Stirling Albion progressed to the 2nd round of the CIS Insurance Cup courtesy of a 3-2 win over Queens Park. The result extends the unbeaten run over the Spiders to 15 games, but a shaky spell at the beginning of the second half, similar to Saturday’s match against Arbroath, gave the home support some nail biting moments before the brilliance of Scott McLean gave the home team the victory which they just about deserved. Whether the fire alarm going off at the end of the first half, which resulted in the stadium being evacuated, upset the rhythm of the team or the half time substitution, which saw Scotland replacing Devine, change the balance of the defence, it is perhaps only a matter of time before defensive lapses are punished more severely.

The Binos started brightly and, as early as the 3rd minute, a swerve from Glancy ended in a shot which didn’t have enough height to trouble McCue. Hogarth was then brought into the action when a fierce shot from McCallum just inside the 18 yard box was turned past the post by the Binos’ keeper. From the resultant corner, the ball was missed by Hogarth but no Queens player was on hand to get a touch.

An early substitution saw McCallum being replaced by Bonnar. Since McCallum was injury prone when he was at Forthbank, I can only assume that he had picked up an injury and this was confirmed when the Queens physio came back from the dressing room with an ice pack

The Binos continued to apply pressure and a Nugent pass to hay, who had cut past Clarke, saw the midfielder’s cross headed past for a corner. Devine’s corner rebounded off a Queens defender and fell to Glancy. The diminutive striker reacted quickly to turn the ball past McCue to make it 1-0 to the Binos.

Queens responded and a mistake by McDonald was almost punished by Carroll who slotted the ball home. However, his joy was short lived as the far side linesmen had put his flag up for offside. McCue, in the Queens goal, had a poor night with his clearances and one of those clearances was collected by McLean who took a few paces before unleashing a fierce shot which went inches past.

In 25 minutes, the Binos doubled their lead when good footwork by McLean earned a corner. From the corner, McLean himself headed the ball into the net to make it 2-0. The Binos did not let up and, after Glancy was fouled, Devine took the resulting free kick. The full back’s shot went inches over the bar. Just before half time, Rushford was booked for pulling down O’Brien. This was to be the last action of the first half and both teams left the pitch with the sound of a fire alarm going off.

The evacuation caused minimal delay to the start of the second half which saw Scotland replacing Devine and Agostini replacing Kettlewell for Queens.

Fans evacuating at Half-time.

The second half was only 3 minutes old when Queens pulled one back courtesy of a Carroll header which went in off a post. 2 minutes later, the equaliser came in and, once again, it was a cross from the left which caused the problems. Clarke was left unmarked and he sent an unstoppable shot past Hogarth.

The next few minutes saw some shaky defending and the Spiders continued to apply the pressure. However, the Binos gradually regained control of the game and a Nugent shot from a Hay pass was touched over by McCue. Then a Rowe haeder fell to McLean but he couldn’t get enough contact on the ball and his shot went past for a goal kick.

The Binos regained the lead in 75 minutes when O’Brien played a pass inside to Ferguson. With most people expecting Ferguson to play a return ball to O’Brien, the big midfielder passed to McLean who sent a left foot shot past McCue. A goal worthy of winning any match and just reward for a fine display by Trigger.

Man of the Match, Glancy was replaced by Cummings. Then a surging run by Ferguson ended with his shot being touched over by McCue. In the dying minutes, Queens almost snatched an equaliser when a corner from the right ended with a shot crashing off the underside of the bar. Fortunately, for the home support, the ball was cleared.

This was the last attempt and referee Cassidy’s whistle brought a collective sigh of relief from the home support who can look forward to tomorrow’s 2nd round draw.