of the goal. Just before the half time whistle Crawford and Twaddle passed between each other and unlocked the Arbroath defence. Twaddle was on the end of a perfect pass by Crawford and scored his second of the game. But to our dismay the offside flag cancelled it out-a very late offside flag! Three minutes after the restart out third goal was finally on the scoreboard. A long ball by Mackay found Crawford and the inform striker took the ball down before rounding the keeper and walking the ball into the net to make it 3-1. On the 65th minute I made a few substitutions one being Flitney to get a taste of the action in goal. And he did get to make a save in the 87th minute from a McBride curling free kick. If you had of asked me how McColl had gone in this match I would have told you he was sensational with him doing his job every time the ball came down his end. His tackles were perfect, his reading of the game was excellent and his long balls were second to none. But in the 92nd minute McColl was the last man and his only mistimed tackle of the game earnt him his marching orders. That was the only sour note on a good performance from the players. East Stirling 3:1 Arbroath East Stirling Goals: Crawford (2), Twaddle (1) Arbroath Goals: Anthony (1) MoM: Brian Crawford (East Stirling) Rating-9 Subs: Boyle on for Polwart (65’), Kelly on for Twaddle (65`), Flitney on for Connolly (65`), Allison on for Maughan (51`), White on for Stewart (65`), Ure on for Crawford (65`) Booked: McInally (Arbroath) Sent Off: McColl (East Stirling)(Reason: Foul when last man) Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 378 A perfect performance against a higher class opposition even if it was only a friendly. I wont get to carried away but it pleases me and gives me hope for our league campaign. Twaddle seems to be gelling with Crawford up forward with both strikers getting their names on the scoresheet. I cant believe the way McColl has fit into the centre of defence. He has become the defender I have always wanted in that position and apart from the only mistimed tackle he did all night and his red card he is absolutely irreplaceable in my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xx2 Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Don´t be so modest, Dark_Soccer. Your story is definately one of the best on these boards! It´s fun to read! I´m in january first season in my game. Currently second in the league, but its very close, and I struggle for my wins! I´m hoping for promotion, but I´m not so condident at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 14, 2004 Author Share Posted May 14, 2004 Thanks xx2 , I feel modesty is the best way to recieve complements . Your league campaign seems to be going well but East Stirling as i know find it hard to string wins together or even win matches! KUTGW in ur game July 24th 2004 After yesterday’s performance I really feel we shouldn’t have much trouble defeating today’s lower league opponents, Gala Fairydean. July 24th, 2004 East Stirling Cup 2004-Game Two (h) East Stirling V Gala Fairydean East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Tam McAllister - Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Jamie Mackay, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman, Gerry Boyle, Stuart Kelly, Paul Rodden, Derek Ure, Craig Reid Roddy Maughan is still really unfit so he takes a place on the bench allowing John Allison to get his first start in the cup. Stephen Oates takes the unoccupied place in centre defence since McColl is suspended for this match. Tam McAllister moves into the first team in place of a tired Jamie Mackay. In the first minute of the match our class has already given us a goal. Lappin won the ball on the left wing and his cross landed at the feet of Twaddle just outside the box. The striker sidestepped his defender and curled the ball into the net. We had two other chances in the first half with a glancing header by Twaddle and a Jackson free kick but both went wide. Three minutes into the second half Lappin put in a cross into the centre of the Gala Fairydean area. A scramble pursued with Polwart finding the ball fall straight to him and he thumped the ball home 2-0. Hay got one back for the visitors on the hour mark after sloppy defending let the striker pounce on a loose ball. The rest of this half was full of chances but once Crawford and Twaddle were replaced by Kelly and Ure we never had that cutting edge in front of goal. Luckily for us our defence held firm for most of the ninety minutes and our two goals were enough. East Stirling 2:1 Gala Fairydean East Stirling Goals: Polwart (1), Twaddle (1) Gala Fairydean Goals: Hay (1) MoM: Dougie Polwart (East Stirling) Rating-8 Subs: Boyle on for Polwart (65’), Kelly on for Twaddle (65`), Flitney on for Connolly (65`), Allison on for Maughan (51`), White on for Stewart (65`), Ure on for Crawford (65`) Booked: Stewart (Gala Fairydean), Hay (Gala Fairydean), Smith (Gala Fairydean) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 190 Well I can’t really complain with six out of six points and the way we are playing is immaculate at times. If we can keep the front two fit while keeping the team free of injuries we should have a large chance of doing better than last season’s finish of 9th place. Later on today Arbroath recorded their first win out of two matches by defeating Threave Rovers 2-1. We now only need to avoid defeat in our final game and even if we are defeated it needs to be by a few goals to give Threave Rovers a better goal difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 15, 2004 Author Share Posted May 15, 2004 25th of July 2004 Our final match of the East Stirling 2004 Cup kicked off at 3:00pm today against 2nd placed Threave Rovers. We only needed a point to clinch 1st spot. July 25th, 2004 East Stirling Cup 2004-Game Three (h) East Stirling V Threave Rovers East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Tam McAllister - Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Jamie Mackay, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman, Gerry Boyle, Stuart Kelly, Paul Rodden, Derek Ure, Craig Reid An unchanged team appeared today as all the players were almost 100% match fit, raring and ready to go. Seventeen minutes in McLaren’s long ball sent Crawford on his way ending up with Twaddle volleying the ball against the crossbar. Crawford spurned two other opportunities while Allison also took a shot on goal but saw it skim the top of the crossbar. The first half ended 0-0 with the visitors doing just enough not to go behind. We had a chance from the start of the second half with Crawford setting up Twaddle only to see the keeper heroically keep the ball out. But it wasn’t to be for the visitors ten minutes later when Jackson sent his free kick into the box and McAllister was brought down. The victim stepped up to convert the penalty and give us a 1-0 lead. McAllister almost turned from hero to zero when his slack marking let Kerr in but his shot never troubled Connolly going well wide. With seventy three minutes on the clock Leishman sent a free kick into the danger area. Kelly was first to react but was harshly brought down by Allan. McAllister scored his second goal from the penalty spot and it hit the same area of the net too. East Stirling 2:0 Threave Rovers East Stirling Goals: McAllister (2) Threave Rovers Goals: - MoM: Tam McAllister (East Stirling) Rating-10 Subs: White on for Oates (64’), Leishman on for Jackson (64`), Kelly on for Crawford (64`), Annand on for Twaddle (64`) Booked: Lappin (East Stirling), Polwart (East Stirling), Wilson (Threave Rovers), Gallagher (Threave Rovers) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 197 Two penalties today got us both the goals. I felt even without the penalties we really should have scored one or two but at the end of the day we won. The East Stirling Cup 2004 is coming back to its home club East Stirling and we will be back again next season to defend it against different invited clubs. Tam McAllister ran the midfield today having a hand in all the attacking moves and he defending quite well. His contribution to the midfield will be much needed to improve on last season. Arbroath thumped Gala Fairydean 4-0 to end the East Stirling Cup on a high and take 2nd place after three matches. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | East Stirling | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Arbroath | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Threave Rovers | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Gala Fairydean | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> I arranged one last friendly to be played against Albion Rovers on the 31st of July at Firs Park. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 16, 2004 Author Share Posted May 16, 2004 31st of July 2004 July 31st, 2004 Friendly (h) East Stirling V Albion Rovers East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Gerry Boyle - Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Jamie Mackay, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman, Tam McAllister, Stuart Kelly, Paul Rodden, Derek Ure, Craig Reid Tam McAllister was feeling the effects of the last three matches being so close together so he was rested for today’s match and taking his place is Gerry Boyle. Inside four minutes Boyle proved he can create attacking moves when his low ball went into the box before Twaddle had his shot saved by the keeper. Albion came closest to scoring in the first half when a cross reached Diack but his half volley hit the crossbar and bounced to Connolly. A goal was scored four minutes before the half ended when Bradford held off his marker, controlled a long pass and hammered it past Connolly. Twaddle almost equalised thirty seconds later but his shot skimmed wide of the left hand upright. In first half stoppage time a long ball heading to Diack gave the visitors a penalty when the referee adjudged McLaren for pushing the striker. Bradford stepped up and scored his second goal of the match and second in five minutes. The second half started just like the first half finished with relentless Albion pressure on our goal. In the 50th minute a scramble in the East Stirling area saw Connolly make a triple save and the end shot going wide. While three minutes later I made four substitutions and they payed dividends a few minutes later. The change to 4-3-3 produced a goal when a cross was missed by an Albion defender and it fell to Crawford who from six yards out wont miss and it was 2-1. After that both sides had a few half chances but neither team could put the ball in the net and we were handed out first defeat from our five friendly matches. East Stirling 1:2 Albion Rovers East Stirling Goals: Crawford (1) Albion Rovers Goals: Bradford (2) MoM: John McCaig (Albion Rovers) Rating-8 Subs: White on for Stewart (55’), Mackay on for Boyle (55`), Rodden on for Polwart (55`), Annand on for Twaddle (55`) Booked: Stewart (East Stirling), Coulter (Albion Rovers), Murray (Albion Rovers) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 306 Our last friendly before out 1st round cup match against Forfar and it has ended with us on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline. Even though we lost I can take huge positives out of the match because last season Albion beat us three times out of four matches with one defeat being as big as a six one. Chelsea has filled their vacant managerial position giving an ex manager another stint at the club. Gianluca Vialli resigned from his assistant managerial post at Old Trafford to come back and try and guide the millionaires of Chelsea to silverware. 2nd of August 2004 East Fife faxed a bid to the club of £2,000 for Graeme McLaren. My answer was swift and decisive NO! The Scottish Division Three Promotion Odds were released today with no surprises in who was expected to join Division Two next season. Berwick was given odds of (4-6) to win the league while close behind was Albion Rovers (4-5), Dumbarton (Evens), Peterhead (6-4), Stranraer (6-4) and Elgin (7-4). While East Stirling was considered the least favourite team to win the league and more likely the bookmakers feel we will do well to avoid finishing bottom with odds of (300-1). I was quite disappointed that the bookmakers would write us off for promotion come the end of the season but I guess after last season’s display they wouldn’t give us any credit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 18, 2004 Author Share Posted May 18, 2004 7th of August 2004 Our first competitive match for the season is against Forfar today be that as it may in a cup. The Scottish League Challenge Cup is one of my main priorities to get a cup run going and help the club into an even healthier financial position. But our Second Division opponents today will be no walk over though I predict we may just get over the line if we use our home advantage. August 7th, 2004 Scottish League Challenge Cup 1st Round (h) East Stirling V Forfar East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman The one chance to the starting line up today with Jamie Mackay taking a central midfield role at the expense of Gerry Boyle who drops out of the squad selected for this match. In the seventh minute a sloppy pass was picked up by Polwart in central midfield and his fifty yard pass over the top of the defence allowed Crawford to chase. The striker reached the ball but saw his shot saved by an alert Forfar keeper. The corner was excellently defended and they Forfar defence gave my players no chance to get an effort on goal. With fifteen minutes on the clock Stewart’s header went straight to Polwart and his clever lob set Twaddle on his way to goal. The ex St Mirren striker’s first effort was parried straight back to him while his second effort was parried up in the air and so cruelly for the keeper straight onto Crawford’s head. The header was deadly accurate and nestled into the back of the net to give us a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later we were pegged back when a Forfar cross found Robinson, who evaded his marker, and he headed his side level. Three minutes later a carbon copy of the move that created their first goal occurred and it resulted in a second and a dramatic turn around we were 2-1 down. Two minutes into stoppage time Forfar profited from another cross this time Tosh got his name on the scoresheet with a perfectly timed half volley. At half time I urged the boys to play more offensively and made two substitutes by the name of McAllister and Annand. In the 55th minute we almost got a goal back until the keeper stuck out a hand when the ball looked to be past him and it deflected wide. With thirteen minutes to go Jackson received a ball from Annand and given time and space to run down the wing. His cross wasn’t perfect but when it was headed out Allison volleyed it with so much venom it burst the net. 3-2 and we are still alive and kicking. With seven minutes to go a fast flowing move saw Crawford beat his defender for pace and slide a pass across goal to an unmarked Annand who had the easiest debut goal. 3-3 and we have clawed our way back. The ninety minutes ends with Forfar applying all the pressure but seeing the East Stirling defence hold tight. The first chance of the first half of extra time fell to Forfar but Davidson put his long range effort over. Crawford and Annand worked well together to create another chance which saw Annand’s shot superbly tipped over. In the 100th minute of extra time Robinson scored his hat trick when a header was not held by Connolly and the Forfar striker took the gift. The second half flew by and with five minutes to go it looked like we were going to be heading out of the cup at the first hurdle. But once again Annand popped up to make himself available and when Crawford’s pinpoint cross hit Annand’s foot there was no other outcome but for us to be level 4-4. The second half of extra time was blown to an end by the referee and the match was to be decided by penalties. All the players gathered in the centre circle waiting for the penalties to start. Forfar won the coin toss and chose to take the first penalty. Tosh stepped up to face Connolly in goal for East Stirling. Tosh hit the penalty to the right of Connolly and it just snuck between the keeper’s outstretched hand and the post. McAllister stepped up to have Brown between him and putting us level. The midfielder kept his composure and buried the ball into the back of the net. Robinson stepped up and only took three steps before putting the ball past Connolly to make it 2-1. Crawford needed to beat Brown to make it 2:2 and he did just that with a power over placement approach. Duncan stepped up and used Crawford’s penalty approach to beat Connolly and make it 3:2. Annand capped off a wonderful performance today showing that he can keep his cool when it is needed, putting the ball past Brown to make it 3:3. Gilbert was the fourth penalty taker for Forfar and he made no mistake giving Connolly no chance. Stewart being a defender didn’t know about the placement approach when he stepped up to take the next penalty. He put all the power behind the ball he could muster and that was enough to level the shootout at 4:4. Ryan stepped up for Forfar and completed five out of five successful penalties against Connolly. McLaren stepped up with the only option to keep us in the tie was to score the penalty. The defender made no mistake sending the keeper the wrong way. The next penalty saw Forfar keeper, Brown, face Connolly from the spot. The keeper in goal made the save and gave us a great chance to win the match. Player/Coach Allison stepped up to win the match for us but his penalty went wide and Forfar lived to fight another day (or another penalty!). McKenzie stepped up to try and give his side the lead in this shootout. Luckily for us he mi**** his top corner aimed penalty and it crashed off the bar and stayed out. Our hero for the match could be Lappin if he can put this penalty away. The left midfielder stepped up, looking pretty nervous, and his shot went like a rocket past Brown’s outstretched hand onto the post…………………….and IN! GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After seven penalties from each side we finally took the shootout (6-5) and advanced to the next round of this cup competition. East Stirling 4:4 Forfar (Penalties 6:5) East Stirling Goals: Annand (2), Crawford (1), Allison (1) Forfar Goals: Robinson (3), Tosh (1) MoM: Mathew Robinson (Forfar) Rating-10 Subs: White on for Oates (70’), Annand on for Twaddle (45`), McAllister on for Polwart (45`) Booked: Oates (East Stirling), White (East Stirling), Duncan (Forfar) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1421 This victory will do everything for the team’s confidence before the start of the season even if we did have to take the match on a shootout. I couldn’t be more pleased with how we responded in the second half being 3-1 down. The two substitutions and the more offensive outlook on the match payed dividends at the end of the day. An excellent result for the club and I’m looking forward to the second round of the cup. The two small negatives today were the small injuries to Michael Stewart who would be out for a day with strained knee ligaments and Ross Jackson who also suffered strain knee ligaments and would resume training in three days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 8th of August 2004 The Scottish League Challenge Cup 2nd Round ties were drawn today. My Assistant attended the draw leaving me to prepare the team for the upcoming league opener against Gretna. We were one of the last four teams to come out of the hat and when we were drawn out to have a home match there was three teams left. Motherwell (Division One), Stranraer (Division Three) and Berwick (Division Three) were the three teams left to be drawn and I couldn’t be happier with out opponents. We drew Third Division club side Stranraer and the match will be played at Firs Park on Tuesday, 17th of August 2004. The Italian Super Cup final was played today between the two great clubs in Milan. Inter Milan and AC Milan fought out ninety minutes of football to win some early silverware before the season started. The blue and black side of Milan was just too strong scoring three goals in the first forty minutes through Mohamed Kallon, Stephane Dalmat and Christian Vieri. Flippo Inzaghi gave AC Milan a consolation goal twenty minutes from time while Inter celebrated their first Italian Super Cup since they defeated Sampdoria back in 1989. 13th of August 2004 Serie A side, Bologna, has appointed ex Juventus, Milan and Inter Milan great Roberto Baggio as their new player-manager. The Italian told the press he is honoured to take his first managerial job at Bologna and wishes to take them up into the top six clubs in Italy. 14th of August 2004 The first match of the new league season sees us entertain Gretna at Firs Park. Our results against Gretna last season including one win, two draws and one loss. The bookmakers predict Gretna to narrowly win the match two goals to one. August 14th, 2004 Scottish Division Three Match 1 (h) East Stirling V Gretna East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman Alex McColl returns to the first team after his suspension enddc while Stephen Oates drops out of the first sixteen chosen for today's squad. Jamie Mackay drops to the bench in place of Tam McAllister, after the veteran played a blinder against Forfar. Kevin Twaddle keeps his place in the first team by the skin of his teeth after Eddie Annand rescued the game for us after he came on at half time against Forfar. In the sixth minute of play Lappin intercepted a long ball and his header gave Twaddle a ball to chase. It was between Twaddle and his defender to win the ball and the ageing striker’s pace was still good enough to reach the ball first. Twaddle swivelled on the ball and took two touches while drawing the keeper. Once the keeper was committed he curled the ball around the shot stopper and into the net. 1-0 East Stirling after only six minutes. Two minutes later we won a corner to be taken by Jackson. The corner was swung in but it was poor and favoured the keeper or so I thought. McColl beat the keeper to the ball with his head and we were celebrating our second goal of the match in the eighth minute. McAllister collected a poor ball in the midfield and with a wonderful through ball set Crawford on his way. Unfortunately the striker was pushed too wide by his defender for a shot but his cross to his striker partner was just as good. Twaddle took one touch before unleashing a rocket from only six yards to put us 3-0 up. We had a lapse of concentration at the back ten minutes later letting Hawley in and a one on one opportunity with Connolly. The striker tried to be cute and his effort went over the bar. Gretna did get one the scoresheet six minutes later when Cameron was put through on goal and he finished with conviction. At half time Crawford was brought off after suffering a small injury during the first half. His replacement was inform striker Annand who was looking to impress again as a half time substitute. Holdsworth was caught in possession by Twaddle straight from the second half kick off. This gave Twaddle the chance to take on the keeper in a one and one and my striker didn’t disappoint with a sublime chip to seal his hat trick. In the 65th minute we won another corner to be taken after my two substitutions. Jackson swung in a deep corner which looked to be going harmlessly over Twaddle’s head until a defender pushed him in the back. The referee was in the best position to see what happened and he awarded the penalty. Twaddle stepped up confidently (he has already scored three so why wouldn’t he be confident) and slotted his fourth goal from the spot and put us 5-1 up. With ten minutes to go another Jackson corner produced another goal. This time Stewart beat the keeper to the ball and headed in his first goal of the match. East Stirling 6:1 Gretna East Stirling Goals: Twaddle (4), McColl (1), Stewart (1) Gretna Goals: Cameron (1) MoM: Kevin Twaddle (East Stirling) Rating-10 Subs: Annand on for Crawford (45`), White on for McColl (64’), Mackay on for McAllister (64`) Booked: - Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1408 A spectacular performance by the players today and it looks like the team is really gelling together well. We managed six goals with four coming from a player I almost dropped to the bench before the match but luckily for me I gave him another chance and he didn’t disappoint. The two central defenders McColl and Stewart both showed they can header with a goal each which was very pleasing. On a defensive note we were quite solid only allowing five shots on target all game with most of those shots pressurised or long range. If we can keep up the consistency every match we should do well this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 What is your wage budget/wage bill, just out of interest? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted May 22, 2004 Author Share Posted May 22, 2004 Not sure atm Glamdring havent touched the game for a week and wont be touching it for another two-three weeks due to exams....So the story will take a break for a few weeks until the exams are over than i will continue and answer your question Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 No problem - good luck with exams Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 3, 2004 Author Share Posted June 3, 2004 I have my last two exams on Tuesday so im taking a break from study today and continuing on with the story and will continue posting as normal. One change with the story this season is that my World League Wrap will only appear twice once at the half way stage and once at the end of the season while the table in my division will appear every six games. Also Glamdring when i look at the game i will answer your question-which will be in a few hours Ok back to the action 15th of August 2004 The English Community Shield was contested between big spending Chelsea and Premiership Champions Arsenal. William Gallas put Chelsea in the lead with three minutes on the clock before Freddie Ljungberg scored the equaliser four minutes later. Nicolas Anelka showed his class added Chelsea’s second with twenty minutes on the clock. The lead lasted only five minutes before Arsenal was back on level terms through Francis Jeffers. Geremi scored straight from the Chelsea kick off to put the big spenders 3-2 up. Just before half time Arsenal won a penalty and Kanu stepped up to convert it. The match continued to stay at 3-3 until the last two minutes of the match. Filipe Olivieria gave Chelsea their fourth goal and the winning goal in the 89th minute. The London side took great satisfaction in the victory especially because it was against the reigning English Premier League Champions and their greatest London rivals. 17th of August 2004 Today the 2nd round of the Scottish League Challenge Cup sees Third Division Stranraer come to Firs Park. We play Stranraer twice in the next few days due to our cup and league commitments. The bookmakers again don’t favour us at home giving Stranraer odds (1-10) of winning here today. August 17th, 2004 Scottish League Challenge Cup 2nd Round (h) East Stirling V Stranraer East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman I name an unchanged line up from the 6-1 demolition of Gretna a few days ago. The only concern would be that the players aren’t fully match fit today and a number of changes will have to be made for the next league game but lets focus on this match first. It took us ten minutes for our first shot on target. A throw in taken by Lappin gave Crawford time to turn and put a cross into the box. Stewart, who had pushed up from central defence, took a shot at goal only to see Mathers get his body behind the shot. We only had a few chances near the end of the first half when Crawford held off his marker to set up McLaren and Jackson to take shots on goal but both went wide. At half time McAllister and Twaddle were feeling the heat from the first half so they were substituted with Mackay and Annand coming on for each of the team mates respectively. One of the substitutions put us in the lead on the 60th minute. When Allison had time to put in a cross it looked to be really dangerous for Stranraer. The defence didn’t clear the ball far enough and when it fell to Jackson he took aim at goal. His control let him down but the ball fell to Annand who used his experience to control the ball and blaze it past the keeper. Stranraer pulled level twelve minutes later when a fifty-fifty ball was won Kerr against Stewart. Kerr didn’t need any second time of asking as he just lashed the ball into the top corner. The three minutes of stoppage time were nail biting with both sides having chances but the defenders just doing enough to stop a goal being conceded. The first half of extra time had only two chances- one for each side. Both of the chances were free kicks and both of the free kicks went wide. The second half is needed to separate the two teams. The second half only saw one chance with Mackay blasting the shot over the bar. The match looked like it was going to go to penalties since the start of extra time and now it has. This time we won the toss and chose to take the first spot kick. Crawford stepped up and confidently beat Mathers from the spot for a 1-0 lead. Kerr showed that he could do anything Crawford could do, scoring his penalty and tieing the shootout at 1-1. Annand continued the run of penalty kicks hitting the back of the net sending Mathers the wrong way. Paterson stepped up and took a quick penalty. He was lucky as Connolly lost his footing and only got a touch on the poorly placed penalty as it went over the goal line. Stewart stepped up and showed even though he is a central defender that he could still take a penalty by beating Mathers. Davies wasting no time when he stepped up to take his spot kick. The striker showed Connolly no mercy and powered it past the keeper to tie the shootout 3-3. Another defender this time a left back, McLaren, showed he could successful convert a penalty using mind games and sending Mathers the wrong way. Crawford (not ours) looked to be really nervous as he walked up to take his kick. That showed when his penalty was saved by Connolly diving full length to his left and diverting the ball wide. Lappin had the chance to win the game but he poorly placed his penalty and Mathers saved the ball with ease. Wingate stepped up for Stranraer knowing he had to score or his team would lose. His penalty wasn’t the best but it was placed well enough to sneak past Connolly and tie the shootout 4-4. Jackson is an excellent corner taker but could he score a penalty? Yes he could sending Mathers the wrong way and giving us a 5-4 lead. Sharp took the next penalty for Stranraer and he didn’t disappoint his team putting his penalty in off the post. McColl was on a high after scoring his header last match and his penalty went flying high into the net. The Stranraer keeper, Mathers, had to score to keep his side in the shootout. His weak penalty went straight down Connolly’s throat and we were through to the third round of the cup. East Stirling 1:1 Stranraer (Penalties 6-5) East Stirling Goals: Annand (1) Stranraer Goals: Kerr (1) MoM: Paul Mathers (Stranraer) Rating-10 Subs: Annand on for Twaddle (45`), Mackay on for McAllister (45`), Maughan on for Allison (67’) Booked: Jackson (East Stirling), Stewart (East Stirling), McLaren (East Stirling), Kerr (Stranraer) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1396 Today would never live up to the Gretna match but I feel slightly disappointed that when Twaddle and McAllister went off our creativity up forward decreased even though we did score a goal in the second half. The match as a whole was pleasing because we progress further into the cup and we are now into the third round. Michael Stewart has picked up an automatic one match ban after collecting too many yellow cards. The yellow card against Stranraer was the one which took him over the disciplinary limit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 3, 2004 Author Share Posted June 3, 2004 Ok now to answer your question Glamdring my wage budget is at £1,900 while my wage bill is £200 below the budget at £1,700 Hope that answers your question If you or anyone else has any questions/queries feel free to ask Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 3, 2004 Author Share Posted June 3, 2004 18th of August 2004 For the second time in two weeks my assistant manager went to attend a draw for the Scottish League Challenge Cup. This time it was for the third round of the competition. Again Alec Cleland came back with excellent news with us being drawn at home to the only other Division Three club left in the cup, Montrose. The match will be played at Firs Park on Tuesday, 31st of August 2004 21st of August 2004 Here we are again today playing against Stranraer. This time though we are playing on Stranraer’s turf in our first away match this season. The bookmakers predict Stranraer to win hands down but why listen to them! August 17th, 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 2 (a) Stranraer V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, James White, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Roddy Maughan, Eddie Annand, Jordan Leishman They say never change a winning team but they weren’t talking about penalties surely. James White comes in to the first team at centre back while Michael Stewart is on the bench for this match. Stranraer have the first chance on nine minutes when Kerr sends a cross in for his team mate, Graham. Graham doesn’t let him down stooping low to the ground to knock the ball past Connolly and his side into a 1-0 lead. The home side continued pressuring us the whole half but none of their pressure resulted in anything. The defence were strong enough in the air to deal with any corners and set pieces which were drifted in. At half time I decided to take White off my Mackay to give us more presence in the midfield. The half time super sub, Annand, also came on replacing a tired looking Twaddle. Unfortunately Stranraer scored again a minute after the restart when Kerr wasn’t picked up in the area and he just calmly knocked the ball into the net. The second half was just like the first for most of it with no real clear cut chances being created. Kerr though didn’t need a clear cut when McColl headed the ball back to Connolly and the keeper fumbled it Kerr scored the easiest goal of his career. The game began to just burn out after the third goal and we lost our first match of the season. Stranraer 3:0 East Stirling East Stirling Goals: - Stranraer Goals: Kerr (2), Graham (1) MoM: Kevin Finlayson (Stranraer) Rating-9 Subs: Annand on for Twaddle (45`), Mackay on for White (45`), Maughan on for Jackson (70’) Booked: White (East Stirling), Lappin (East Stirling) Sent Off: - Stadium: Stair Park Attendance: 1699 Today’s performance wasn’t nearly as bad as the performances we put in against teams last season. The players seemed to still be jaded from our match against Stranraer in the Scottish League Challenge Cup. But overall I am pleased to have got to the third round of the cup and lost the league match because I would rather stay down in division three for one more season to rebuilt the squad if it came down to the crunch. We have a week before our next match against winless Queens Park at home so we have a lot of work to be done. 28th of August 2004 A whole week flew by so quickly and before you know it we are hosting Queens Park at Firs Park. The visitors haven’t had the rub of the green at the moment losing their first two matches. The bookmakers though think that Queens Park will record their first win of the season today against us at home. Maybe away they might beat us but at home I feel we have a big chance of winning. August 28th, 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 3 (h) East Stirling V Queens Park East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, James White, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Tam McAllister- Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Roddy Maughan, Eddie Annand, Jamie Mackay After our 3-0 loss at the hands of Stranraer in the last league match I have decided to continue Crawford and Twaddle up front because of our third round cup match against Montrose in three days. I would rather let Annand only play half an hour of today’s match and play a larger part of our cup match. Our assault on the Queens Park goal started in the 4th minute when Jackson swung a free kick in and it was just put wide by Twaddle. Another Jackson free kick ten minutes later flew just over the Queens Park crossbar to the relief of their despairing keeper. Ferry had a chance for the visitors when he was put on his way by a team mate but excellent back tracking by McColl and Connolly’s ability to narrow the angle gave Ferry little chance of scoring and his shot went over the bar. The first half came to an end with my players creating the most chances but not being able to finish them off. The second half produced little excitement until the 68th minute when we had a fast flowing attack. When McColl gave the ball to McLaren the wingback set up the left wing before sending a dangerous looking cross in the proximity of Annand. Annand somehow got his head onto the ball and his flick header deceived the Queens Park keeper and went floating over him into the net 1-0. Annand and Twaddle played a one-two with thirteen minutes to go and as Annand moved past his defender he sent in a small cross which looked to be to close to the keeper. Luckily the keeper spilled it right to Twaddle and we were two goals up. When McColl put a long ball up the pitch it looked to be low percentage ball but somehow Annand flicked the ball on to a running McAllister. The midfielder’s first touch wasn’t too good as it put the ball too far in front of him but to his relief a defender pressuring him knocked the ball past the onrushing keeper into the net. The own goal was credited to Wilson and we had now secured victory. In the last minute of stoppage time Twaddle almost got his second but his volley didn’t dip far enough just grazing the top of the crossbar. East Stirling 3:0 Queens Park East Stirling Goals: Annand (1), Twaddle (1) Queens Park Goals: Wilson (OG) MoM: Graeme McLaren (East Stirling) Rating-8 Subs: Annand on for Crawford (58`), Mackay on for Polwart (58`), Stewart on for White (58’) Booked: Crawford (East Stirling), Polwart (East Stirling), Smith (Queens Park), Keenan (Queens Park) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1434 Another nice home victory for the club, the players and the fans today. Queens Park was a good challenge up till the 68th minute when they began to crumble after conceding the first goal. We are now sitting in 2nd position on goal difference with one less point than the league leaders, Albion Rovers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Thanks for the info Good work keeping below the wage budget Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 31st of August 2004 Just before the transfer deadline came into force one player joined East Stirling while another departed. Chris Baldwin left us to move to Peterhead in a £2,000 deal while we bought a central defender from Wimbledon for £8,000 Nico Herzig (20 y/o, German, DC) My two scouts found Nico languishing in the Wimbledon reserves a month ago and have kept tabs on him ever since. He has great heading ability while his balance and strength on the ball is very good too. He cost the club a record £8,000 but I feel that money is well invested for this season and years to come. The third round of the Scottish League Challenge Cup has finally arrived and now that we are in the last eight we have a good chance of winning it. The bookmakers predict that Montrose will take the match away from home today but again I feel since we are at home the match should be ours. August 31st, 2004 Scottish League Challenge Cup 3rd Round (h) East Stirling V Montrose East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Tam McAllister- Eddie Annand , Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Kevin Twaddle, Jamie Mackay Michael Stewart is suspended for this match while James White falls to the bench to allow Nico Herzig his first appearance for his new club. Annand takes Twaddle’s starting place up forward while the less than match fit Twaddle takes a place on the bench. Our first attack took sixteen minutes to come when Lappin’s clever chip to an unmarked Polwart opened the space up. Polwart lined the shot up from the edge of the penalty area and with the keeper scrambling his shot unluckily deflected out off the post. A Jackson corner was headed out by the Montrose defence but with us pressing just gave the ball straight back to us. The players played a keep ball tactic waiting until the right moment when they released Jackson who half volleyed over. With three minutes left in the first half Polwart had another chance but his long range strike went over the crossbar. Three minutes into the second half a Montrose throw was misjudged by McColl and his mishit clearance gave Black a chance which he buried past Connolly to give the visitors a shock 1-0 lead. A long ball found the head of Crawford who flicked it on to Twaddle but unfortunately his shot flew over. We continued to press and press throughout the second half with only half chances resulting from our pressure until the 90th minute. Twaddle found himself free from a throw in but his curling shot was tipped round the post by the Montrose keeper. That was the last chance of the match and we lost the match 1-0 when we had the better of the chances. East Stirling 0:1 Montrose East Stirling Goals: - Montrose Goals: Black (1) MoM: Gary McGlynn(gk)(Montrose) Rating-8 Subs: Twaddle on for Annand (45`), Mackay on for McAllister (45`), Maughan on for Allison (67’) Booked: Annand (East Stirling), Mackay (East Stirling), Simpson (Montrose), Gibson (Montrose), Byrne (Montrose) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1413 Today the goals just didn’t come from the chances we created and we did create more than our opponents. The one positive is we now receive the monies from our cup run and the impressive debut performance by Nico Herzig scoring a rating of “8â€. I hope to see more of that this season and seasons to come. We received our monies for our cup run but such a small amount it was in total of £4,000 but I guess we only met division three sides and not many people came to spectate. Oh well another 4K will be much appreciated by the financial people at the club. 1st of September 2004 At early morning training the club was dealt a huge blow to our desire to stay in 2nd place when Kevin Twaddle picked up a groin string. The club physio estimates our 32 y/o forward will be out for a month at least. 3rd of September 2004 The European Super Cup was played between the winners of the Champions League, Juventus, and the winners of the UEFA Cup, Parma. David Trezeguet scored a brace in the second half and Mauro German Camoranesi got his name on the scoresheet to give his side from Turin another piece of European silverware. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 5, 2004 Author Share Posted June 5, 2004 4th of September 2004 Our fourth match of the season takes us to Elgin’s home ground, Borrough Briggs, looking for a win against a team 5th in the table after three games. Since I have been in charge the club’s record against Elgin is two wins, two draws and two losses-scoring eleven and conceding eleven. You can’t get any closer than that but still the bookmakers favour our opponents and i guess they do because we dont have home advantage. September 4th, 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 4 (a) Elgin V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Alex McColl, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jordan Leishman- Eddie Annand, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Derek Ure, Jamie Mackay Jordan Leishman is recalled to the first team today allowing Tam McAllister to take a few more days off to rest his aging body. Kevin Twaddle is injured so his place on the bench is taken by Derek Ure. Our first attacking move of the match including Leishman, Jackson and Polwart all with quick one touches moving the ball up to Crawford. The striker entered the area before being tackled but the ball fell to Polwart who thundered home his first goal of the season. Leishman was again involved three minutes later combining with Lappin on the left wing allowing Jackson to volley just over. Elgin finally did get the ball into the back of the net on the twenty minute mark but McLean’s well struck shot was ruled out for offside. McLean did get his name on the scoresheet ten minutes later when McColl was beaten in the air by Fletcher and McLean beat Connolly to the ball. The Elgin striker took one touch before passing the ball into the unguarded net and levelling the score. A quick throw by McLaren set Lappin on his way down the left wing before combining a one two with Crawford and aiming a cross in the box. Jackson got his head on to the end of the cross only to see Pirie stand his ground and catch the ball with ease in the Elgin goal. John Allison was complaining of an injury at the half time team talk so I took him off putting on Roddy Maughan. The whole of the second half really was dominated by Elgin and their dominance kept my defenders on their toes. There were three major chances for Elgin but a crucial intervention by substitute defender, James White, and excellent goalkeeping from Connolly kept us on level terms. At the end of the ninety minutes the scoreline stayed at 1:1 and we could be happy with our days work especially since it was away from home. Elgin 1:1 East Stirling Elgin Goals: McLean (1) East Stirling Goals: Polwart (1) MoM: Charles McLean (Elgin) Rating-9 Subs: Maughan on for Allison (45`), Ure on for Annand (61`), White on for McColl (61’) Booked: White (East Stirling), Maughan (East Stirling), Barraclough (Elgin) Sent Off: - Stadium: Borrough Briggs Attendance: 1661 The goal in the first five minutes seemed to really shell shock Elgin and they couldn’t really throw much at us until after the half time interval. If I look back at the game as a neutral I see we were very lucky to escape with a point because their chances should have given them at least two goals. After four games we sit third in the league with seven points and if you had of told me that before the season I would have been asking you how much you have had to drink. A massive blow to our push up the table is Alex McColl will be out for two months with a torn groin muscle. He was substituted off with half an hour to play against Elgin when he complained of pain but this wasn’t in any ones wildest nightmares. 7th of September 2004 The Scottish League Cup First Round matches are being played today with Firs Park playing host to the match between East Stirling and Scottish Division 2 side, Ross County. September 7th, 2004 Scottish League Cup First Round (h) East Stirling V Ross County East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, Michael Stewart- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Gerry Boyle- Eddie Annand, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Derek Ure, Jamie Mackay Michael Stewart is called up to replace the injured Alex McColl in central defence while Gerry Boyle replaces a fatigued Jordan Leishman in central midfield. The rest of the team remains unchanged. Six minutes in and our new central defensive partnership of Herzig and Stewart got into a muddle allowing a free header for Winters but luckily it went wide. Just before half time Stewart got his bearings wrong again and allowed McHattie to get free on his own. The striker received a flick head from his other strike partner before running in and calmly slotting the ball past Connolly to give his side a 1-0 lead. At half time Michael Stewart was replaced by James White while the ineffective Eddie Annand was replaced by a younger striker in Derek Ure. On the hour mark a long ball by Herzig found Ure with time to take the ball down and continue his run into the box. A defender came to close him down but he cheekily crossed the ball in with a a back flick and Crawford on the turn slammed the ball home, 1-1 after an hour played. A minute later we won a freekick when Lappin was brought down about fifteen metres inside the Ross County half. Jackson lifted the ball in and the player who was fouled in the first place got his head to the ball and got a goal on the board too. With twenty minutes left we sewed the tie up when McLaren stole the ball from McHattie on the half way line and played a long ball over to Crawford. Crawford's burst of pace was too much for his defender and he got into the box with ease and finished with ease too, 3-1 up and twenty minutes left. East Stirling 3:1 Ross County East Stirling Goals: Crawford (2), Lappin (1) Ross County Goals: McHattie (1) MoM: Jon Connolly (East Stirling) Rating-8 Subs: Maughan on for Allison (45`), Ure on for Annand (61`), White on for McColl (61’) Booked: Stewart (East Stirling), McLaren (East Stirling), McCunnie (Ross County), McHattie (Ross County) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1424 Another comeback from behind victory in a cup match but when we got going in the second half there was no stopping us. Derek Ure seemed to really inject some energy up into the forward line and I am thinking about starting him in our next league game. Jon Connolly was voted man of the match but I don’t really see why because he only had to deal with about five shots and one went in but I'm happy for him all the same. McLaren has picked up two yellow cards and will now miss our next cup match. That next cup match will be our Second Round of the Scottish League Cup but our opponent hasn’t been decided yet. 10th of September 2004 Today is the big day where my assistant and I attend the cup draw for the Scottish League Cup Second Round. Our cup draw didn’t favour us at all being drawn away to great rivals Falkirk of Division One. Two positives from this draw are a higher attendance will come to see the match and we just have to travel up the road. 11th of September 2004 Sean McAuley has resumed full training after recovering from the groin injury which kept him out for two months. He will slot straight back into central midfield for the upcoming league game against Albion Rovers. His recovery is just in time for us to really make a statement in the league and show we can stay in the top three or even consolidate a top two finish. Today the start of the European Qualifiers for the World Cup 2006 in Germany got underway. Fifty one European nations randomly placed into nine groups fight for the automatic and play off places to take their country to the biggest competition of them all. Since I have the game on small detail I cant see all the match reports so for the European Qualifiers I will just do a review at the end of the qualifying process before the World Cup 2006 begins. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 18th of September 2004 After an eleven day break from our cup match against Ross County, due to European Qualifiers for World Cup 2006, the Third Division matches continue. The visitors to Firs Park today are Albion Rovers who head the table with ten out twelve points sitting three points clear of us with four games played. The visitors have the advantage in past history winning four and losing only one to an East Stirling side who struggled last season. This season though we have started 200% better and should have a real chance of an upset here today. September 18th, 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 5 (h) East Stirling V Albion Rovers East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, James White, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Jamie Mackay, Sean McAuley- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Roddy Maughan, Eddie Annand, Gerry Boyle McAuley and Mackay both take back their spots in central midfield at the expense of Polwart and Boyle respectively while Ure's excellent showing in the cup match is rewarded with a starting place today dropping Annand to the bench. Our first chance of the match comes from a free kick just after the ten minute mark. Jackson steps up and curls his free kick just around the post to the agony of the East Stirling fans. We win a corner in the 26th minute after a run by Lappin was halted by a sliding challenge from a covering defender. Jackson resumes his set piece duties, floating the ball in and an unmarked Herzig heads home past the Albion Rovers keeper and East Stirling has the lead. That's the way the score stayed when the half time whistle blew and my team had kept the ladder leaders scoreless and with only one half chance in a whole forty five minutes of football. Allison is replaced at half time, due to his yellow card and that he is really feeling it out there, by a younger right back Maughan. Albion won a corner seven minutes into the second half but couldn’t repeat our feat as the ball was too deep and drifted out for a throw. A quick throw by McLaren to Crawford, two minutes later, gave the striker a volley at goal which just skimmed the top of the bar and went over. On the hour mark space opened up in the centre of midfield for Mackay and McAuley to play a one two before the latter cleverly chipped the ball over a defender for Ure to run on too. And run on too it he did before thumping us into a 2-0 lead with half an hour to play. Even the commentator remarked "Now that’s football" and I couldn’t agree more, a wonderful move and excellent finish. With fifteen minutes left on the clock a Silvestro corner found the head of his team mate Coulter and it was back to 2-1. We almost made sure of the result with three minutes left when Ure flicked the ball into the path of substitute Annand and he finished only to see the flag up. In the last few minutes of stoppage time the Albion Rovers players bombarded our goal and their pressure was continuous and didn’t stop until the final whistle blew. Another Silvestro corner found its way into the path of McManus who mis timed his kick and missed the ball when it was on the goal line and Connolly on the ground. Another chance was when Patterson was put through only to see Connolly's frame prevent him from scoring and deflected the ball wide. From a free kick with a few seconds to go Stewart thumped it long and when the whistle went the crowd erupted and the player's celebrated. We had finally beaten Albion Rovers again and sit second level on points with Stranraer just above Albion Rovers on goal difference. East Stirling 2:1 Albion Rovers East Stirling Goals: Ure (1), Herzig (1) Albion Rovers Goals: Coulter (1) MoM: Nico Herzig (East Stirling) Rating-8 Subs: Maughan on for Allison (45`), Annand on for Crawford (60`), Boyle on for Lappin (60’) Booked: Allision (East Stirling), Calderwood (Albion Rovers), Cross (Albion Rovers), Coulter (Albion Rovers) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1415 A long awaited victory and we played like champions for an hour of that match until I made the two changes in the midfield and up forward. A very promising display today which saw us beat the ladder leaders and this will bring great confidence to the players and everyone associated with the club. Herzig played fantastically today with a goal from a corner and his defensive play was awesome. His heading ability is second to none in this team and its good to see him fitting in well. Ure will defiently be playing first team football this season if he plays like he has over the last two matches. I just hope we can continue with this good form for the rest of the season. We have a week to recover from the physical and mental exsertion we put into this game today before we play a low on form and confidence side who was relegated from the Second Division last season, Dumbarton. 22nd of September 2004 The Scottish League Challenge Cup Semi Final matches were played today. Our great rivals, Falkirk, played host to Montrose of Division Three. Rodgers got our rivals off to a great start by converting a spot kick in the 34th minute. However Watt got his team surprisingly back on to level terms six minutes later with a well taken free kick. The match ended 1-1 and while no one could score in the extra time halves it went down to penalties. Falkirk missed their first kick but it didn’t matter as they still won the shootout 4-3 after two Montrose players buckled under the pressure. In the other semi final it was a clash between two Division One sides, Motherwell and Clyde. The relegated SPL outfit got the first and deciding goal in the thirteenth minute when a mistake in the Clyde defence allowed Hammell to sneak in and score. Motherwell only just held onto the 1-0 win after Clyde had a penalty appeal waved away and hit the cross bar with a free kick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 25th of September 2004 Our sixth match of the league season is away to Dumbarton at The Rock. I feel quite confident in winning today as our opponents didn’t win one match last season and have only won one in their last five this season. The bookmakers still won't back us to win but it's not like they have been spot on with our results this season. September 25th, 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 6 (a) Dumbarton V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, James White, Stephen Oates- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Jamie Mackay, Sean McAuley- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Roddy Maughan, Eddie Annand, Gerry Boyle I named an unchanged starting eleven today after our great 2-1 win against Albion Rovers though Gerry Boyle was replaced by Tam McAllister on the bench. We were hit on a counter attack after only five minutes and a long ball found its way over White into the path of Leven. The Dumbarton striker took his time before putting in a measured ball to the back post for an easy headed finish for O`Donovan. Two minutes later we conceded again with O`Donovan this time the provider for an unmarked Flannery to half volley home from the penalty spot. With twenty minutes on the clock a McLaren throw-in allowed Crawford to run into the box but his powerful strike was parried out to a waiting defender who cleared. Crawford had another chance just before half time though he didn’t compose himself and he put it over the bar. At half time I replaced an ineffective Mackay for McAllister. Ure also came off to allow Annand to try and win us a point at least. We started having chances from the start of the second half with McAllister and McAuley both guilty of missing easy chances right in front of goal. With twelve minutes left we were handed a lifeline when a long ball by Herzig drifted over Annand's head and straight at the keeper only to see Annand just beat the keeper to the ball with his head and knock the ball into the goal from just inside the penalty area. We continued to pressure and create chances and had a great chance to steal a point in stoppage time only to see the keeper save Annand's great drive and we lost 2-1 in a game we easily could have won. Dumbarton 2:1 East Stirling Dumbarton Goals: Flannery (1), O`Donovan (1) East Stirling Goals: Annand (1) MoM: Nico Herzig (East Stirling) Rating-8 Subs: Annand on for Ure (45`), McAllister on for Mackay (45’) Maughan on for Jackson (70`), Booked: McLaren (East Stirling), Lynch (Dumbarton), O`Donovan (Dumbarton) Sent Off: - Stadium: The Rock Attendance: 1704 Today wasn’t our day and I am completely furious that we threw away three points against a team who is as down in form as you could be. We outshot them 10-4 and we doubled them on shots on target but at the end of the day they won 2-1 because we didn’t take our chances and we didn’t defend properly until after they scored two. We blew a chance to go top of the table and now see us residing in 5th spot after six matches and to say I am pleased would be wrong because this match was our ticket to another three points but we just threw it away. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Stirling | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Berwick | | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 12 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Stranraer | | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Albion Rovers | | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Elgin | | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 10 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | East Stirling | | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 10 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Peterhead | | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 9 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Dumbarton | | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 7 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Montrose | | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Queens Park | | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 5 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Gretna | | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 17 | -14 | 1 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Today seems to be the day when the axe falls on managers who have been sitting in an insecure position. Michel Pavon was relieved of his duties by Bordeaux chairman Jean-Louis Triaud due to overwhelming supporter pressure while over in England Blackburn gave Graeme Souness the chop after a poor run of results left the club on the bottom of the English Premier League with three points out of six matches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 29th of September 2004 Today we face our greatest rivals, Falkirk, to restore some pride to our side of the rivalry since Falkirk is sitting in the First Division. Our rivals sit in ninth spot in their division and need to do something quick before they have too big a task to overcome and face the drop to Division Two. September 29th, 2004 Scottish League Cup Second Round (a) Falkirk V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Chris Reid, Nico Herzig, Michael Stewart- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Sean McAuley, Jamie Mackay- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), James White, Roddy Maughan, Tam McAllister, Eddie Annand Today we are really stretched for defensive options as McLaren is suspended and playing out of position to cover his loss is Craig Reid at left back. Alex McColl is still injured and without him and Herzig in the centre we don’t have the same stability we once had. Falkirk has the first chance in the third minute only to see Connolly equal to it and the linesmen offside flag giving us a free kick anyway. We received a massive blow six minutes later when Nico Herzig had to come off replaced by James White. A long ball by the Falkirk right back found its way down to Connolly and in his stupidity instead of picking it up he quickly kicked it up field straight to Watson who volleyed it into the unguarded net with Connolly ten metres or more away. Just before half time Jackson created a chance for Crawford with a delicate through ball only to see his striker put the ball wide. At half time I needed to use my last two substitutions to inspire some life in the midfield taking off Mackay and bringing on the veteran McAllister. Up forward I brought on Annand for Ure to create a bit more spark. Our first chance of the second half came just after the hour mark when a fast flowing one touch passing move gave Crawford another chance but he again put the ball wide of the goal. With two minutes left on the clock Crawford worked an opening for Annand but his shot was parried and his follow up was parried out for a corner. The final whistle blew and we had been narrowly shaded as the better team on the day and need to learn from this expierence in our quest for a top half finish in this league campaign. Falkirk 1:0 East Stirling Falkirk Goals: Watson (1) East Stirling Goals: - MoM: Chris Kerr (Falkirk) Rating-8 Subs: White on for Herzig (9`), Annand on for Ure (45`), McAllister on for Mackay (45’) Booked: Mackay (East Stirling), Guy (Falkirk) Sent Off: - Stadium: The Falkirk Stadium Attendance: 3589 Today neither team really did the fans proud and a moment of madness by Connolly cost us the game and a chance to move on further in the cup competition. On the bright side Nico Herzig doesn’t have a serious injury and will be back for our next league game. Our bank balance has increased to the tune of £16,000 from our half of the gate receipts for the two cup matches we played in. The only negative is Ross Jackson's back strain which will keep him out of action for two weeks. 30th of September 2004 Today Wimbledon came back to me on an £5K offer for their young striker Serge Makofo. The English club wants £10K for their young prize asset who is currently applying his trade in their reserve side. I sent them back an offer of £5K + 50% of the sell on fee. If that doesn't change their mind I may need to go to the board and ask for some more transfer funds though I think I would be fighting a losing battle there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 8, 2004 Author Share Posted June 8, 2004 1st of October 2004 The season's first awards of the month have been given out today. Stranraer's Neil Watt won the Scottish Third Division Manager of the Month award after his side has won two of the last three games and sit second on the table. Stranraer's Paul Kerr had an excellent month fully deserving of his Third Division Player of the Month award after bagging seven goals in six appearances. While in the Third Division Young Player of the Month award one of East Stirling's defender has won the honour. It is no other than our Nico Herzig who holds our record transfer fee of £8K. The young defenders number of eye catching performances over the last month made him the only player even close to winning this award. 2nd of October 2004 Today we are again on league duty at home against Peterhead. Our visitors sit in sixth spot one point below us and our record against them isn’t good even at home. The one player we need to watch our for is star striker and my long term transfer target, Martin Bavidge. October 2nd , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 7 (h) East Stirling V Peterhead East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, James White- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Roddy Maughan, Tam McAllister, Eddie Annand Craig Reid is dropped so that Graeme McLaren can take back his left back spot. Michael Stewart moves back onto the bench while James White takes Michael's spot in centre defence partnering, September's Third Division Young Player of the month, Nico Herzig. Dougie Polwart takes a central midfield spot at the expense of the unfit Sean McAuley. In the ninth minute our first attack resulting in a corner being won. Lappin swung in the corner and attacking at the near post is Herzig who is bundled over by a Peterhead defender. The referee showed great confidence in his decision and pointed at the spot. Crawford stepped up and struck the penalty to the left of the keeper and was shocked when Shane Herbert kept the ball out. But luckily Crawford beat everyone to the ball and tapped in his first goal of the season. Five minutes later a long ball by Herzig was flicked on by Crawford which Ure volleyed past Herbert- two nil up after fifteen minutes. Three minutes later the direct route of Connolly's long ball finding Crawford and he drove the ball low past Herbert to give us a 3-0 lead. With half an hour on the clock Bavidge almost got his side on the scoresheet only to be denied by Connolly's excellent reflexes. The half continued to be dominated by us, the home side, until the first half whistle was blown to a conclusion and Peterhead escaped to the half time break only three goals down. At half time I just told the players that they need to keep up their play from the first half and go for more goals. John Allison asked for a rest and I obliged taking him off and Roddy Maughan came on to take right back. Two minutes into the second half Maughan was exposed on the right when Johnston beat him and crossed to a running Bavidge who with a one touch finish scored a goal and gave his side a lifeline. Herzig and Mackay combine in the centre of midfield before passing the ball onto the wing to Lappin. Our left winger took down the left wing before crossing to Crawford who volleyed at goal. Herbert got one hand to it, enough to send the ball flying up in the air, and waiting underneath it was Crawford to head in his hat trick. After that goal Crawford was taken off and replaced by Annand and Ure was substituted to allow McAllister to get some game time. The formation changed to a 4-5-1. My changes seemed to work as the midfield was bottled up and Peterhead were unable to get any chances on goal. The match ended 4-1 and an excellent win to East Stirling. East Stirling 4:1 Peterhead East Stirling Goals: Crawford (3), Ure(1) Peterhead Goals: Bavidge (1) MoM: Brian Crawford (East Stirling) Rating-10 Subs: Maughan on for Allison (45`), McAllister on for Ure (66’), Annand on for Crawford (66`), Booked: Jones (Peterhead), McGowan (Peterhead) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1421 An excellent win against a team who dominated us last season. Brian Crawford who has had a particularly dry spell in front of goal over the last few league games is back with a vengeance and a hat trick. This win moves us up to third in the league, one point behind Stranraer and second placed Albion Rovers. In the other matches Gretna was thumped 5-1 at home to Albion Rovers, Montrose disposed of Dumbarton at home 3-0, Queens Park was held at home 1-1 by Berwick and Stranraer had a lucky victory at home to Elgin 1-0. 6th of October 2004 Bizarrely Wimbledon came back to me asking for £60,000 for their young forward Serge Makofo. While the English club is demanding stupid fees like that I wont bother negotiating. On a positive note Kevin Twaddle has resumed full training after recovering from the groin injury which kept him out for around a month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 So, last exams today was it? Hope they went well. Anyway good work, nice wine over Peterhead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 9, 2004 Author Share Posted June 9, 2004 7th of October 2004 Finally a positive note on the transfer side of the club I have convinced a young left winger previously at Arsenal to join us. He joined after Arsenal didn’t feel he had a future at the club and released him last month. Sam Kanu (20 y/o, Leonean, ML) Sam was at Arsenal for two seasons languishing in the under 18s and reserve side for that time. He never broke into the first team and if you look at the quality Arsenal has you cant be surprised. Sam has excellent acceleration and pace while his balance on the ball is exceptional. His crossing ability is deadly accurate and I'm sure he will break into the national team for Sierra Leon in the future. 9th of October 2004 Its only been one day since our capture of Sam Kanu and today he will most likely make a debut in the second half of the match as I see how he fares against Scottish Third Division opposition. For today's match we travel to Berwick's home ground, Shielfield Park. This is the first match between the two teams since I took charge over a year ago. The bookmakers feel that Berwick who has the same points as us but a lower goal difference will defeat us here today. October 9th , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 8 (a) Berwick V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Chris Reid, Nico Herzig, James White- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Kevin Twaddle, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Sam Kanu, Tam McAllister, Derek Ure Quite a few changes to the match squad today with Derek Ure dropping to the bench to allow the now full fit Kevin Twaddle a return to the starting eleven. While that means Eddie Annand loses his place on the bench and so does Roddy Maughan as he makes way for our new young player Sam Kanu. On the fifteenth minute mark a cross field ball by Crawford intended for Livingstone was intercepted and played through to Hutchison. The big striker didn’t need a second chance rounding Connolly and shooting in to an empty net. Two minutes later Berwick produced a carbon copy of the move that produced a goal only this time was ruled out for offside. Both Livingstone and Crawford each had good chances but with the keeper and the bar in top form to deny them. Just before half time we fell to a sucker punch with a thirty yard rocket from McCutcheon tearing the net off and giving his side a 2-0 lead. I made all my substitutions at half time with Lappin, Polwart and Twaddle coming off for Kanu, McAllister and Ure as we chase the game. Ten minutes into the second half a quick McLaren throw found Ure in the box but he lost possession but the ball fell to Livingstone who shot over. With five minutes left on the clock our last roll of the dice when Ure won the ball in his own half and played a one-two with Crawford before a long ball found Kanu running at goal. The young winger lost his composure at the vital moment striking the ball over the crossbar. Berwick 2:0 East Stirling Berwick Goals: Hutchison (1), McCutcheon (1) East Stirling Goals: - MoM: Gareth Hutchison (Berwick) Rating-8 Subs: Kanu on for Lappin (45`), McAllister on for Polwart (45’), Ure for Twaddle (45`), Booked: Polwart (East Stirling), Herzig (East Stirling), McNicoll (Berwick), King(Berwick), Ross(Berwick) Sent Off: - Stadium: Shielfield Park Attendance: 1639 Today Berwick ran the show from the start of the match to the end and we just couldn’t get ourselves in with a shout of stealing a point. There are no excuses as we were just comprehensively beaten by a side looking to return to Division Two. Twaddle's performance was poor earning a "4" rating from journalists but to his defence he didn’t get any kind of service today as the defence held firm. On the other side of performances Sam Kanu impressed when he came on for the second half and apart from his miss near the end had a near perfect day and scored a "7". Around the grounds in Division Three saw Albion Rovers defeated Stranraer 3-1, Dumbarton put two goals past a low on confidence Gretna side, Elgin win by a solitary goal at home to Queens Park and Peterhead record a 2-0 home victory over Montrose. 10th of October 2004 Over the past few weeks there has been questions mark floating over Terry Butcher's managerial position at Motherwell. The once mighty club is three points off relegation after eight games in Division One. Due to overwhelming supporter pressure the axe has finally fallen on Butcher as his reign comes to an end. 15th of October 2004 Motherwell took swift and decisive action to appoint a new manager after only five days of the position being unoccupied. David Platt takes over at Motherwell after spending the last eight months filling an assistant managerial position with Tottenham Hotspurs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 9, 2004 Author Share Posted June 9, 2004 Last exams were yesterday BoN which is a welcome relief and now i can get on with East Stirling's rise to the SPL!! Yes the win over Peterhead was good....it was nice to finally score a few goals and give our home crowd and readers something to cheer about Thanks for reading Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 Motherwell were once mighty? I must have missed that day KUTGW! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 Glamdring I was wondering when someone would pick up on that but to make the story more interesting i have to use some dry humour Thanks for the reply 23rd of October 2004 After two weeks to rest up and keep our fitness levels high we have a high league opposition travel to Firs Park. Stranraer visit us being a point above us in 3rd and looking good to challenge for the top two. This match is a clash between 3rd and 4th to really put some breathing space between the teams below us. October 23rd , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 9 (h) East Stirling V Stranraer East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, James White- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Sean McAuley, Jamie Mackay- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Sam Kanu, Tam McAllister, Derek Ure After not scoring many goals two weeks ago I have decided to reinstall a few players back into the first team who helped us on that early season winning run. Dougie Polwart falls out of the first sixteen to allow Sean McAuley to slot back into central midfield. Kevin Twaddle drops out of the squad to allow Derek Ure to step back up into the first team and partner in form Brian Crawford. Stuart Kelly makes his first appearance on the bench this season. While the return of Ross Jackson to the starting line up after his injury is a bonus as he takes Scott Livingstone's spot. Just before twenty minutes had elapsed we got Stranraer on the counter attack. Lappin stole the ball off Wingate in the middle of the park, passed the ball back to McLaren who put a superb long ball to a running Crawford. Our striker put a cross into the box only for Ure's header to fly over the bar. Nineteen minutes later Finlayson was booked for a late sliding challenge on Mackay. He in his stupidity argued with the referee and received a second yellow card and his marching orders. We knew we had to take control of the match having one extra player. The last few minutes of the first half finished with us dominating the possession but not creating enough chances. At half time we changed our formation to an attacking 3-5-2 and I took off Michael Stewart to introduce Tam McAllister to the match. Our moment of celebration almost came just after the hour mark when a Jackson free kick almost beat the keeper but was expertly tipped over. With fifteen minutes to go Crawford put a cross in which was won by a defender but the ball fell kindly to Kanu. The youngster half volleyed the ball at goal only to see Paul Mathers in unbeatable form. Mathers threw the ball out onto the wing to Aitken who lost the ball when challenged by Jackson. On a quick break Jackson put a long ball into the centre of defence which Kelly ran on to and drove the ball into the right hand top corner of the net. 1-0 after seventy five minutes and didn’t we deserve it. In the last minute of the game a barging run by McAllister took him through on goal only to see his shot curl just wide of the left hand upright. The whistle blew and we had won the match by a single goal which really should have been more. East Stirling 1:0 Stranraer East Stirling Goals: Kelly (1) Stranraer Goals: - MoM: Nico Herzig (East Stirling) Rating-8 Subs: Kanu on for Lappin (45`), McAllister on for Polwart (45’), Ure for Twaddle (45`), Booked: Finlayson (Stranraer) Sent Off: Finlayson(Stranraer)(Reason: Two yellow cards) Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1429 At the end of the day we took all three points from a home match but it wasn’t very convincing. The shots on target did favour us 4-1 but it wasn’t a overwhelming advantage even though we had a man extra for over fifty five minutes of play. Nico Herzig wins his third man of the match award in this league season and is really developing into a rock at the back. I released a media story praising the young defender's efforts and determination over the past month or so. The win moves the club two points above Stranraer and we sit in second player on goal difference over Berwick. In other matches Albion Rovers gave Berwick a 5-0 thumping to show their superiority as ladder leaders, Dumbarton scored a hat trick of goals to defeat Elgin, Montrose put three past Gretna to give the visitors their eighth loss of the season and Peterhead moved up the table with a 2-0 home win over Queens Park. 24th of October 2004 Interestingly enough today when I took a look at the Falkirk Herald I saw a headline in the sports pages reading "Shire fans put pen to paper for Herzig". The article went on about how many fans of East Stirling have written into the paper to say how much they value his input into the team. I had to smile as the young German is really making a name for himself in Falkirk. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Do you have any idea why they are called East Stirling yet play in Falkirk do you btw? I have to admit I don't know how far Stirlingshire (if such a thing exists any more) extends, but I wouldn't generally connect East Stirlingshire with the town of Falkirk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 Well as far as I know after looking around on the internet Firs Park the East Stirling home stadium is situated in Falkirk and websites talk about East Stirling as one of the three teams in Falkirk as the other two are: *Falkirk *Stenhousemuir And when looking in the editor it said that East Stirling's newspaper was the Falkirk Herald! so yeh thats why....but if you ,Glamdring, or anyone else knows something i dont know feel free to post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Sorry, I probably didn't phrase that very well - I don't doubt that they do play in Falkirk, I was just wondering in real life terms how they came to do so - I guess looking again at a map though that Falkirk and Stirling are a lot close than I remember them and Falkirk is to the East of Stirling so I suppose it makes sense I used to think they were just a second team in Stirling! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N^G Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 stirling and falkirk are quite close together, about 5/10 mins apart. passed by falkirk every day when i drove to uni Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Glamdring: Your stories are quality so ill let you off this time You cant be perfect all the time N^G: Thanks for clearing that up mate much appreciated Now back to the story 30th of October 2004 Today we travel to play Montrose in a clash between 2nd and 8th. Our clubs are only split by four points and we really need to win to cement our position in second place. The bookmakers once again favour our opponents and history also favours out opponents after five matches they have won two and drawn one to our only one win and draw. October 30th , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 10 (a) Montrose V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, James White- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Sean McAuley, Jamie Mackay- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Sam Kanu, Tam McAllister, Derek Ure The team sheet remains unchanged after our 1-0 win against Stranraer a week prior. All the players are at the peak of their fitness and are raring and ready to go. Our first chance was created when Mackay won the ball in central midfield and put a through ball through to Ure. The striker controlled the ball before rolling the ball past the advancing keeper and just past the post. In the twentieth minute Herzig passes the ball out to the wing and sends Jackson running down the right wing. The winger puts in a cross to Crawford who in the process of going for the ball is hauled down by Simpson. The referee blows his whistle and points to the spot. Crawford steps up and blasts the ball to the left of the keeper only to see his reflexes block the ball and hold onto to it at the second attempt. Three minutes later McAuley and Mackay worked an opening for Ure who took the ball on his right foot and buried it past the advancing keeper for a one nil lead to East Stirling. Four minutes later a corner is swung in for Montrose and when Connolly parries the first header Ferguson taps the ball into an empty net and equalises for his side. The first half ended 1-1 with both sides attacking each other. Ten minutes into the second half I made two changes to add some spark into our play. Crawford was taken off for Kelly and Mackay is brought off for McAllister. Three minutes later the inspired changes made a break through when Herzig puts a long ball down the right wing for Jackson to run on to. He reaches the ball and crosses in for Kelly to head us a goal up. Two minutes later Gibson found space in our penalty area and needed two bites of the cherry but finally got the ball in the back of the net and scored the equaliser for Montrose. In the seventhieth minute Lappin started an attack with a long ball over to Ure. We had a two on one situation at the back and when Ure passed the ball across the area to Kelly he made no mistake slamming the ball into the back of the net. The match headed into the four minutes of stoppage time and it was one of the most nerve racking four minutes of my managerial career. All we could do was defend as Montrose poured forward in search of an equaliser. In the end our defence held firm with Connolly continuing to deny the Montrose strikers and we held on to a 3-2 away victory. Montrose 2:3 East Stirling Montrose Goals: Ferguson (1), Gibson (1) East Stirling Goals: Kelly (2), Ure (1) MoM: Stuart Kelly (East Stirling) Rating-9 Subs: Kelly on for Lappin (50`), McAllister on for Mackay (50’), Stewart on for White (67`), Booked: Mackay (East Stirling), McAuley (East Stirling), Ferguson (Montrose) Sent Off: - Stadium: Links Park Attendance: 1651 An excellent away victory today scoring three goals and holding firm at the back for most of the match. A great positive I took out of this match is that Stuart Kelly is able to play well at this level and be counted on to score goals too. The win keeps us in second only four points below ladder leaders, Albion Rovers, and two points above chasing Stranraer. In other matches Berwick and Elgin played out a 2:2 draw, Gretna recorded their first win of the season 3:1 against Peterhead, Albion Rovers won 2:0 on the road at Queens Park while Stranraer defeated Dumbarton by a goal 2:1. 31st of October 2004 The only meaningful event of today was the draw of the First Round of the Scottish Cup. The news was excellent with us coming out of the hat just after non league side Cove Rangers. The match will be played at their home ground, Allan Park, on the eleventh of December. I may even let a few squad players have a run out in this match. Oh and of course I forgot to mention that our great rivals Falkirk were defeated by Motherwell in the final of the Scottish League Challenge Cup. Kevin Watson got Falkirk off to an excellent start in the twentieth minute only to see Motherwell score two late goals through Willie Boland and Shaun Fagen and steal the cup. This is Motherwell's first win in this competition going back at even longer than fifteen years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 1st of November 2004 October's awards of the month have been given out today with Albion Rovers scooping all three. Albion Rover's boss, Peter Hetherston, secured the Scottish Third Division Manager of the Month for October after guiding his team to four wins in four games this month. The club sits proudly on top of the table four points clear of closest challenges East Stirling. Iain Diack of Albion Rovers won October's Scottish Third Division Player of the Month after the forward has helped his side to create the goals that has lifted them into top position on the ladder. Most of his hard work goes to helping team mates score goals but he did chip in with one goal during the clubs 3-1 win over Stranraer. Albion Rovers treble of awards wins is complete with Paul McManus winning October's Scottish Third Division Young Player of the Month after an excellent month of goal scoring. The young forward bagged four goals in four games and is fast becoming one of the greatest young prospects in the lower leagues. 3rd of November 2004 Today in the Scottish League Cup Third Round there was no surprises with Celtic beating Clyde 2-0 and Rangers beating Falkirk 2-0. Motherwell was upset 3-2 by Stirling of Division Two while Hibs was pushed almost all the way needing a late golden goal to seal passage to the next round at the expense of Stenhousemuir. 6th of November 2004 Our second of a sequence of three away games sends us to Gretna looking for another win to help our promotion aspirations. The home side looks destined to finish in the bottom three under their current form only picking up four out of a possible thirty points so far. Its 2nd versus 10th today and the bookmakers still wont favour us as they feel Gretna will record back to back victories after winning 3:1 against Peterhead. October 6th , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 11 (a) Gretna V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, James White- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Sam Kanu, Tam McAllister, Derek Ure Only one change to the team sheet and it was forced change after Sean McAuley broke his nose after he tripped down the steps getting out of the bus before the match. In his place sees Dougie Polwart return to the centre of midfield to partner Jamie Mackay. With only thirty one seconds on the clock we find out why Gretna is sitting on the bottom of the table. Crawford and Ure make an opening seeing Crawford run into the penalty area and release a shot which is too hot to handle for Gretna keeper, David Mathieson. The Gretna shot stopper (or should I say goal conceder) parried the ball into his own net and we were in the lead after playing not even a minute. A minute later a poor kick out by Mathieson allowed Herzig to header over the Gretna defence and running on to the ball was Ure. The striker drew the Gretna keeper before cheekily chipping him for our second goal in two minutes. The next twenty minutes saw Gretna pushing out and starting to create some chances and pressuring Connolly. They broke us down and finally got a goal when Herzig didn’t mark his man close enough and he was punished. Hawley spun free and let a shot rip into the right hand corner of Connolly's goal and the score was back to 2-1. With three minutes left in the first half Strutter got away from White and blasted a shot at goal. All credit to Connolly who narrowed the angle well and pushed the shot over the crossbar. At half time I brought off Lappin as he was very inefficient on the left hand side of midfield in that half and gave Kanu another chance to impress. We were lucky not to lose our lead in the first fifteen minutes of the second half with Connolly having to deny Strutter on three numerous occasions but always being equal to the task. A quick break by Kanu saw him run over the centre line and put a long ball for Ure to chase. Our pacey striker reached the ball first before rounding the Gretna keeper and passing the ball into an empty net. Once I saw the net ripple I knew we were going to take all three points. And I was right Gretna didn’t have any other chances and we played out the rest of the time with ease. Gretna 1:3 East Stirling Gretna Goals: Karl Hawley (1) East Stirling Goals: Ure (2), Crawford (1) MoM: Jon Connolly (East Stirling) Rating-10 Subs: Kelly on for Lappin (50`), McAllister on for Mackay (50’), Stewart on for White (67`), Booked: Cohen (Gretna), Christie (Gretna) Sent Off: - Stadium: Raydale Park Attendance: 1670 An excellent away win but really Gretna self destructed in the first two minutes of the match. I have never seen a match like this before being two nil up after only two minutes. Its not like our team is so far above them skill wise but it’s the confidence factor after sitting on the bottom of the ladder they are prone to mistakes and errors and are usually punished. Jon Connolly won man of the match for his excellent string of saves over the ninety minutes and I hope he continues his good form over the season. The win keeps us in touch with Albion Rovers and now moves us four points above Peterhead in third. In the other matches of the round Montrose beat Berwick 3:2 on the road, while Albion Rovers won by the same margin away to Elgin. Peterhead continued the away wins defeating Stranraer 2:1 while Queens Park were held to a 1:1 draw by Dumbarton. 11th of November 2004 Alex McColl has finally resumed full training after being out for two months with a groin injury. The young defender will come back to partner Nico Herzig at the back to strengthen our central defence to the best its been for some time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted June 12, 2004 Share Posted June 12, 2004 This is good stuff D_S. I've always followed the Shire since my cousin played for them and was club captain back in the 70's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 13, 2004 Author Share Posted June 13, 2004 Thanks BobBev its nice to hear that your still reading .......How was your cousin's record as the club captain?? 12th of November 2004 Kevin Twaddle has picked up another injury and will be out for two weeks. The veteran striker received a gash in his right leg during training. 13th of November 2004 November 13th , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 12 (a) Queens Park V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, Alex McColl- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Sam Kanu, Sean McAuley, Derek Ure Alex McColl returns to the first team, after being out for two months, taking James White's spot in central defence. Sean McAuley after recovering from his broken nose takes a place on the bench at the expense of Tam McAllister who is dropped. In the tenth minute our first attack comes from a long ball by Herzig which found its way over a defender and into the path of Jackson. The winger crosses the ball onto the head of Ure and just flies over the bar. Eleven minutes later Ure receives a delicate chip from Jackson and runs into to the box. His shot is parried out and Crawford fires the rebound over the bar. Crawford finally puts the ball in the net on the half hour mark after a Jackson corner wasn’t cleared properly and the striker benefited by slamming the ball past the unsighted keeper. Straight from the second half starting whistle a poor clearance by McColl found Canning who volleyed past Connolly to equalise for the home side. The next forty minutes has zero chances created with both teams playing defensively not wanting to lose the match. With three minutes left a long range drive by Lappin forced the keeper into a save and a tip over. The resulting corner from Jackson was played up to the far post and Crawford rose higher than the three defenders there and knocked the ball into the net. Queens Park was completely shocked and didn’t ever get back into an attacking sense and as the final whistle blew I knew we were lucky to steal all three points. Queens Park 1:2 East Stirling Queens Park Goals: Canning (1) East Stirling Goals: Crawford (2) MoM: Brian Crawford (East Stirling) Rating-9 Subs: Stewart on for McColl (62`), McAuley on for Polwart (62’), Kelly on for Ure (62`), Booked: Herzig (East Stirling), McColl (East Stirling), Crawford (East Stirling), Keenan (Queens Park) Sent Off: - Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 1706 Its excellent to take all three points today but honestly we didn’t deserve all three maybe one was even one too many. But the scoreline tells the story as we were better at taking our chances with Crawford scoring a brace. The win keeps us only four points behind leaders, Albion Rovers, and moves us five points in front of Berwick who occupy third place. Around the Scottish Third Division saw ladder leaders Albion Rovers beat Dumbarton 3-0 and Berwick beat Gretna by the same scoreline. Elgin took their chances at home to Peterhead ending up 2-0 winners while Montrose stole a 1-0 away win from Stranraer. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Stirling | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Albion Rovers | | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 13 | +21 | 29 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | East Stirling | | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 25 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Berwick | | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Montrose | | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Peterhead | | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 24 | -3 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Stranraer | | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 17 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Elgin | | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 17 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Dumbarton | | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 23 | -8 | 14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Queens Park | | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 20 | -13 | 7 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Gretna | | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 34 | -26 | 4 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 14th of November 2004 The chairman of St Mirren, Stewart Gilmour, has finally given John Coughlin the flick as he doesn’t feel promotion back to the First Division will be achieved. Last season St Mirren was relegated from the First Division and the board expect nothing less than promotion back up this season. The club sits 6th in the Second Division seventeen points behind leaders Stirling who sit fourteen points clear of second placed Arbroath. 20th of November 2004 Today Elgin visits an East Stirling side soaring high in second place in the league. The match brings two teams together who sit in 2nd and 7th place. In our last five games we have taken twelve out of a maximum fifteen while Elgin seven out of a possible fifteen points. This match is another must win game to keep pressure on Albion Rovers who sit four points above us. November 20th , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 13 (h) East Stirling V Elgin East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Nico Herzig, Alex McColl- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Derek Ure, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Michael Stewart, Sam Kanu, Sean McAuley, Stuart Kelly After a week off I name another unchanged team with all the first team players fit and ready to go. It takes twenty minutes before the first chance is created in the match. The chance is created when McLaren takes a throw in allowing Lappin to run down the wing and the time and space he uses to great effect with an excellent cross to Crawford. The striker's volley is blasted at the keeper and parried right to the waiting Ure who taps in his first goal of the game. Eight minutes later a Jackson corner was swung in and McColl won the header. The keeper saw the ball late but got down to push the ball away or so he thought as Polwart thumped the ball past him and into the net. Our two nil lead is kept till half time and we go into the dressing room with high morale and spirits. Into the second half McColl brings down Bone about twenty five yards out from goal. Bone steps up and swings a free kick at goal only to see it bounce once before Connolly grabs and holds onto it on the goal line. Just after the hour mark I make a triple substitution bringing on Kelly, McAuley and Stewart for Ure, Mackay and McColl. Eight minutes later disaster strikes when Ure comes off second best in a fair tackle and has to come off. We have to play the last twenty minutes with only ten men. With fifteen minutes to go Ogboke gets free on the right before delivering a pin point cross for Bone to nod in his first goal of the match. The match clock ticked over ninety minutes and the fourth official was holding up the board with three additional minutes displayed. We held on through the whole three minutes after a double save from Connolly when Ogboke was put through on goal and a nice save from a corner when Bone headed his effort at the top corner. East Stirling 2:1 Elgin East Stirling Goals: Ure (1), Polwart (1) Elgin Goals: Bone (1) MoM: Jon Connolly (East Stirling) Rating-8 Subs: Stewart on for McColl (63`), McAuley on for Mackay (63’), Kelly on for Crawford (63`), Booked: Noon (Elgin), McCormick (Elgin) Sent Off: - Stadium: Firs Park Attendance: 1405 Another home win on the board after a solid ninety minutes against a team in the lower depths of the table. All credit to Elgin as they played well and really gave us a hard game when we were down to ten men. But thanks to the desperate defending and the man of the match Jon Connolly keeping the ball out of the net (all except one time). Our win keeps moves us to within striking distance of Albion Rovers after their result against Peterhead (see below). Around the grounds in Division Three saw Berwick on the road defeat Dumbarton 2-0 while Stranraer went to Gretna and took all three points with a 3-1 victory. Montrose continued their push up the table with a 2-0 home win against Queens Park while Peterhead upset the league leaders, Albion Rovers, 4-3 at home. The physio's report wasn’t something I really wanted to read after the match. Nico Herzig will be out for around a week after he sustained strained knee ligaments in the match against Elgin and also picking up an injury in that match was Derek Ure who will be unavailable for two weeks with a damaged shoulder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glamdring Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 looking good I hate Albion Rovers () - they played like Brazil in cup matches in my Ross County game for a couple of seasons despite getting easily relegated from Div 1 in the league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Soccer Posted June 15, 2004 Author Share Posted June 15, 2004 Well I'm sorry Glamdring but you may not want to read the next match report then 26th of November 2004 Another blow before one of the biggest matches of the season for East Stirling sees Kevin Twaddle out for a week. Today during training Kevin twisted his ankle when he challenged for the ball. His injury leaves us short of strikers with only Annand and Rodden to choose from for a place on the bench. 27th of November 2004 The day has finally arrived with us travelling to face the league leaders Albion Rovers. This is the match of the round with 1st playing 2nd and top spot up for stake. Over the past season we have been totally dominated by Albion Rovers home and away so this is one of the biggest tests to our promotion credentials. Our confidence is flying high after winning the past five games and our previous encounter with Albion Rovers at Firs Park 2-1 November 27th , 2004 Scottish Third Division Game 14 (a) Albion Rovers V East Stirling East Stirling (4-4-2) Jon Connolly- John Allison, Graeme McLaren, Michael Stewart, Alex McColl- Ross Jackson, Gordon Lappin, Dougie Polwart, Jamie Mackay- Stuart Kelly, Brian Crawford Subs: Ross Flitney (gk), Nico Herzig, Sam Kanu, Sean McAuley, Eddie Annand The biggest game this season sees us without Nico Herzig as he is unfit after recovering from his injury but he is fit enough to take a spot on the bench. Michael Stewart moves up from the bench to partner Alex McColl. In the absence of Derek Ure- Stuart Kelly moves up from the bench to the first team while Eddie Annand takes a place on the bench. We start the game well with Allison creating an attacking move ending with Kelly shooting into the arms of Chris Fahey in the Albion goal. Our challenge to Albion comes off the rails when an attacking move sees McManus get in front of Stewart before showing no mercy to Connolly when he slams the ball past our keeper to give his side a 1-0 lead. Just before twenty minutes ticks over on the referee's watch Connolly denies Brown a goal when he narrowed the angle and put himself in the way to deflect the ball our for a corner. With fifteen minutes left in the first half a short pass by Coulter causes us more problems with McManus again all alone and scoring his second of the game. A minute before half time we are dead and buried when McManus shows how easy it is to score after he controlled a long ball and slammed the ball past Connolly from a narrow angle for his hat trick. At half time I really let my troops know how poorly they played and made a triple substitution to accommodate my change to a more attacking formation(3-1-3-1-2). I take McLaren, Lappin and Crawford off and replace them with Herzig, Kanu and Annand. The change of the formation and players didn’t really change much as Albion still dominated and created chances at will. We even created two chances of our own with Annand and Kelly guilty of wasting them with rising shots flying over the bar. We held on to a 0-0 draw in the second half before McManus head was found by a Cross's (player) cross and we were 4-0 down. That match ended and we had been totally humiliated by the league leaders. Albion Rovers 4:0 East Stirling Albion Rovers Goals: McManus (4) East Stirling Goals: - MoM: John Calderwood (Albion Rovers) Rating-10 Subs: Herzig on for McLaren (45`), McAuley on for Lappin (45`), Annand on for Crawford (45`), Booked: Jackson (East Stirling), Cross (Albion Rovers) Sent Off: - Stadium: Cliftonhill Attendance: 476 The only thing more shocking than the score is how small their attendance was with only 476 people turning up to see a clash between the two top teams in the league. From the first minute there was only one team in it and it wasn’t us. After winning five in a row it was disappointing to lose our winning run like this but if you look at Albion's team you see how much we can improve to reach their quality all over the park. Albion moves four points clear of us at the top while we stay in 2nd place with a four point cushion over the side placed third in the league. Round 14 in Division Three continued with Stranraer holding Berwick to a 1-1 draw at home while Peterhead scored a goal which was enough for them to take all three points from the trip to Dumbarton. Elgin lost to Montrose 1-0 at Borrough Briggs while Gretna won the battle of 9th V 10th scoring three to condemn Queens Park to a 3-0 home defeat. 28th of November 2004 The chairman and board of Scottish First Division side St Johnstone has finally lost patience with Billy Stark. Billy's future was decided to be better away from the club after the axe fell after the club has been sitting in 8th spot only one point above the relegation zone after fourteen games. The St Johnstone assistant manager ,Eric Garson, steps up as caretaker manager while a new manager is being found. 29th of November 2004 Another injury strikes the team in Falkirk who call Firs Park their home ground. Tam McAllister injures his groin string during training today and will miss two weeks of action. The veteran hasn’t played a first team game in since Montrose almost exactly a month ago but his presence on the training field is always a positive influence on the younger players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.