Annan defeat was harsh says Stenhousemuir boss Ferguson

Stenhousemuir boss Brown Ferguson says his side deserved more out of last week's match at Annan.
Mark McGuigan and Stenhousemuir were left frustrated by the Warriors' defeat at AnnanMark McGuigan and Stenhousemuir were left frustrated by the Warriors' defeat at Annan
Mark McGuigan and Stenhousemuir were left frustrated by the Warriors' defeat at Annan

Two late goals handed the home side a 2-0 win - but the Warriors boss feels the final result was harsh on his side.

He said: “We didn’t deserve to lose the game. Over the piece I felt we were the better of the two teams and created the better chances, albeit we never got into full flow ourselves.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The result was a bit harsh on the players. It was a disappointing result but there are going to be these types of days throughout the course of the season.

“But the performance was better than the week before against Edinburgh. In terms of the way the game was going it was going to be about that first goal and unfortunately it fell to them.

“In terms of control of the ball we got the full-backs on the ball on a number of occasions, which was the game plan, and got the ball into the attacking third, creating one v ones.

“The disappointment was that from those situations we never created enough opportunities.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“From the chances we did create we’ve hit the bar and had two blocked in the six-yard box and the keeper’s pulled off two excellent saves. We should have had a penalty as well and we had a couple of efforts from the edge of the box which were just pulled past the post.

“There were pleasing parts but ultimately the disappointment was the result.”

It looked as if neither side would produce the sparkle to win the match, but Annan grabbed the points with two goals in the last six minutes by substitutes Scott Roberts and Conor O’Keefe.

The visitors started promisingly and Annan were rarely seen as an attacking force in the first half.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mark McGuigan had a free-kick deflected for a corner kick and this was followed by a Mark Ferry effort as the visitors went all out to break the deadlock.

As the game approached half-time Harry Paton sent a low raking shot which went narrowly past.

Stenhousemuir were first on the attack in the second half when Eddie Ferns’ effort was blocked, followed at the other end by an excellent save from Lewis McMinn who denied Aiden Smith.

Annan’s Alex Mitchell pulled off a stunning save when he somehow tipped Nikki Paterson’s net bound shot on to the underside of the bar and then pulled off a point blank stop to deny Mark McGuigan.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Stenny striker had another effort kept out and it was Annan who made the breakthrough in the 84th minute when Rabin Omar picked out Roberts who chested the crossball down and fired low into the corner.

Paton shot just wide as Stenny tried to respond but Annan had the final say on 90 minutes when Blair Henderson set up O’Keefe whose spectacular shot from 22 yards ripped into the top corner.