SHIRE 3 ELGIN CITY 1

Andrew Brand was the Shire hero scoring all three goals in an enthralling 3-1 victory over Elgin City at Firs Park.

The Firs Park skipper's strikes, after 26, 64 and 71 minutes cancelled out Willie Martin's opener for Elgin and fired Shire to their first home win since September.

Coach Gordon Wylde made good his promise to change things after the previous week's 5-4 defeat at the hands of Albion Rovers. Out went keeper Darren Hill, replaced by Michael Brown on a month's loan from Raith Rovers.

And Kevin McBride's left-back berth went to Stephen Oates in a surprise selection. There was no surprise to see Carl Thywissen back in the centre of defence, with David King relegated to the substitutes bench.

Shire seemed determimned to make the early running and, inside the first ten minutes, both Craig Donaldson and Paul Brownlie made space for long-range efforts from outside the box but their shots went wide.

Elgin responded in kind and the lively Darren Shalliker tried an overhead kick which Brown had to do well to tip over the crossbar for a corner kick.

Donaldson's corner kicks were starting to give the Elgin defence the jitters and on 19 minutes he swung one over which Stephen Oates headed towards goal but Ally Rodgers produced a decent save.

After 22 minutes Shire should have taken the lead. Joe Savage caught Elgin sleeping at the back by taking a quick free-kick which sent Brand clear of the poorly-organised offside trap.

The home skipper released a powerful shot which beat Rodgers but, unfortunately for him, cannoned back off the near post. Derek Ure couldn't gather the rebound properly and the chance was gone.

Three minutes later and Shire were left to regret his miss. Shalliker sent in a speculative shot from the corner of the penalty box which took a huge deflection off Martin, wrong footing Brown, before ending up in the back of the net.

But despair turned to joy in less than 60 seconds. Straight from the re-start Shire won a corner kick which Donaldson swung in for Brand to side foot the ball into the net.

Three minutes later Brownlie's half volley shaved the top of the crossbar and, four minutes before the interval, Elgin's David Hind shot over when he should have done a lot better from the 18 yard line.

The end-to-end action showed no sign of letting up in the second half. Marc McKenzie's electrifying run into the penalty area on 52 minutes ended with a shot which was blocked by a despairing dive from the visiting defender.

A minute later Shire had a narrow escape when Martin's shot from the angle of the six yard box smacked off Brown's near post before the danger was cleared.

After 56 minutes a superb pass released Donaldson in the inside-right channel and although his shot was powerful enough it lacked direction and hit the side netting.

But Shire were not to be denied. After 64 minutes Scott Gibb launched a huge free-kick from the halfway line into the Elgin box and Brand jumped highest to head the ball past Rodgers from ten yards out.

Shire then looked likely to score at every opportunity but they managed to waste several good openings until the 71st minute when a quick free-kick from Savage once again caught Elgin out and allowed Brand to outpace the visitors defence before slottting the ball into the back of the net.

Elgin were not out of things by any means and they were desperately unlucky not to get a foothold back into the game when Hind's 20 yard thunderbolt came off the underside of the crossbar before being hacked to safety after 79 minutes.

Shire : Brown, Gibb, Oates, Doyle, Thywissen, Brownlie(Kelly 73), McKenzie, Brand, Savage(Simpson 82), Donaldson, Ure.

Elgin City : Rodgers, Campbell, Dempsie, Hind, Kaczan, Gilbert, Sutherland(Ross 77), Martin(Tansley 77), Shalliker, O'Domnoghue, Frizzell.

Referee : G. Salmond

Attendance : 277.

Craig Donaldson tries to get Shire moving forward.

MarcMcKenzie reaches out with Elgin's Kenny Gilbert.

Photos : Falkirk Herald

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