Albion Rovers earn Scottish Cup replay

Jan 18 2010 By Colin Paterson

ALBION ROVERS 0 STIRLING ALBION 0

DOGGED Rovers earned another crack at Second Division Stirling after this hard-fought Scottish Cup stalemate.

Clearcut goalscoring opportunities were few and far between on a chilly night at Cliftonhill in a competitive fourth round clash which showed there was little between the sides.

Rovers enjoyed decent spells of possession in a tight first half, but the Binos came into it after the break with a David McKenna shot well blocked by keeper Derek Gaston after good work by David O'Brien and Martin Grehan.

In the 72nd minute, Allan Moore's men thought they had done enough to take the lead but midfielder Steven McKeown cleared a Ross Forsyth header from an O'Brien corner off the line.

Only poor finishing from Grehan kept the scores level and the Stirling substitute will have been deeply unhappy at the shot he blazed high and wide after Gaston failed to gather an Andy Gibson centre.

Pat Walker had Rovers' best chance of the night as he fired an effort wide. There would be no late heroics and these two sides will do it all again at Forthbank tomorrow night.

Albion Rovers: Gaston; Reid, Benton, O'Byrne, McGowan; McKeown (Dignam 88), Donnelly, Tyrrell, Boyle; McCusker (Canning 80), Walker (Ferry 85). Subs not used: O'Boyle, Ewings(gk).

Booked: O'Byrne.

Stirling: Christie; Feakes, Graham, Roycroft, Forsyth; Gibson (Taggart 75), Murphy (Devine 82), Robertson, O'Brien; Mullen (Grehan 53), McKenna. Subs not used: Young, Hogarth(gk).

Booked: Robertson.

Referee: George Salmond.

Attendance: 395