Stirling Albion:- Hogarth, Hay (Taggart 60), Forsyth, Nugent, Graham, Aitken, Wilson (Bingham 60), Devine, Cramb, Snodgrass and O’Brien. Unused Subs:- Tomana, Fraser and Christie

Cowdenbeath:- Hay, Baxter, Kenneth, Lennon, Hill, Armstrong, Doherty (Fotheringham 69), Fusco (Bryan 82), Buchanan, Scullion and Weir (Dalziel 75)
Unused Subs:- McBride and Allison

The Binos kept the race for the championship going with an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Cowdenbeath at Forthbank. A solitary goal by Cramb early in the second half was enough to separate the teams in a match where goal scoring opportunities were few and far between. However, with Morton also recording a narrow victory at Brechin, the gap remains at 4 points with only 4 matches left. With the Binos having 3 of those 4 matches away from home, advantage must rest with Morton as it is hard to see them losing twice whilst the Binos will have to win all their remaining matches.
The Binos made 2 changes with both Devine and Fraser returning from suspension. Devine started in place of Tomana, who was on the bench, whilst Fraser had to be content with a substitute’s spot at the expense of McNally.
Cowdenbeath had the best of the early chances with Weir coming close on two occasions. Firstly, his attempted lob over Hogarth bounced over the bar. Then, from a corner, Hogarth had to produce a point blank save to deny the number 11.
The Binos came back into the match and Aitken had a shot but his effort was straight at Hay in the Cowden goals. Snodgrass then had a shot from the corner of the 18 yard box which bounced off Hay for a corner.
Then, just on the stroke of half time, Snodgrass managed to squeeze a shot through a ruck of players but Hay managed to stop the ball on the line.
The Binos started the second half with a bit more determination with Aitken being very prominent. Snodgrass then linked up with Cramb but Coco’s shot was wide.
At the other end, the dangerous Buchanan had a shot which went across the face of the goals.
The deadlock was broken in the 64th minute when Cramb managed to get his head to an Aitken free kick to put the ball beyond Hay. 1-0 to the Binos.
This proved to be the only goal of the game and neither keeper was seriously threatened though the Cowden directors got very excited when they thought their team had equalised. Unfortunately for them, the ball had hit the outside of the side netting. And so it finished 1-0 to the Binos.
Next up is a visit to Peterhead where the Binos recorded a last minute victory at the beginning of December. A repeat of that result would do very nicely as the league campaign draws to an exciting close. See you all at Balmoor.