from The Courier: INJURY-RAVAGED ARBROATH produced a remarkable turnaround in a seven-goal Gayfield festive cracker but Jim Weir’s men just came up short in their quest for seasonal joy, losing 4-3.
Lichties fans were heading for the exits at the interval after watching their side seemingly downed by three STIRLING ALBION strikes in a half which saw manager Weir come out of retirement to bolster the depleted Angus ranks.
A 22nd minute opener from Paul Murphy and David O’Brien’s double within seven minutes of the break put Allan Moore’s men firmly in control, and the visiting gaffer felt comfortable enough to switch his side around as the game entered its final quarter— a move he openly admitted was an error of judgment.
Steve Hislop’s 75th minute header from a Keith Gibson corner gave the Lichties their opener, before sub Bryan Scott hauled the hosts right back into things just two minutes later.
When Hislop bagged his second with seven minutes left, the home side looked set to gain the deserved point that would have probably felt like a moral victory—until Binos sub Michael Mullen spared his side’s blushes with a winning drive right at the death.
“To do what we did and then get hit by the sucker punch at the end—we’re gutted,” said Weir. We showed character to get back into the game, but we’re not getting any luck just now. The situation is incredible. We’re so stretched and have players who aren’t fully fit or are being asked to play out of position so to do what we did and lose is a hard one to take.
“We can’t take away from the first-half performance, that was unacceptable and I’m disappointed with the goals we lost. But if everyone looks at the bigger picture and we keep showing that sort of character I’m sure we’ll turn the corner.”
Moore admitted Mullen’s late winner had spared him a red face. “I thought the game was dead and buried at half-time and made changes, but we then lost our shape, lost goals and made it difficult.”
P&J
Red Lichties FALTER IN LAST MINUTE AFTER COMING BACK FROM THREE GOALS DOWN AT HALF-TIME
Arbroath - nothing to show for late rally
Arbroath manager Jim Weir was dismayed his side came away empty-handed from a seven-goal thriller in the Second Division.
The Red Lichties were three down before the interval but rallied to draw level with a hat-trick of headers in a nine-minute spell towards the end of the game.
And just when the home side was pressing for what would have been a remarkable victory, substitute Michael Mullen popped up to grab a last-minute winner for the table-topping Binos.
It was cruel luck for the patchwork home side which had been hit by a severe injury crisis resulting in Weir naming himself as a trialist substitute.
The situation became more critical during the first half when the 40-year-old former St Johnstone centre back had to come on to replace the struggling Alan Rattray.
Weir said: “It was a real sucker punch at the end especially after we had shown a lot of character to get back into the game. “We’re really stretched with injuries. We had two players on the field who are waiting for surgery and we had three guys in the back four playing in positions they don’t usually fill.
“Hopefully everyone will go away happy with the fightback if not with the result. One thing I’m trying to instil in my team is we fight until the end. I think we’ve seen that in our recent games.”
Slack defending allowed Paul Murphy plenty of time to pick his spot for the opening Stirling goal in the 22nd minute. The second came 15 minutes later when Bryan Prunty clipped the ball through to David McKenna whose cross was slotted home by David O’Brien. O’Brien added another on the stroke of half-time when he cut inside the Arbroath defence and curled the ball high into the top corner of the net.
The Red Lichties looked down and out but Steven Hislop started the comeback by nodding home a Keith Gibson corner in the 74th minute. Two minutes later substitute Bryan Scott powered the ball beyond Scott Christie before Hislop had the Gayfield supporters in raptures when he connected with youngster Kenny McLean’s corner to draw Arbroath level.
But Mullen’s late goal gave Stirling the result they wanted. Binos manager Allan Moore admitted his decision to take off midfielders Scott Robertson and Paul Murphy midway through the second half, when his side led 3-0, almost proved disastrous.
He said: “It nearly cost us. I went into the dressing-room at the end of the game and held my hands up as it was my decision to make the changes.”