NOW IT'S GAME ON

A day of all round celebration for Shire at Arbroath. The team claimed its first away win since November, keeper Gary O’Connor clocked up his 100th career shut out and the three points at least gives the team a chance of avoiding sixth successive wooden spoon.

David Nicholl’s 35th minute goal was the difference between the teams at Gayfield as Arbroath got a touch of the promotion jitters.

Shire ultimately deserved their win if only because they never stopped working hard and showed massive amounts of organisation and determination to cling on to the three points.

“It was a victory for hard work,” said boss Jim McInally afterwards. “The team defended very well and their concentration and the way they kept their shape were great too.

“I am continually amazed at the effort the players are putting in. It now sets up what will effectively be a cup final next week at Dumbarton. We know we will need maybe another four points to make sure we don’t finish bottom, but we will certainly give everything we’ve got.”

The coach believed the team could have taken a lot of pressure off themselves, especially during a nervy patch in the second half. “If I  have one minor criticism we should have held onto the ball better. It was coming back at us too quickly and we put a lot of unnecessary pressure on ourselves.”

Goalscorer Nicholls believes one thing may stop the team finishing bottom of another season. “They are young bunch but they have a lot of pride and no-one wants to finish bottom of the league. I believe we can get out of this but we will probably have to get something from the game at Dumbarton to stand a chance.”

Shire’s first away win since the 2-0 victory at Forfar  on 3rd November closes the gap on the teams above. With two games to play Shire are one point behind Forfar, who lost 4-1 at home to Albion Rovers.

Dumbarton are one further point ahead after they held promotion-chasing Montrose to a 0-0 draw at The Rock. Should Shire win next week against The Sons it would leave them a point clear of Dumbarton and, perhaps, two clear of Forfar.

That would leave Shire hoping for at least a point against Montrose on the last day of the season. At least the team’s still in there fighting hard.

A match report is now online. Click on fixtures on the main menu then click on the orange scoreline to read the details of an exciting win.

shireTV subscribers can now watch Post Match. Coach Jim McInally and goalscorer David Nicholls give their view on a vital win at Gayfield.