Kyle Banner acknowledged it wasn’t a day for silky football – but praised his teammates for fighting the elements and a man disadvantage to claim a crucial point.
He kept his spot in the Binos defence for last weekend’s match at East Fife despite the return of regular centre-back Jordan McGregor to the squad after suspension – and put in a fighting display as Stirling kept themselves in touch at the top of League Two.
They now face another frustrating hiatus, with their scheduled opponents on Saturday – Elgin City – away on Scottish Cup duty, meaning they will have to watch the other games from the sidelines before returning for a Valentines’ dust-up on Tuesday evening away at Bonnyrigg.
It looked like they may be going into that break off the back of another win after Greig Spence’s free-kick opener, but Cammy Clark’s third red card of the season prompted a quick shift in the fortunes and Albion ended up clinging on to a 1-1 draw.
They also had to contend with classic Bayview conditions, with a swirling wind and driving rain adding to the attritional nature of the effort at the end.
But Banner believes Stirling showed their adaptability to ensure it wasn’t a fruitless trip back down the road.
The 23-year-old said: “The boys really dug in and a point on the road isn’t the worst, especially because there wasn’t really much football played with the conditions – that doesn’t really suit us but it’s a different way to get a point.
“It’s frustrating because I don’t think it was Cammy that actually makes the tackle for the red card.
“It’s hard with the wind and I thought they pressed us really well, stopping us from playing out from the back which is our usual game, it made it easier for us to go long and the ball was just running through the pitch where in the first half it was blowing back up the pitch but that’s just what happens sometimes.
“Even at ten men, we had a fair share of chances, not as many as them but Dunsy [Aaron Dunsmore] has been through one-on-one and the goalie made a good save and Kieran [Moore] is unlucky with the way the ball fell in the last minute for another chance.
“We put in some shifts, especially in midfield, just getting across side-to-side and it’s probably a point gained overall.”
Binos fans will be glancing at this weekend’s action to see how the table will look ahead of a busy period of catch-up in the coming weeks, with Dumbarton set to host play-off hopefuls Annan Athletic in a game that has importance at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, another pair of top four contenders also face off in Angus with Forfar taking on Stenhousemuir.
