Another New Date For Elgin Trip

The visit to Elgin City, originally scheduled for November 26th, has yet another new date. The match will now go ahead on Saturday 10th December with a 3:00p.m. kick-off. Following the postponement of the original match the Scottish Football League had ordered the game to be played on Tuesday 6th December. However, when that decision was made both teams were still in the Scottish Cup and, therefore, still had a chance of playing in the second round tie. Now both have been eliminated from the competition, they have decided to use what had become a free Saturday to play the game, and the SFL has agreed to this.

Stenhousemuir 3 Shire 2

The club's dreadful record in cup competitions continued with this first round Scottish Cup exit at Ochilview, but that doesn't even begin to tell the full story of a game which was a roller coaster ride of varying emotions for Shire.

Two goals down after just ten minutes, the faithful were looking at another hammering. Then indiscipline reduced Stenhousemuir to nine men after Paul McGrillen and Greig Denham were sent-off. With the two man advantage Shire levelled things to 2-2, but then threw away the chance of causing a huge upset as carelessly as a bit of rubbish in the street.

By full-time the Shire fans in the crowd of 405 were left shaking their heads in disbelief after watching their team invent a new way to lose when defeat seemed impossible. But when the evening had begun many of those same fans were wondering whether the Warriors would better Arbroath's tally of seven against a once-again non-existent Shire defence.

It took the home team just six minutes to score, although Jim Mercer's strike was a fortuitous one, taking a massive deflection on its way into the net. But there was no fluke as Tommy Sinclair made it 2-0 in ten minutes, heading home Joe McAlpine's cross. It could have been more, but Mercer headed wide when it seemed easier to score and Colin Cramb had a good effort saved by Derek Jackson.

Then on 22 minutes an off-the-ball incident left Shire's Stephen Oates on the ground and, after consulting with his linesman, referee Steven Duff produced a red card for Paul McGrilen. The sending-off took the wind from the Warrior's sails and Shire managed to gain a small fothold in the game.

On 39 minutes they were awarded a free-kick well outside the area but the defensive wall could not stop Adam Owen reducing the leeway with a powerful shot. That made it 2-1 and Shire's chances improved almost on the stroke of half-time when Denham was first booked for a foul on Iain Diack, then sent-off for arguing about it.

With a two man advantage for the whole of the second half and just a single goal behind, Shire suddenly became favourites for an unlikely win. Within a minute of the re-start Ally Graham flashed a shot wide of the post and for a while Shire were camped in the Warriors penalty box.

Graham went off in 56 minutes to be replaced by Steven Dymock. The young striker's first intervention was to volley a cross into the net to make it 2-2. With half an hour to go and the scores level surely Shire would make the two man advantage tell and go on to win ? The truth is they never troubled Warriors keeper Willie McCulloch again.

And they left worrying gaps in defence. It was hardly a surprise when they caught Shire napping at a throw-in, pushed the ball down the line for McAlpine who crossed for the unmarked Cramb to volley Stenhousemuir back in front. Shire were never likely to recover, and didn't.

Arbroath 7 Shire 2

Shire were given a real football lesson by a highly-motivated Arbroath team. The home side never let up from start to finish and the seven goals they scored were well-deserved. They could even have claimed more after hitting the post twice and forcing Derek Jackson into a number of fine saves.

Dennis Newall made just one change from the Shire side which drew their game with Stenhousemuir three weeks previously; Johnny Walker came in for the suspended Jordan Smith. But the visitors had not played for three weeks and it showed. Despite a Carl Thywissen shot which flashed past the Arbroath goal inside the first minute, they were all at sea.

By the time ten minutes had gone by Arbroath had struck the post twice, through Clark and then Brazil, and Jackson had palmed away a fine effort from Stein. Shire were simpoly unable to stop the constant flow of Arbroath attacks and on 19 minutes the home team took the lead when Brazil headed home Stein's cross. Five minutes later Mark McCulloch's run into the box ended with a pass to Brazil and he shot home to make it 2-0.

Chance after chance followed for the home side, who were ripping Shire to pieces, but it was the visitors who had a suyrprise in store. A cross from the left had the Arbroath defence floundering while Iain Diack lept to head home. The Red Lichties felt that goal was an affront to their supremacy and on 39 minutes Stein's cross was swept into the net to make the half-time score 3-1.

Shire tried to limit the damage in the second half, and the replacement of Thywissen by Stephen Oates helped that. They could do nothing, though, to stop Arbroath making it 4-1, when Clark fired home a Stein cross.

The visitors enjoyed a bit of a purple patch after that. Diack's free-kick hit the post and Steven Dymock came close, but Arbroath scored a fifth though Clark in 81 minutes. They then made it six in 86, Clack chesting down for Black to fire home. Diack did at least score the game's best goal a minute later. He took the ball at an impossible angle on the goal line but still somehow managed to squeeze it home. But there was one more piece of misery to endure when Clark streaked past the Shire defence to score the seventh.

Another Date For Your Diary

The postponement of the Stenhousemuir Cup tie last night means two more alterations to Shire's fixture list. The third attempt to play the cup tie will be made on Monday 28th November. That means the Queen's Park league game, which had been re-scheduled for the following evening, Tuesday 29th November, has been moved back until Tuesday 13th December. Shire's much-changed fixtures for the next few weeks read as follows :

Sat. 26th November Arbroath (a)

Mon. 28th November Stenhousemuir (a)

Sat. 3rd December East Fife (h)

Tue. 6th December Elgin City (a)

Sat. 10th December Partick Thistle (h)

Tue. 13th December Queen's Park (h)

Sat. 17th December Albion Rovers (a)

Elgin Fixture Re-Arranged

Shire and Elgin City have agreed to play Saturday's postponed fixture at Borough Briggs on Tuesday 6th December with a 7:45p.m. kick-off. The match should have taken place this coming Saturday, but was postponed to allow Elgin to play their delayed Scottish Cup tie with Stirling Albion at Forthbank. However, it should be noted that strong hints are being dropped that if both Shire and Elgin are eliminated from the Scottish Cup in the first round , the meeting will be switched again to Saturday 10th December.

Shire Fill A Fixture Gap

The club has moved quickly to fill a gap in the fixture list caused by the postponement of this weekend's trip to Elgin City. Instead, Shire will travel to Gayfield to take on Arbroath. This match has been brought forward from 31st December to 26th November because both side's scheduled opponents are playing Scottish Cup matches postponed from Saturday.

It's good news for Dennis Newall's team who were facing a potential gap of a month between Saturday games.

More Fixture Problems Likely

Shire's fixture problems seem certain to mount this weekend. Not only is tomorrow's Scottish Cup trip to Stenhousemuir almost certain to be postponed, so is next Saturday's trip to Elgin City. If, as seems almost inevitable, the Borough Briggs team's Scottish Cup match at Stirling falls victim to the weather it will be played at Forthbank on the day Shire were scheduled to visit Elgin on league business. This means a midweek game in Elgin at a date to be arranged. It also means no Saturday games for Shire for four weeks.

Cup-Tie Preview

Tomorrow's Scottish Cup first round tie between Stenhousemuir and East Stirlingshire at Ochilview will have a 10:00 a.m. pitch inspection. With overnight temperatures set to dip to -7 celsius the outlook is distinctly grim. Stenhousemuir were hoping to delay an inspection until the match referee arrived at the ground, but the weather forecasts made that all too hopeful.

Should the match be postponed, the game will be played on Tuesday 22nd November with a 7:30p.m. kick-off. It will also mean Shire going into the match not having played since the 0-0 league draw with Stenhousemuir on 5th November.

"It would be disappointing to have the match postponed, but that's the Scottish climate for you," said Shire boss Dennis Newall, speaking exclusively to Zebra Diary. "I have said all along that the lower leagues in Scotland should play in the summer months. Tomorrow hundreds of players, club officials and thousands of fans will have to sit idle as matches are postponed. It doesn't have to be that way."

Shire will have Johnny Walker back for the Stenhousemuir game whenever it is played. He has now recovered from the chipped bone in his ankle. But Jamie MacKay and Steven Blair have picked up long-term knee injuries. Both players could be out for anything up to a month.

If tomorrow's cup-tie falls victim to the freezing temperatures, the Queen's Park home game, called off on 11th November due to gale force winds, will be played on Tuesday 29th November with a 7:30p.m. start.

Shire versus Queen's Park

Shire and Queen's Park have re-arranged the postponed match of Friday 11th November for Tuesday 22nd November with a 7:30p.m. kick-off. This will change, however, if Shire draw with Stenhousemuir in the first round of the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

In the event of a cup replay, the Queen's Park game will move to Tuesday 29th November, again with a 7:30p.m. start.

Queen's Park Preview

Shire will almost certainly be without Jordan Smith for the first Friday night league game at Firs Park for nearly nine years. Smith's straight red card in last week's 0-0 draw with Stenhousemuir means an automatic one game ban.

Stephen Oates, the most likely replacement, is still struggling with the foot injury which saw him miss out on the Warriors match. He may well be pressed into service if need be. Jamie MacKay and Johnny Walker are both out of the game with long-term injuries. Scott Livingston, who was unable to take part in the Stenhousemuir game because of a stomach bug, will, hopefully, be back to full heath.

"We must stop losing stupid goals early in matches," manager Dennis Newall told Zebra Diary. "We showed against Stenhousemuir if we could keep it tight we would stand a chance. The players must do the same, and show the kind of determination and spirit as against Stenhousemuir. If they do I thik there is a chance we can take all three points."

Shire 0 Stenhousemuir 0

There was no doubt which of the two teams was happiest with the first goalless game at Firs Park in more than four years. Shire rode their luck at times, as Stenhousemuir hit the post twice and missed a penalty, but there was no doubt they deserved to.

It was a good reward for a hard-working Shire team, whose commitment and determination to take something from the game could not be faulted. The only down side was the unfortunate sending-off of Jordan Smith, a fate he did not deserve.

Manager Dennis Newall recalled Paul Gaughan to the centre of the Shire defence while Scott Livingstone, who had been unwell with a stomach bug, was left on the substitutes bench.

Shire started the game on the offensive, and after just three minutes Carl Thywisen came close, turning an Andy Brand cross towards goal only to see his effort deflected for a coner kick. But the Warriors quickly found a way to beat the Shire offside trap and Jim Mercer was clean through on Derek Jackson, who did well to save.

On 29 minutes the Shire defence were again left vainly appealing for offside with Colin Cramb bearing down on goal. He drew Jackson but then watched as his shot rebounded off the post.McGrillen and Sinclair both went close for the Warriors before the interval.

Shire were more in the game after the break and Ally Graham deserved better than to see his header drift wide from Brand's cross. Brand himself could have given Shire the lead on 68 minutes with a great shot from the edge of the box which Warrior's keeper McCulloch had to tip over the bar. The game seemed to have calmed down, but then all hell broke loose.

First, referee Willie Collum sent-off Warriors' centre-half John McKeown for deliberate handball, an offence which the Laws of the Game say should be a caution. Then the ten-man visitors broke upfield and Cramb fell inside the box under a harmless looking challenge from Jordan Smith. The ref awarded a penalty and sent Smith off. Justice was done when Javckson made a great stop from McGrillen's spot kick.

Shire could have sneaked a win late on when Iain Diack cracked in a superb drive from the edge of the box which McCulloch in the Warriors' goal had to drive full-length to tip round the post.

Montrose 3 Shire 0

Shire's failure to claim any points away from Firs Park must now be a worry for manager Dennis Newall. This was a winnable match, yet the visiting team never appeared in control of the game and could have lost by a few more.

The promising performance against Berwick Rangers in midweek had given everyone at Firs Park cause for optimism, but that quickly evapourated after Montrose tookm a tenth minute lead. Kevin Webster whipped in a ball which Mark Tyrrell failed to deal with, allowing the dangerous Greig Henslee to collect the pass and fire past the exposed Derek Jackson.

It was Jackson who then, almost single-handedly, kept Shire in things. He made a great save from Fotheringham when the Montrose man looked destined to score, then turned a long range effort from Dodds over the bar.

Montrose even helped Shire stay in the game with a couple of unbelievable point-blank range misses. But the pressure told again on 31 minutes when Kerrigan skipped away from two poor Shire challenges and crossed for Henslee to head home from inside the six yard box.

The one-way traffic continued after the break and twice the luckless Fotheringham should have burst the net, only to see his shots go over the bar. Shire continued to ride their luck, while creating nothing more than a couple of tame efforts from an out-of-sorts looking Iain Diack.

A third Montrose goal was not undeserved. It came along on 67 minutes when Henslee threw himself at a left wing corner. The ball came off his chest and despite Mark Tyrrell's desperate attempt at a goalline clearance, it was clear the ball had already crossed the line.