IRN BRU SFL Second Division Weekend Round Up

Another chapter in Livingston’s history was concluded at the weekend as Gary Bollan’s side romped in to be crowned Champions of the Second Division by defeating Stenhousemuir 3-0, whilst, in name only, closest challengers, Brechin City were going down 3-1 at home to East Fife.

Two years after being demoted from the First Division to the Third at the hands of the SFL after financial irregularities the Lions are back in Scotland’s second top tier after successive Championship wins.

Gary Bollan’s side have racked up an impressive 46 wins from the 67 league matches they have played since being moved down two divisions, with their latest triumph coming thanks to goals from Keaghan Jacobs, Liam Fox and David Sinclair.

Jacobs diverted a Raffaele De Vita cross from the right past Chris McCluskey on 35 minutes and, with the excitement growing as Brechin fell two behind to East Fife, Fox headed in a second goal just before the hour mark.

The party was definitely starting when substitute Sinclair slotted home a Robbie Winters cut back in the dying seconds.

Bollan said afterwards, “I am very proud of the team as it was a very professional performance. We kept another clean sheet and scored three goals. It was great to come here and win the title by playing so well. The players both this season and the last one have been great to work with. It is them that deserve great credit as they go out and the win the games.”

The West Lothian boss added, “We are back where I thought we would be when I started but with two Championship successes behind us.”

For opponents Stenhousemuir they still have a fight on their hands to get away from ninth place and their manager David Irons said, “Congratulations to Livingston but now we have that out of the way we can concentrate on winning the games we need to win to escape the relegation Play-Offs.”

Brechin’s challenge wilted at Glebe Park as East Fife continued to flirt with advancing into a Play-Off place by winning 3-1. John Robertson’s side went in front with a long distance effort from Mark McCulloch in the first half and when a cross from McCulloch was deflected into his own net by Cook in the second the points were heading across to New Bayview.

Ewan Moyes headed in to threaten a City revival, however Ryan Wallace added a third before Brechin’s Craig Molloy received a late red card.

Robertson beamed, “We will keep going out and looking for wins and see where we end up. We can play as well as anyone in this Division but we sometimes come up short in terms of work rate and concentration.”

Glebe Park counterpart Jim Weir was not as impressed as he said, “It looks like the number of games we have had has caught up with us. Certain players looked tired and I am disappointed with the goals that we lost.”

Ayr United ended a disappointing run of results that included two defeats from Forfar, by defeating the Loons 3-1 at Somerset Park to keep hold of third place in the table. On-loan Partick Thistle youngster Stuart Bannigan capitalised on good work from Andy Rodgers to put the Somerset Park men ahead after 9 minutes and shortly afterwards Mark Roberts doubled the lead with a low shot.

Forfar looked to get back into things and Michael Bolochoweckyj headed in a Martyn Fotheringham corner to cut the deficit with 15 minutes left, however Bannigan netted from an acute angle to restore Ayr’s two goal lead.

Victorious boss Brian Reid said, “We felt that we owed Forfar that result. We have been playing well but not getting the results we deserved. That win has put that right a bit.”

Stand-in Station Park boss Ian Campbell said, “We defended poorly and goals away on a plate. When we started to play we did okay and I am sure we will bounce back from this.”

Alloa defeated the ten men of Airdrie United 1-0 at Recreation Park on Saturday to boost their hopes of avoiding being involved in the relegation play-offs after a disappointing run of form.

Michael McGowan’s early goal set up a third triumph of the season over the Lanarkshire side and only the Wasps’ second win in 15 games, with their last three point haul coming against Airdrie back in February.

Wasps’ assistant manager James Ward said, “We asked the players to show the club and supporters why we brought them here. We asked them to show pride as this club belongs in the Second Division at least. We needed a performance from them and we got one.”

“It is all about points and survival now and not the league title as we thought we would be challenging for. We will take the win and move on delighted.”

Airdrie had travelled to Clackmannanshire on the back of a five game winning run and hoping to move into a play-off place, however after going a goal down they lost full back Grant Smith to a red card just before half time when he got overly involved with the home sides David McClune in an off the ball incident.

Diamonds boss Jimmy Boyle said, “Alloa stopped us playing and overall it was a disappointing day for us. We did not play well and it was a hard way for our good run to end.”

Dumbarton pushed Peterhead further through the relegation trap door when they defeated them 5-2 at Strathclyde Homes Stadium with the Sons having 5 different players netting goals.

Jon McShane turned his marker to shoot home the first goal after 28 minutes and Pat Walker made it two before half time when Paul Jarvie let a McShane shot slip through his hands.

Blue Toon substitute Dennis Wyness pulled a goal back at the start of the second half, however a free kick from Jordan Halsman and a Mark Gilhaney penalty made it 4-1 before Davie Ross pulled a goal back.

Craig McLeish restored Dumbarton’s 3 goal advantage with a fifth goal 8 minutes from time to leave manager Alan Adamson saying, “We have thrown away two goal leads recently and I had a few concerns when they pulled it back to 2-1. Thankfully the boys saw out the game in very positive fashion.”

Visiting manager John Sheran lamented, “We made it way too easy for Dumbarton but we will continue fighting relegation.”