18th Nov 2000 Stirling Albion 1 Partick Thistle 1 (SFL Second Division - game 15)

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matches:2000-01: ← 20game 2122 →

	Ray Stewart	John Lambie	59y, 8m, 16d

		no changes
		no changes

Craig Feroz (1-1, 68 mins)		Martin Hardie (1-0, 37 mins)
		Alan Archibald

Kevin McCallion (Gary Kelly, 62 mins); Craig Feroz (Alan Aitken, 88 mins)		Peter Lindau (Derek Lyle, 72 mins); Allan Moore (Sandy Stewart, 78 mins); Martin Hardie (Des McKeown, 83 mins)

	Chris Reid	Kenny Arthur	21y, 11m, 11d
	former Jag Kevin Gaughan	David McCallum	23y, 2m, 11d
	Graeme Donald	Alan Archibald	22y, 11m, 5d
	Graeme Love	Stephen Craigan	24y, 0m, 20d
	Kevin Milne	Jamie Smith	22y, 4m, 7d
	Ian McAulay	Mark McNally	29y, 8m, 8d
	John Millar	Allan Moore	35y, 10m, 24d
	Charlie King	Danny Lennon	31y, 7m, 12d
	Kevin McCallion	Scott McLean	24y, 5m, 1d
	Chris Templeman	Martin Hardie	24y, 6m, 27d
	Craig Feroz	Peter Lindau	27y, 11m, 9d

			26y, 2m, 28d

	Iain Turner	Michael Brown	21y, 0m, 11d
	Gordon Hunter	Sandy Stewart	35y, 1m, 4d
	Gary Kelly	Des McKeown	30y, 10m, 0d
	Jim Gardner	Ian Cameron [i]	34y, 2m, 25d
	Alan Aitken	Derek Lyle	19y, 9m, 5d

TTA report

Unchanged Thistle's obvious first half superiority deserved better than just a Hardie header from a corner (37). They missed more chances and lived dangerously before Albion scored with a free header (68). After that Arthur had several crucial saves as battling Albion (2nd bottom) went looking for a winner.

Media report

20-Nov-2000, Daily Record

IAN LOVES A BIT OF ROUGH STUFF. PINT-SIZED midfielder Ian McAulay last night told how he stuck the boot into Thistle's title charge. The touch-tackling Stirling Albion star has never been one to shirk a challenge. And after helping his side fight back to earn a point against the league leaders, 26-year-old McAulay admitted a touch of the rough stuff had done the trick. He said: “You can't give guys of Danny Lennon's calibre too much space so in the second half we just got stuck in and didn't give them time on the ball. I had a couple of words with Allan Moore early on but the referee only gave me a warning because it was my first tackle. The gaffer has told me to calm down to make sure I stay on the pitch but sometimes I lose the plot.” McAulay is hoping the result will spur Albion on to better things. He added: “I've been playing well in the last couple of weeks. I wasn't getting a regular game but I had a word with the gaffer a few weeks ago and I've been given a run in the team. We know now if we continue to work as hard as we did today, things will start to change.”

If there's one thing which wins titles it's continuity. Thistle boss John Lambie fielded the same 11 for the fourth game on the trot and the points should have been in the bag well before half time. After 10 minutes, Alan Archibald's free-kick was parried by Albion keeper Chris Reid but Scott McLean blasted the rebound against the side netting. Eight minutes later McLean headed home David McCallum's free-kick but the effort was ruled out for offside. In 20 minutes McLean had a powerful shot on the turn again thwarted by Reid. But Martin Hardie, who had twice gone close for the Jags, finally broke the deadlock in 37 minutes and celebrated his new one-year contract extension. Another dangerous in-swinging McCallum corner saw Reid punch the ball off the back of Hardie's head and into the net for a freak goal.

To say Albion were a rejuvenated side in the second half is an understatement and they eventually got a deserved equaliser in 68 minutes. A fine piece of skill by Charlie King on the right flank saw him beat Thistle defender Stephen Craigen and his cross allowed the unmarked Craig Feroz to head home. Lambie sent on all three substitutes in search of a winner but it wasn't to be.

Afterwards he threatened to make changes and said: “The game should have been finished in the first half. We played brilliant football but defended too deep and our midfield fell out of it. The final pass was terrible and our midfield was nowhere to be seen. Albion got their spell in the game and we stopped passing. Stephen Craigen was left one on one for the goal and I've now got a week to think about freshening the side up. We're still lacking someone with pace.”

Albion boss Ray Stewart was delighted. He said: “We knew if we kept it tight we'd get something. We lost a bad goal but we finished the far better side. We changed the formation at half time and pressurised them into defensive mistakes. We got our tactics right and I thought we were going to win it. However Thistle have got strength in the right areas and are still favourites to win this league.”

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