Stenhousemuir 1 Albion Rovers 0: Warriors chest delighted

The former Falkirk forward knocked in a 20th minute effort from David Hopkirk at close range after the right winger had taken Greig Spence’s pass and rounded Rovers’ keeper Ryan Goodfellow.

The win extends Stenhousemuir’s upturn in fortunes which has seen the Warriors lose just twice since the turn of the year.

They almost got off to the perfect start within seconds of kick-off when Robert Wilson flicked a corner onto the underside of the crossbar and though the hosts claimed the bounce of the ball was over the line before Goodfellow gathered, ref Chris Graham didn’t give the goal.

Immediately Rovers attacked and Ousman See forced Graeme Smith into a save, pushing a high shot ove rthe crossbar from the edge of the box.

It was one of a number of key saves from the Stenhousemuir goalkeeper in the afternoon that moved the Warriors into seventh and top of the bottom group of teams in the bottom league.

Rovers are down there with them though and their issues intensified with the defeat and Kevin Harper raged about the refereeing performance.

Biabi’s chested goal wasn’t the most conventional of finishes but summed up the conditions. Shortly afterwards a hacked corner from Hopkirk was similar and blasted over after skidding to Ryan Blair on the edge of the box.

Again though Graeme Smith pulled off a point-blank stop to deny Will Graham’s header after Ryan Scally’s cross to keep the home side ahead before the break.

Afterwards he had to seize an early Ousman See backheel at close range in the second half and then beat away a Scally drive after a driving midfield run from Scott Roberts.

The Warriors continued to press but couldn’t find the crucial second, and didn’t come close to breaking down a stodgy Rovers defence in the second half and Davie Irons evenually switched to a 4-5-1 with his substitutions to see out the game and take a valuable win.