The dreaded manager of the month curse struck again – but Stirling Albion boss Darren Young insists his side are ready to go on another unbeaten run.
Young was rewarded for a fine run of form which took Albion to the League Two summit with the award for September and October last week.
But their streak ended at nine games as Annan Athletic claimed the points in a 2-0 win at Forthbank on Saturday, with another red card – this time for full-back Cameron Clark – for the Binos proving costly on this occasion.
In truth, it was another tight game with few real chances on both sides, but an error from Albion keeper Blair Currie in fumbling a second-half corner at the feet of Annan top scorer Tommy Goss proved decisive in settling the flow of the match.
The Binos gaffer lamented his side’s mistakes, but declared himself proud of his team’s efforts in staying in the match after Clark’s dismissal.
Young said: “Every defeat is a sore one and hard to take, but especially since we put ourselves in the position of being down to ten men.
“I don’t think our player has actually caught the guy but at the same time, he goes in with the two feet and gives the referee a decision to make and it’s one of those where sometimes they go for you and sometimes they don’t.
“I thought we battled well and had the best chance of the game with Leitchy one on one with the keeper and he’s tried to hit it early and it’s ended up wide of the target.
“The first goal is just a poor one, Blair knows he’s made a mistake, he’s dropped the ball and the guy has tapped it in; it’s just a sore one because you work so hard with ten men and then that happens.
“Even at the end, we had two or three chances and we were pushing on, for ten men to have performed the way they have, we’re happy with that but disappointed with the result.”
The result means Albion slip five points behind in the title hunt, but Young believes his squad is ready to overcome the disappointment – as well as injury and suspension problems – to get back on the horse next week at home to East Fife.
“I can’t be too disappointed with the run we’ve been on, it’s been great to do that but that has now gone and we look to kickstart another run”, Young added.
“It’s just frustrating because you have opportunities to get back into the game and to take the lead but we don’t manage to take them and we get punished in the end.
“Thommo is suspended for a silly tackle last week where he gave the referee a decision to make, Scouse [Adam Cummins] is injured, Pabs [Paul McLean] is toiling and Ross Davidson went off at half time with illness but we’ve got a squad there and we’re more than capable of being able to stick together and kicking back on again.”
