Shirra Brilliance

Blimey, the last two visits to the football have been fantastic. Having returned from my summer hols where I had managed to fit in one more match (well, strictly, two matches) and another new stadium - Real Mallorca entertained Newcastle, Hannover and Berlin in the "Summer Cup" aka an opportunity to rip off the tourists; again - I returned just in time to catch our home match against Montrose. First half was appalling and put me in mind of the worst ever performances; again. It probably wasn't that bad, but it felt it. Second half couldn't have been any more different. A couple of changes and it was like watching a new team (Brazil?) We totally outclassed the opposition and could easily have gone on to win a match we had looked like losing an hour earlier. Scott Dalziel, who had spent the previous 45 minutes imitating his own shadow, managed to score with a couple of clinical headers, and finally, literally, John Ovenstone managed to head wide when he had all the time in the world to choose his spot. Ovenstone looks like Freddy Flintoff, and is a brute of a player. Not sure how he would cope against a nippy striker, but he isn't likely to lose many headers. On to Dumbarton for a rare away day for myself. Having missed kick off on each of my last three visits to The Rock, it was one extreme to the next. The expected roadworks and traffic congestion (Celtic were at home) didn't materialise and I arrived 45 minutes before kick off, just as the reporter from The Sun arrived in the car park. Like me he was looking forward to the game as he also had been at the Montrose game and thought "Stenny were a good team", he told a fellow reporter. I wonder if this was Scotland on Sunday's delegate? The same one who obviously hadn't listened too closely to the man from The Sun. He left before the end of the match and filed his report with the opening gambit "THE spoils were shared at the Strathclyde Homes Stadium in a dire 1-1 draw between Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir." If he had stayed till the end he would have realised that we were a good team this season, one who won't crumble under the slightest whiff of pressure from the opposition, and indeed one who fights to the end. What a delight to see our team push forward looking for a winner right to the last minute. Andy Shirra's goal was a belter, as was Kevin Motion's, and was a well deserved winner. Next weekend brings Cowdungbeath and an opportunity to resurrect our rivalry from two or three years ago. They are top of the pile at the moment which is a surprise to me. Still early days but this feels like an important match.

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!