Stirling Albion 1
Dundee 3
League (First Division)

Match Report

Four goals and a sending-off between the league leaders and the relegation favourites may suggest an enticing encounter but don't be fooled; even Andy Gray at his most verbose would have struggled to talk it up.

Dundee huffed and puffed their way towards another three promotion points but, save for Iain Anderson and James Grady's intervention up front, you would find more sophistication at a Bernard Manning concert.

The bright winter sun lit up the Ochil mountains but, for the first half hour, it was the antics of a few visiting neds that illuminated proceedings. Obviously confusing Stirling with St Lucia, a handful of Dundonians bared their chests to the elements as they rang out a few choice lyrics.

But instead of wooing the ladies with their beer guts, they succeeded only in catching the eye of a couple of policemen. The local constabulary promptly re moved the two ringleaders from the stand until they agreed to don their shirts.

Alas, their eviction forced the crowd to focus on a match that had neither rhythm nor a discernible pattern to it.

Grady thought he had given Dundee the lead after 32 minutes but his header was ruled offside. However, with in two minutes the visitors were ahead when John McGlashan was the first to react when Brian Irvine's stooping header came back off the post.

The game was effectively killed off four minutes before the interval when Grady was afforded the freedom of Forthbank. He took advantage of the errant defence with a 40-yard run that culminated in a shot which Mark McGeown could only parry to the feet of Stirling old boy Steve McCormick.

Stirling's problems were compounded after 63 minutes when substitute Stuart McLaren was sent off for lifting his hand to Dundee full-back Barry Smith.

Against the odds though, and the run of play, Stirling pulled a goal back when the unmarked Gavin Price headed home a John Gibson centre after 72 minutes. However, any notions Kevin Drinkell might have harboured of a dramatic comeback were banished just seconds later when Grady's emphatic strike restored the visitors' two-goal cushion.

The game did improve a little in the last 15 minutes as Dundee sought to exploit the gaps in the home defence, but a fourth goal would have flattered them. Dundee man ager John McCormack, how ever, will doubtless point to the oft-quoted maxim that winning in spite of a poor performance is the hallmark of champions.