Stirling Albion manager Darren Young was delighted with his side’s performance in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against third-placed Annan Athletic.
The Binos were the better team at Galabank and created several clear-cut chances but keeper Greg Fleming was in inspired form and the woodwork also twice came to Annan’s rescue.
Next up is a home game against bottom club Cowdenbeath on Saturday, which is followed by a Friday night trip to Edinburgh City on February 11. Stirling saw off Cowdenbeath 4-0 back in September but lost 1-0 at Central Park in December, in what proved to be Kevin Rutkiewicz’s last game in charge, and Maurice Ross’ side earned an important 1-0 win away to Albion Rovers on Saturday.
Albion have picked up points at Stenhousemuir, Stranraer and Annan since the turn of the year but their only home game so far in 2022 was a 3-0 loss to leaders Kelty Hearts on January 8.
Reflecting on Saturday’s game at Annan, Young felt his side were unlucky not to take all three points.
He said: “It was a great performance particularly after the journey down and only getting here at 3pm. Anyone here will be going away wondering how we didn’t win the game. We’ve hit the post and the bar, we created numerous chances and their goalie was man of the match.
“We were very solid defensively – we went 4-4-2 and took the game to them. Dylan Mackin and Jack Leitch had chances early on and the subs played their part as well. Kieran Moore almost scored at the end and I thought Dylan Paterson did great when he came on. He had a great strike but the keeper saved it and it was one of those days.”
Paterson moved on loan to Stirling Albion from Arbroath until the end of the season. The 21-year-old had a successful loan spell at Bo’ness Athletic in the first half of 2021/22 and recently signed a new contract at Gayfield.
Stirling had already brought in left-sided defender Mason Hancock on loan from Aberdeen and former Falkirk and Bradford Park Avenue striker Akeel Francis from Warrington Rylands.
There was no last-minute business at Forthbank before the closure of the transfer window at midnight on Monday but clubs outside the cinch Premiership have until the end of February to make domestic loan signings.
Leaving the club is Sean Heaver who has gone to East of Scotland Premier Division title hopefuls Linlithgow Rose.
The striker was a youth player with Stirling and returned to Forthbank from Bannockburn Amateurs in the summer of 2019.
He scored on his league debut against Stenhousemuir and netted a Scottish Cup double against Strathspey Thistle soon after. Although Heaver was rarely a regular starter, he quickly became a fans’ favourite for both his style of play and worth ethic.
He made 15 appearances in cinch League 2 this season but only two of them were starts and he is hoping for more regular football with Linlithgow Rose. His last Albion goal came in the 4-0 win over Cowdenbeath in September and his final appearance was against Kelty Hearts in early January.
Boss Young said: “We didn’t want Sean to leave but I can understand his position because he has not played as much as he would have liked in the last couple of years and we didn’t want to stand in his way of getting more games elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, Will Greenhorn has re-joined Sauchie Juniors on loan for the rest of the season. The defender also had a loan spell at Beechwood Park in the first half of 2021/22.
