Club X 1-1 Stenhousemuir

I caught my first glimpse of 2008-09 league action on Saturday as we drew 1-1 with Annan Athletic, whom I still describe as 'Club X' in an attempt to keep myself amused. Attending the match - the first SFL game at Annan's Galabank ground - was an unquestionably odd experience, not least on account of the manifold difficulties we experienced in actually gaining access to the stadium. Am I the only one who wonders if unfinished refurbishment of away grounds is becoming a theme of our season? After the curious experience of Fleetwood in pre-season, where the lack of floodlights led some of us to question whether or not we'd actually get the game finished, Annan presented us with a new challenge: lack of turnstiles. These simple items of stadium-entrance equipment are, it would seem, a privelege reserved for home supporters only - at least until the redevlopment work is completed. Warriors supporters were forced to enter via the astroturf pitches, where - bizarrely - the Annan players were happily getting on with their pre-match warm-up. (Brian, aka Bozo from the website forum, was a notable exception to this rule, successfully gaining access through the home supporters' entrance despite his conspicuous Stenny colours. It must have been down to his cheeky smile.)

The match itself was a largely scrappy affair, in which we were unable to capitalise on our clear technical and territorial superiority. In terms of the performances of individual players, it was the proverbial game of two halves. Ferguson and Thomson, for example, put in strong performances in the first half before fading in the second, whilst for Lyle the opposite was true: after a lacklustre opening period, he was excellent after the interval, combining beautifully with Dalziel and Brand respectively in two well-worked attacks. Dalziel missed a sitter whilst Brand was a little subdued at times, but both still showed some decent touches, and it was good to see the latter continuing his prolific goalscoring start to the season.

All in all, then, two points dropped against relatively inexperienced opposition, but plenty of reasons to be optimistic. The two undisputed stars of the show, though, were Annan's sloping pitch - not conducive to brilliant football but certainly aesthetically pleasing - and Chris McGroarty's luminous blue boots, which injected some much-needed colour into the proceedings!