Stirling Albion boss Darren Young believes his side face ‘nine cup finals’ to secure League Two glory after hitting the front on Tuesday night.
The second game of a busy week for the Binos saw them take advantage of their remaining game in hand to see off Forfar Athletic 2-0 at Forthbank and move two points clear of long-time leaders Dumbarton ahead of the Sons’ visit to Stirling on Saturday.
It was an excellent response from the hosts to a lacklustre display last time out in Stranraer - with Stirling in full control of the match well before a quick double from Ross McGeachie and Dale Carrick sealed the points.
It sets up a mammoth clash at Forthbank at the weekend, with the hosts on a 12 match unbeaten run, while the visitors are licking their wounds from a 5-1 home mauling by Albion Rovers.
Young said: “The first half we were the better team and had two or three chances that might have went in on another day; we probably looked a little nervous in the final third which is to be expected with the situation.
“We spoke about being patient at half-time and getting the ball down and passing it and we caused them problems when we started to do that.
“We know that everyone will play their part and we saw with the five subs coming on and doing brilliantly; two assists from Josh [Cooper] which shows the quality he has in his locker and he’s had to be patient this season.
“It’s brilliant for Dale to reach 20 goals for the season as well with the second but overall, from our point of view, the fans, the board, it’s a great feeling [to go top] but we’re not going to get carried away, there are nine cup finals to go.
“We’ve got 19 points for this quarter now, we got 17 in the first quarter and 19 in the second, we asked the players if they could better that.
“We’re into the last nine games now and we’re in a good position and Saturday is a big game against Dumbarton so we’ll focus on that one now.”
Supersub Cooper came on to the pitch with the Binos becoming increasingly desperate to notch the opener after a controlled match and swung the game with two assists, including an excellent corner delivery for McGeachie’s header.
The 20-year-old winger said: “I’m just trying to make an impact when I come on and make sure I get good balls into the box.”
