The Spartans had bouncebackability with Blair Henderson bagging a brace against the Binos in a 1-3 win at Forthbank in the latest of midweek excursions for Douglas Samuel’s men.
Jamie Dishington made a return to the starting XI whilst Kieran Watson marked his full return from time on the sidelines by joining Dish as the teams made their way out of the tunnel for this rearranged SPFL 2 clash.
Despite an afternoon of rain, the park held up well and Blair Henderson looked to advance upon the home keeper however Dishington’s attempted flick through was just about cut out by a defender.
The opening quarter of an hour was spent largely in the home danger area with Cammy Russell making some telling advances up the touchline and Dishington’s distribution stretching the Binos midfield to near breaking point.
That almost came when Kieran Watson found himself just inside the box however his curled effort was to evade the far post.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 33rd minute. Cammy Russell’s shimmy-shammy outfoxed his marker allowing him to win the footrace to the bye-line before sending a perfectly weighted pass to the front post where Blair Henderson was on hand to neatly dispatch the ball beyond Derek Gaston for a deserved opener.
Just three minutes later, Spartans doubled their lead and it was a spiralling shot from Jamie Dishington that spun over Gaston’s head and into the top corner. It was a finish that the current top appearance holder enjoyed as he wheeled away to celebrate in front of the merry band of Spartan Army followers in the away end.
HT: Stirling Albion 0-2 The Spartans
Just four minutes after the break, the return to winning ways looked to be back on track as Callum Booth’s menacing run saw him advance to the edge of the box before releasing Blair Henderson who composed himself before thundering the ball into the back of the net.
It was almost a hat-trick for Henderson who progressed once again into the penalty area however the backtracking challenge was just about in time to force the ball into the side netting.
The first of a series of changes saw Hamish Ritchie and Liam Morgan replace Cammy Russell and Aaron Scott.
Dale Carrick was close to offering the home side a way back into the game however his powerful header went narrowly over the bar.
Mark Stowe and Arran Preston then made an appearance at the expense of Jamie Dishington and Kieran Watson and this was followed a few minutes later by Brogan Walls coming on for Bradley Whyte.
With five minutes left Dale Carrick did finally find the net with a well hit shot that offered Blair Carswell little scope to save.
It set up a bit of a nervy ending to the game as the Binos support sniffed a sense of optimism in their side’s upturn in play however it was to transpire to be too little too late and Spartans held on to win their second game on the road this campaign.
FT: Stirling Albion 1-3 The Spartans
Malt and Hops Man of the Match: Blair Henderson
