Stirling Albion boss Darren Young admitted he was delighted with his troops for scrapping for a crucial point in Methil at the weekend.
The Binos had taken the lead via Greig Spence’s second-half deflected free kick, but were soon having to fight after Cammy Clark was sent off for a second yellow card — his third red card of the season.
Jack Healy curled in a fine finish shortly afterwards, with the Albion players having to show their fight against an onslaught from the home side and the elements in the closing stages of the game.
But they held on for what could prove to be a massive point in their League Two promotion bid — especially after leaders Dumbarton conceded a last-gasp leveller against Stenhousemuir.
Albion were already weakened by the return of Kai Fotheringham to parent club Dundee United in the lead-up to the game following a successful loan spell at Forthbank and the team sheet revealed a further blow, with talismanic striker Dale Carrick missing out due to an injury picked up in Thursday’s training session.
They had chances to get themselves further in front before the pivotal ordering off – with Young full of praise for the Fifers’ goalscorer and his own defenders.
Young said: “I don’t think the conditions helped us in terms of it being quite windy again, it was a scrappy game.
“We had two or three really good chances in the first half and they had one with Jack [Healy] where actually the goal he scores is miles harder than that one to be honest.
“We got a bit of luck with the deflection on the free kick and there was another one of those with Josh [Cooper] in the first half where it looked like it was going in and just went wide.
“I thought we defended so well to a man from the front all the way back to get the point, we had to dig in, get the subs on and guys were putting in an absolute shift. By the end of the season, it could be a very good point, especially with Dumbarton losing a late goal.
“We’re delighted to get the point, especially in the circumstances and the way the game came about.
“The defence was brilliant and they defended the box brilliantly, it’s taken a wonder strike from Jack to score and we know his ability as a young boy coming through here; you can always get a goal out of nothing when you’ve got someone like that in your team.”
The travelling support was left incensed by the red card decision over claims of mistaken identity – with another Terrors loanee, Flynn Duffy, ready to step in to Clark’s shoes as he serves another suspension.
Young added: “The boys were saying that it might have been Pabs [Paul McLean] who made the tackle, he’s sandwiched between two players and goes down but I’ve not seen it back to see whether it was or not.
“Flynn did really well and stuck to his task, that’s Cammy off again and that could be five or six games for him now so Flynn will get his opportunity and so that will be a great chance to show what he’s made of.”
