WE SHOULD HAVE WON-JIM

Shire players and fans had to endure a frustrating afternoon at Firs Park as chances went begging and the team had to settle for a 0-0 draw against promotion-chasing Elgin City.

A tense, close-fought affair unravelled in the final quarter into a succession of superb opportunities for Shire who should have taken at least one of them to claim what would have been a vital three points.

"I  thought we should have won," said coach Jim McInally afterward. "What we missed was a composed head to score the goals we needed.

"We had the chances and we didn't take them but, from a positive point of view we kept a clean sheet for a second week in a row and that can't have happened too often lately."

The point, along with Dumbarton's defeat takes Shire to within three points of the club's nearest rivals.

"I  said before the game that if we couldn't win then we needed something to close the gap and we have done that. I am sure that Forfar and Dumbarton and, for that matter, Albion Rovers are now looking over their shoulders because that's three games we have now gone undefeated."

On the down side, it looks as though Dean Richardson's season could be over after he suffered a nasty injury on the stroke of half-time.

"He's gone to hospital to have it checked out," said McInally. "But it looks as though it could be medial ligament damage, which is a very serious injury.

"Andrew Brand also picked up a knock and Andy Rodgers face looked in a bad way but we have the cover there. One thing we don't lack at the monent is available bodies."

A full match report is now online. Click on fixtures in the main menu then click on the scoreline in orange to read more.

Post Match is now on shireTV with reaction to the result from Jim McInally and Marc McKenzie.

Highlights are now available on shireTV.