Scottish League Two

Annan Athletic 2-3 Stirling Albion 3

Annan’s slump in league form continued after the Black and Golds suffered their third successive league defeat going down 3-2 at home to the in-form Stirling Albion.

It was a much-improved Annan performance from the previous week’s encounter against Elgin City and, despite a late comeback which had Albion holding on at the end, it was Annan’s defensive blunders which cost them the match.

Boss Peter Murphy was once again forced to make changes due to the injury’s to key senior player Nathan Flanagan and the suspension of Christain Nade.

The opening exchanges were fairly even but it became evident that Stirling had key players in midfield where Annan never got to grips with the tough tackling Kevin Nicol.

The opening goal arrived in the 21st minute and it was an excellent piece of opportunity taken by Darryl Duffie.

Annan suffered an injury to Darren Barr in the 36th minute which presented an opportunity to ex-Carlisle United Jordan Holt.

In the 54th minute, the match swung heavily in favour of the visitors who won a penalty. The move started in the middle of the park where Nicol dispossessed Niyah Joseph before setting up Domnic Docherty who drew the challenge from Jordan Holt, for Duffie to give the visitors a two-goal advantage.

The game looked to be beyond Annan three minutes later when the home team got caught down the left and Mackin’s precise pass out to Docherty caught Kyle Bradley out. Docherty cut inside to finish with a clinical low shot past Avci.

The game looked all over for Annan but the home team staged a spirited fightback. And it came as no surprise in the 64th minute when Holt latched on to a Steven Swinglehurst header to prod the ball over the line.

Annan continued to press forward with freedom and Albion were defending in numbers.

Muir then headed home in the first minute of added time to give Annan hope but it was too little too late for Murphy’s men.

Match Facts

Annan: Avci, Douglas, Ballantyne, Bradley, Barr (Holt 36), Swinglehurst, McLean, Wilkie, Muir, Watson, Joseph (Emmerson 77). Subs not used: Sonkur, Walker, Currie.

Referee: David Dickenson

Crowd: 402