Shire 0 East Fife 4

The Shire slump shows no sign of letting up. They were never really at the races against Third Division leaders East Fife, especially after losing the opening goal in just eight minutes. For all that they went on to lose four goals it could have been more, ironically, had it not been for some very good Shire defending.

Manager Gordon Wylde re-introduced Carl Thywissen to the heart of defence after the previous week's 2-0 defeat against Dumbarton, and there was also a place in the starting line-up for Paul Tweedie, who replaced Steven Dymock.

The Shire striker might have broken the deadlock inside the opening five minutes but he fluffed his chance after some good work down the left by Alan Ward. But Shire's bright opening went for nothing when the visitors took the lead with a very easy goal after just eight minutes. A simple thrown in found Craig Smart who fed Craig O'Brien and he simply sidefooted the shot past Nugent from inside the box.

That settled the visiting team down anmd they went on to play some decent spells of attacking football. Nugent had to look smart to save a Ryan Blackadder free-kick and a Kevin Gordon cross flew across the face of goal with no takers when a simple touch would have added to the lead.

For their part, Shire might have equalised on 17 minutes when some trickery from Marc McKenzie created the space for a cross which Stephen Oates headed wide. There was bad news on 28 minutes when Ward was injured after a collision with the keeper. He tried to keep going after treatment but was substituted by Steven Dymock.

That had no more happened than East Fife increased the lead with a freak goal. The ball was fed out to Neil Jablonski, his shot was no more than speculative but took a huge deflection off Oates and ended up in the back of the net.

Shire were creaking from then on and East Fife always seemed able to take advantage. After 56 minutes they increased their advantage to three. A simple cross from Ellliot Smith down the right should have been cleared but O'Reilly beat Thywissen to the near post header and the ball looped over Nugent into the net. Two minutes leter there was even worse when Blackadder volleyed a poor clearance past Nugent off the post for number four.

East Fife threatened even more goals but the Shire defence, which had seemed on the verge of imploding, found some self-respect late on. Under the cosh for long spells they at least managed to prevent the lead increasing. Special mention must go to two Oates tackles, one on O'Reilly and the other on Craig Smart, which prevented even further ambarrassment. One late worry was an injury to Dymock which saw him carried from the pitch on a stretcher.

Shire : Nugent, Livingstone, Learmonth, Thywissen, Oates, Boyle, McKenzie, Stewart, Tweedie, Ward(Dymock 34(Molloy 82), Adam(Ure 62).

East Fife: Dodds, Smith, Linton, J. Smart, Doyle, Courts(Hampshire 76), Gordon, Jablonski, O'Reilly(Crabbe 82), C. Smart(Martin 82), Blackadder.

Referee ; S. Nicholls

Attendance : 378

East Fife Preview

Shire boss Gordon Wylde remains confident the team can take something from tomorrow's visit of league leaders East Fife, but knows it will be very difficult. "I know the games don't get any easier but we have to go into them with optimism," he told Zebra Diary. "What worries me most about East Fife is their physical strength. We have the ability to play football against them but whether we can compete physically is another matter. That's why we lost 5-0 at New Bayview. It wasn't as though they played us off the park, but they used their phyisical edge to their advantage."

Wylde wants his team to be ready for a bit of muscle. "We have to win the battle before we start playing the football. I know it's a cliche but it's also true."

He will have almost a full squad to chhose from. Andrew Brand is still out and Steven Blair has a hamstring injury. "We are going through a bit of a rut at the moment," said Wylde. "But I am sure we will come out the other end better for it."

Andrew Brand Winning Fitness Battle

Shire skipper, Andrew Brand, is winning his battle to regain full fitness after his wrist operation. He has now had the plaster cast removed from his left wrist and coach Gordon Wylde has already pencilled in his return to training.

If everything goes according to plan Andrew will take part in his first training session a week on Thursday. It will then be a matter of getting his match fitness back before re-claiming his place in the starting eleven.

He played his last match at East Fife on 1st September before entering hospital for an operation to strengthen his wrist joint. The complex procedure involved taking a bone graft from his hip. Andrew broke the joint twice playing for Shire last season and feared if he suffered a repeat without the operation it would finish his playing days.

Shire 0 Dumbarton 2

Shire's hopes of bouncing back from the previous week's debacle at Elgin City died of self-inflicted wounds as Dumbarton stole off to the west with the three points in a bag marked "swag".

Gordon Wylde's men only have themselves to blame for not taking at least a draw from the match which never amounted to much of a spectacle. There were changes after the Bourough Briggs defeat with Anton Nugent replacing Robert Tiroupolos in goal and Scott Livingstone taking the place of the absent Carl Thywissen. However, there was no place in the starting line-up for Paul Tweedie, Steven Dymock being preferred to partner Marc McKenzie up front with Derek Ure dropping back into midfield.

The first real incident of the match brought a goal. After 13 minutes Dumbarton's Geggan made a strong run into the box which was ended by Steven Learmonth's challenge. There seemed little in it, but the referee penalised the Shire man then, after consultation with the far side linesman, awarded a penalty kick which Steven Dobbie converted.

Dumbarton had plenty of possession but really failed to turn that into concerted pressure although the lively Boyle shot wide from 20 yards and Boris had a cross-cum-shot cleared off the line by Livingstone. Four minutes before the break Shire should have equalised. Stephen Adam swung over a right-wing free-kick and Dymock blazed over from six yards when it seemed easier to score.

The game was put beyond Shire ten minutes after the break. Adam dithered on the edge of the box when he really should have cleared his lines. David Bagan picked his pocket and was left with the easiest job in the world to shot past Nugent to make it 2-0. On the hour mark Boyle was unlucky not to make it 3-0 with a header from a Hamilton cross which hit the Shire crossbar. But the game was over and the last half hour was sleep-inducing stuff, enlivened only by the sending-off of Dumbarton's Craig Winter for swearing at the stand side linesman.

Shire : Nugent, Livingstone, Learmonth, Oates, Wild(Blair 67(Molloy 79), Boyle,McKenzie, Stewart,Ure(Tweedie 56), Adam.

Dumbarton : Grindlay, Geggan,Brittain, Canning, Craig, Bagan, Borris(Dillon 82), Winter, Dobbie(McQuilken 85), Hamilton(McNaught 69), Boyle.

Referee : Steven O'Reilly

Attendance : 395.

Dumbarton Preview

It should be a very different Shire that takes the field against Dumbarton tomorrow from the one which lost so abjectly at Elgin City last Saturday. For a start, Gordon Wylde will have more than ten fit outfield players to choose from. Back into the reckoning will come Andy Smith, Paul Tweedie, Steven Dymock, Steven Blair and, if he recovers enough from a recent bout of the flu, Mark Molloy. Those who played at Elgin who should have been at home in bed have also had an extra week to recover from the flu. Stephen Oates is carrying a leg knock but will be fit enough to play, which means the only absentee will be skipper Andrew Brand.

Dumbarton have hit a bit of form of late, winning four of their last five matches but Shire always seem to have the ability to recover after a really bad defeat, so it should be an interesting game. Wylde has told the players they will all have to fight for a place in the team. "If those players who missed the Elgin game are walking around with a smirk thinking they'll get straight back into the team, they won't. They have to prove they are worthy of inclusion, but there will certainly be some changes."

It's Dumbarton's first league visit to Firs Park since April 2002, when an inspired goalkeeping display by Chris Todd and a second half strike from Derek Ure gave Shire a 1-0 win. Here's hoping that's an omen.

Scottish Cup Draw

Shire have drawn Stirling Albion in the first round of the Scottish Cup. The tie will go ahead at Firs Park on Saturday 18th November. It'll be Albion's first visit to the ground since last season's Stirlingshire Cup Final, and their first Scottish Cup match there since 1989/90 season.

Allan Moore's team are going well in the Second Division, they are currently unbeaten in nine matches and lie second in the league table. They have a good mixture of youth and experience with their best-known player Colin Cramb. The winners will be away to Edinburgh City in round two.

Elgin City 5 Shire 0

The one thing Shire should not do after this disaster at Borough Briggs is panic. Failure to treat this as anything other than a one off could send the season into complete freefall and Shire know all about that.
On reflection, they should have known something like this would happen. Elgin, with no points from ten games, were always going to be souped up for the game against the team that had the worst record in Scottish football over the last four seasons. Shire had a player crisis; they didn’t have any. Andy Smith was suspended, Paul Tweedie was in Canada at his cousin’s wedding, Andrew Brand’s still recovering after an operation, Steven Dymock was working, Steven Blair and Mark Molloy were both in bed with the flu. Of the 19 man squad only thirteen available players travelled, and some of them were still suffering the effects of the flu bug.
But even then Shire would have been expecting to compete against a pointless Elgin team whose confidence surely must have been at the lowest of ebbs. There was no doubt Elgin were nervous, making mistake after mistake in the opening quarter. By contrast, Shire, with a strike force of Alan Ward and Derek Ure, looked quite enterprising. There was no hint of the disappointment to come, especially after Ward had shot narrowly past and Marc McKenzie had missed a golden opportunity to put the visitors in front. Sixteen minutes were on the clock when Stephen Adam swung over the perfect left wing cross for the unmarked McKenzie. But the wee winger mis-hit his shot back across goal when it seemed easier to score. It was a scorned opportunity that Shire were to regret just three minutes later.
Elgin’s Campbell cracked in a shot from the edge of the box which Robert Tiroupolos did well tip round the post for a corner. From the resulting flag kick, Shire’s nemesis from days gone by, Martin Johnston, best Carl Thywissen to a near post header and the ball flashed into the net. Worse was to follow three minutes later. Dempsie crossed from the left and Campbell sent the lamest of headers in the direction of Tiroupolos but the Shire keeper made a hash of collecting the ball, allowing it to squirm from his grasp into the net.
Given Shire’s selection problems that was as good as game over. But it got worse. Joe Boyle got himself in a fanckle trying the guide the ball back to the keeper and MacKay nipped into the available space to make the interval score 3-0.
There was no way back after that. MacKay should have made it four but his shot hit the bar. Kaczan’s header would had ended up in the net if Steven Learmonth hadn’t cleared off the goalline but Elgin were always going to score more. Johnston headed home his second in 67 minutes, again he was picked out unmarked at the back post. More dodgy keeping from Tiroupolos handed him his hat-trick on full-time.
Shire remain seven points clear of last place Elgin with a game in hand and they know that can be a big gap to close. Boss Gordon Wylde has some of his better players waiting to return. A quick return to form would probably bring Elgin’s elation to a swift end. But any dwelling on what happened at Borough Briggs could have exactly the kind of consequence no-one connect with the club even wants to contemplate.
Elgin City : Renton, Kaczan(Bazie 64), Dempsie, Easton, Dickson, Hind, Campbell, Moffat( Docherty 82), Johnston, Gardiner(Charlesworth 75), MacKay.
Shire : Tiroupolos, Wild, Learmonth, Oates(Livingstone 73), Thywissen, Boyle, McKenzie, Stewart, Ward, Ure, Adam.
Referee : C. MacKay
Atendance : 423.

Elgin City Preview

According to Shire boss, Gordon Wylde, the rest of the division will be watching events at Borough Briggs tomorrow. And they will be watching for a reason; they will be waiting to find out if Elgin can take their first points of the season. Many are expecting a home win, after a run of ten successive defeats but Wylde says Shire are not going there to be Elgin's fall guys.

Shire will need to be wary and will be without key personnel. Andrew Brand is still recovering from his wrist operation while Andy Smith serves the second of his two game ban after his red card at Montrose. In addition, Paul Tweedie is in Canada attending his cousin's wedding while Steven Dymock will be missing because of work commitments.

There is also a doubt over one or two others, including Mark Molloy, who are suffering from a flu bug. But on the positive side Marc McKenzie is back and is certain to play after sitting out the 2-1 win over Queen's Park because of suspension.

Wylde expects Elgin to be far more adventurous at home than they were at Firs Park. "They scored their goal early and then had a man sent-off and just sat in and we were able to score twice," he said of August's 2-1 win. "But they will want to give their fans something to shout about. After that game they said they were embarrassed to lose to the worst team in Scottish football. Well, now they are the worst team and we don't intend to be their fall guys."