The Great Leap Forward

Today was a wonderful day to be a Stenny fan - all the more so because our eventual victory had seemed so unlikely, with our shambolic performance in the first half. The one man who made the difference was of course Scott Dalziel - his presence on the park, and the leadership he showed, provided such spark to those around him. Obviously he has been struggling for fitness lately, but I would suggest that - even if we have to send him onto the park in a wheelchair - he has to play next week.

There is an awful lot of work still to do, but a glimmer of hope has returned - could the Great Escape be on?

Tense times

I must confess I never thought we would be in this position - I don’t think any of us did. With the quality of players brought in last summer (Williams, Murray, Lynch, Anderson) - not to mention the likes of Paton and Gilmour who arrived more recently - there is simply no way we should even be contemplating relegation. Yet that is the situation in which we find ourselves - not only contemplating the drop, but drinking in the last chance saloon: we simply have to beat Alloa if we are to have any realistic chance of avoiding the play-offs.

My work recently took my to Nigeria, and - during the time I spent there - Stenny’s form showed considerable improvement; it then proceeded to decline upon my return. Whilst this suggests I should probably remain as far away from our matches as possible, in practice I am doing the exact opposite - i.e. travelling to Recreation Park on Saturday. (I am in fact heading north from London as I write this.)

As I write I am deliberately ignoring the ‘elephant in the room’ (or, in this case, the ineligible midfielder in the room). I don’t know if there is any truth in the rumours about Gilmour’s international clearance (or lack thereof), and somehow I suspect not - our officials are some of the most diligent around, and I would be surprised if they have let us down. In any case I am hopeful of avoiding a points deduction - we are due some luck at disciplinary hearings, not least after the gross injustice we suffered at the hands of Dunfermline last season.

I have already warned my boss that - if we fail to win on Saturday - I will probably be off sick next week. I do genuinely believe, though, that we will pick up the points. In quite simple terms, we are better than Alloa - we just have to prove it. Roll on Saturday…