Stirling Albion boss Darren Young hailed his side for hitting back from the loss of an early goal to get the better of Annan in difficult conditions of wind and rain at Galabank last Saturday.
Tommy Goss headed Peter Murphy’s men in front after just three minutes but second-half goals from Adam Cummins and Danny Denholm earned the visitors a deserved win.
Young said: “Taking away the first couple of minutes, I thought it was an outstanding performance from start to finish.
“The reaction to going a goal down was brilliant – the conditions were tough but I think we had about 18 or 19 shots and it was the same the last time we were down here.
“I think their goalkeeper was man of the match and we created loads of chances. We spoke at half-time about staying composed and we got our reward in the second half .
“We brought a couple of subs on and I think it shows the strength of the squad when Josh Cooper and Danny Denholm combined for the winning goal.”
Meanwhile, Stirling Albion are in action tonight (Wednesday) when they take on Brechin City in the second round of the SPFL Trust Trophy at Glebe Park.
Darren Young’s side are aiming to book a place in the third round on the weekend of September 24/25 when the four cross-border clubs – Linfield, Cliftonville, The New Saints and Caernarfon Town –enter the competition.
The Binos head north following back-to-back league wins over Stenhousemuir and Annan Athletic and with a trip to SPFL newcomers Bonnyrigg Rose to come at the weekend.
Young is likely to make changes for the match against Andy Kirk’s side to give valuable game-time to some of the squad but ex-East Fife midfielder Ross Davidson again misses out.
It will be Stirling’s first visit to Glebe Park since they won 5-0 in November 2020 but that was during the time when no fans were allowed to attend due to the Covid restrictions.
Brechin are going well in the Highland League and have won five games out of five so far. They defeated title rivals Buckie Thistle 1-0 on Saturday and are second in the table, behind early leaders Brora Rangers on goal difference.
If the game ends in a draw it will be straight to penalties, with no extra time played in the early rounds of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Albion were knocked out of last season’s tournament by Montrose when a much-changed side were unlucky to lose 1-0 at Links Park. Their best run is the semi-finals, which they reached in 1995/96 and 1999/00 but they were beaten by Stenhousemuir then Alloa Athletic.
