Stirling Albion manager Darren Young was left to bemoan a nightmare start as his side went down 2-0 at Dumbarton in their cinch League Two opener on Saturday.
A double from ex-Bino Declan Byrne inside the opening five minutes earned Stevie Farrell’s side all three points as the Sons gained revenge for a 2-1 defeat in the Premier Sports Cup group stages.
Left-back Cammy Clark was sent off for a reckless challenge on Aron Lynas with 18 minutes left and the summer signing from Annan Athletic will now miss the home double-header against Elgin City this weekend and Stenhousemuir the following week.
It was also an opening day to forget for Elgin, who went down 3-1 at home to East Fife but Gavin Price’s men have a superb recent record at Forthbank. The Black and Whites have won on each of their last four visits, the latest of which was a 2-0 success in April.
Binos boss Young will have to make at least one change following the defeat at Dumbarton and one option would be to move Adam Cummins to left-back and restore Ross McGeachie to the starting lineup after he was left on the bench at the weekend.
Aside from a heavy defeat to Aberdeen, Stirling had looked defensively sound in the Premier Sports Cup but were undone by Byrne’s double – the first of which came in the opening minute.
The 26-year-old spent season 2020/21 at Forthbank, scoring four times in 21 league appearances, either side of two spells with Albion Rovers.
Young will hope his team can get back on track against an Elgin side who suffered a disappointing Premier Sports Cup campaign as they finished bottom of Group F.
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Reflecting on Saturday, Young said: “We gifted Dumbarton two goals in four minutes. We talked about trying to get in behind them and not get caught on the ball but that’s what happened. Within a couple of minutes we are 2-0 down and that gives them a great opportunity to sit in and defend.
“I think they only had one other chance after that and most of the second half was played in their half, even after we went down to 10 men. We know we can play a lot better and the standard was nowhere near what we have set, although we did have chances but we didn’t take them.
“Just at the point where we were looking like we might get a goal, we get a stupid sending off but I’ve no complaints about the red card decision. I thought the subs did well when they came on.”
