Stirling Albion face Elgin City in their penultimate home game of the season on Saturday.
Darren Young’s side earned a 1-1 draw away to champions Kelty Hearts at the weekend thanks to a first-minute goal from Kieran Moore and a strong team performance.
It means Stirling are now unbeaten in three matches but they remain in seventh place in cinch League 2 and the play-offs - an unlikely target in recent months - are now officially out of reach, with Edinburgh City in pole position to clinch fourth spot.
The Binos host the Citizens in the final game of the season on Saturday April 30 and travel to Coatbridge to play Albion Rovers next weekend but first up is a Forthbank encounter with Elgin City.
Albion have a dreadful recent record against Gavin Price’s men, losing seven of the last nine meetings, including the last three at Forthbank. The Borough Briggs clash in February saw Darren Young’s men slump to a 3-1 defeat, Jordan McGregor was sent off and Ray Grant picked up a bad injury.
Young’s first match in charge of the club was a 1-0 reverse to the Black and Whites just before Christmas when a Stirling side hit by injuries and Covid were unfortunate to lose 1-0.
Elgin are sitting ninth in the table, four points below the Binos, after Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Stenhousemuir but they have recently beaten Edinburgh City and drawn with Kelty.
Young was delighted with his side’s display against the runaway champions and felt they could even have become the first team to inflict a home league defeat on Kevin Thomson’s side.
He said: “I think it was a well-deserved point and, to be honest, I’m disappointed we didn’t manage to nick it. We had a great start to the game - it was a nice bit of play with Aaron Dunsmore getting down the side and Kieran Moore getting across his marker to score.
“We had a similar chance with Kyle Banner and that would have put us 2-0 up but then we lose a soft goal. We have allowed Jamie Barjonas to run a long way when we maybe had a couple of chances to stop that and it’s a scuffed shot (from Botti Biabi) that goes under the keeper.
“I thought over the whole 90 minutes we were outstanding. I think they only had one chance in the first half and scored with it. They came out firing in the second half but we dealt with it. We then created a couple of chances and I thought we could have had a penalty as well for a clear push.
“The play-offs are too far now but it’s not this game that has caused that.
“We want to finish the season on a high and I’ve said to the players if they can match the champions like that it shows how good a team they are and the levels they can get to.
“Having almost a full squad to choose from helps as well when you have guys like Nathan Flanagan and Kurtis Roberts to call upon from the bench.
"Our last game against Elgin was a bit of a disaster so hopefully we can right that wrong on Saturday and keep the unbeaten run going until the end of the season.”
