Gary Naysmith 'won't let his Stenhousemuir side get carried away' after another win sees Warriors top League 2 table

Stenhousemuir are one point ahead at the top of the League 2 table after a 1-0 victory away to Bonnyrigg Rose on Saturday afternoon (Pictures by Joe Gilhooley LRPS)

The Warriors edged out Bonnyrigg Rose 1-0 in Midlothian thanks to a second half Edin Lynch header – with that result seeing the Ochilview side move onto 14 points from their opening seven outings, having only lost once on league duty so far.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Naysmith told the Falkirk Herald. “Since the tail end of last year they have turned a real corner and Robbie (Horn) has done a great job. Going into the match, their record was actually even better than I thought. They had only lost three of their last 17 league games.

“They have started this season well and we always knew it would be difficult – we’ve faced them three times under my management and won 1-0 twice and drawn 0-0. It was a typical match between us in that sense.

“We found another way to win the game. It wasn't like our other performances so far this season, but we still got the correct result. We churned it out and did the hard yards.”

Saturday’s shutout victory was also the Warriors’ sixth clean sheet in seven league outings, with the side now having played over 270 minutes without conceding a League 2 goal.

Former Scotland defender Naysmith reckons the key to the defensive excellence so far has been down to the whole team working hard for each other.

He said: “You don’t want to put the kiss of death on it by talking about it. The biggest thing is that everyone is chipping in to make it happen. The front players start the defensive side of the game by working hard and closing the opposition down is important.

Stenhousemuir's captain, Gregor Buchanan, in action against Bonnyrigg Rose (Pictures by Joe Gilhooley LRPS)

“At the back and in the middle of the park we are solid and our goalkeeper is excellent. Clean sheets breed confidence. Long may it continue and it is great to have a group who take such pride in not conceding.”

Stenhousemuir now host bottom club Clyde this weekend at Ochilview (Saturday, 3pm kick-off) as they look to extend their lead at the top.

The Bully Wee have only won once in their seven outings so far, but that did come last time out, with Brian McLean’s men picking up a huge three points against fellow strugglers Elgin City.

Ahead of the match, boss Naysmith said: “They played well and deserved to win (against Elgin City last time out) and they have added two or three signings over the past few weeks. We need to give the respect that we would give to any other team.

“We need to be wary of where they can hurt us but on the other hand we need to hurt them. It is a home game and we want to build on the win a couple of weeks ago which was a great day.”

Meanwhile, Stenhousemuir Women secured their place in the third round of the SWF Championship and League One Cup after defeating Queen of the South 2-1 at Ochilview.

An early own-goal and a stunning strike from Erinn Maguire was enough to send the Warriors through. On Sunday, the side travel to Murieston in the first round of the Scottish Cup.