Stenhousemuir boss Gary Naysmith hails heroes after securing Scottish Championship play-off spot

Emotional Stenhousemuir gaffer Gary Naysmith hailed his side’s resolve after they secured a promotion play-off spot on the final day of the Scottish League One campaign.

The Warriors won 2-1 against Dumbarton at Ochilview on Saturday thanks to goals in each half from Matty Aitken and Blair Alston. And the three points allowed them to leapfrog Alloa Athletic after Andy Graham’s team lost out at Kelty Hearts. Having managed a fourth-placed finish as a newly-promoted part-time side - former Scotland full-back Naysmith was unsurprisingly full of praise for his players.

“After the game today, I had to cut my chat a little short because I could feel myself getting a little emotional,” he said. “They are a terrific group and sometimes I give them a hard time but it is only because I know what they are capable of doing. We have such high standards. You have to recognise what we have done going up a league - as a part-time team, to go out against full-time teams, and managed to secure a play-off spot. We’ve shown we are the second-best part-time team in Scotland.”

Aitken’s early effort had the hosts in command but they were pegged back after 53 minutes when Matthew Shields was afforded space to score after a corner kick. Stenhousemuir swiftly got themselves back in front seven minutes later when Alston expertly volleyed home. The Warriors went down to ten men for the final five minutes after Kinlay Bilham was sent off but they managed to see out the result.

Warriors’ fighting spirit hailed by Gary Naysmith

“It is an incredible feeling,” Naysmith said. “All the credit goes to the players - they started the game on the front-foot and played some really nice stuff considering it was a high-pressure game. We deservedly went in front and the only disappointment was that we didn’t managed to get that second goal. The goal that we lost came from a corner which is unlike us. You do probably feel a little worried at that point but I think the fact that we had to win the match helped us at that time.

“The players didn’t panic and that was something we actually spoke about beforehand, we weren’t going to win the match in the opening stages. If we needed a draw we may not have gambled and got caught in the middle. Credit goes to Blair Alston for his finish for the winner too. We ended off playing a 4-1-3-1 when Kinlay (Bilham) was sent off with them breaking on us. Bobby (McLuckie) is a winger, Scott Tomlinson is a winger and Matty Aitken is our striker and the three of them ended off in the middle three. But the lads dug in and managed to get the result.”

On finishing fourth, Naysmith added: “The league table doesn’t lie. We have been the fourth-best team. We have stumbled in recent weeks, there is no getting away from that. The real turning point was after the Arbroath game (4-0 loss). We dug in and got a point against Inverness. We were then miles better against Queen of the South and we should have taken something from the match. I actually told the players during the week that I felt if we won this weekend then we would have been in the play-offs.”