cinch Championship – Ayr United v Queen’s Park (Friday 21st April)
The BBC Scotland cameras are off to Ayrshire this evening for a mouth-watering clash between two sides vying for promotion to Scotland’s top flight.
Having led the division at one stage of the season, Ayr United now find themselves in 5th place, just outside the play-off spots. Lee Bullen’s side are without a win in their last three league outings, with a pair of draws following their disappointing 2-0 loss away to Arbroath in their last Friday fixture. Star striker Dipo Akinyemi bagged his 20th league goal of the campaign at Firhill last weekend, and he will be leaned on heavily in the next 3 weeks if Ayr are to reignite their early-season form and force their way back into the play-offs.
Queen’s Park are another side whose form had taken a downturn of late. Having sat atop the cinch Championship pile since the end of 2022, the Spiders conceded their position to in-form Dundee after a run of three consecutive defeats from late March into early April. However, Owen Coyle’s side showed a great deal of resilience and fight in last Friday’s 1-0 win over Hamilton Accies at Ochilview. Grant Savoury’s fine second-half strike proved enough to pick up 3 huge points and put the pressure back on Dundee, who dropped points via a thrilling 3-3 draw with Morton at Dens. A win this evening would see Queen’s head back to the top of the table before Dundee’s tricky trip north to Inverness tomorrow.
The previous meetings this season have gone in favour of the Honest Men. Ayr have defeated this evening’s opponents twice already, once on home soil and once at Ochilview, with Queen’s Park gaining the upper hand in the third meeting. The last clash at Somerset Park saw Ayr put in arguably their best performance of the season. Lee Bullen’s side scored five without reply, with hotshot forward Akinyemi bagging himself a treble. This evening’s meeting is easily the biggest of the lot, with Ayr desperate to climb back into the top four, while Queen’s Park look to lead the division once more.
Be sure to tune into BBC Scotland tonight, ko 7.45pm, for what is sure to be a corker!
cinch League 1 – Peterhead v Clyde (Saturday 22nd April)
Bottom-of-the-table clashes don’t come much bigger than this. Balmoor is the venue for a game which could see the home side either relegated or given a fighting chance with just a handful of games remaining.
To say that this season has been difficult for the Blue Toon would be an understatement. After 11 years in charge, manager Jim McInally stepped down in late 2022 with the club rooted to the foot of the table. Replacement David Robertson lasted just 4 months in the hot seat after struggling to turn things around, with experienced players Jordon Brown and Strachan taking caretaker charge until the end of the season. Recent weeks have saw Peterhead put in some commendable battling performances, namely picking up their first win since January with a 1-0 victory over Edinburgh a fortnight ago. However, the Blue Toon still find themselves 5 points adrift at the bottom with 3 games to go. A win tomorrow is a must if Peterhead are to have any chance of avoiding the drop.
Clyde are another side who has struggled massively this season. Their long-term manager Danny Lennon departed in the autumn, with experienced boss Jim Duffy taking over the helm. The Bully Wee were dealt another blow in January when top scorer Jordan Allan left for a return to full-time football with Falkirk. Under Duffy’s stewardship, Clyde have managed to pick up enough points to create a 5-point buffer between themselves and Peterhead. A win at Balmoor would be enough to ensure Clyde avoid an automatic relegation to cinch League 2, but they will be consigned to the dreaded play-off spot, with 8th placed Kelty Hearts too far ahead to catch.
The tale of the tape reads one win apiece and one draw when looking back at the season’s previous meetings. Clyde defeated tomorrow’s opponents 1-0 in Hamilton back in February, with Cameron Salkeld’s late goal wrapping up the points. Whereas Peterhead picked up a victory by the same scoreline the last time Clyde travelled north to Balmoor back in January. Kieran Shanks was the hero on that day and the on-loan Arbroath man has been one of Peterhead’s few standout performers this term, finding the net on 3 occasions, including a late consolation goal away to Montrose last weekend. Nothing less than a win will suffice for Peterhead this weekend, with a defeat consigning the Blue Toon to a return to the fourth tier for the first time since 2018/19.
cinch League 2 – Stirling Albion v Annan Athletic (Saturday 22nd April)
Stirling Albion all but secured the cinch League 2 title with a 0-0 draw at closest challengers Dumbarton on Tuesday. That result left Darren Young's men nine points clear with three matches to go and 19 goals better off in terms of goal difference. A draw at home to Annan tomorrow - or Dumbarton failing to beat East Fife - would see the Binos crowned champions for the first time since they pipped Alloa to the Second Division trophy on the final day of 2009/10. The Forthbank club's last promotion was via the play-offs at East Fife in 2013/14 and, until this season, they had only made the top four once since being relegated from League 1 in 2014/15.
Stirling are unbeaten since losing at Stranraer on December 3 - one of only two league defeats since August. The other was against tomorrow's opponents Annan in November. Dale Carrick's 19 league goals (25 in all competitions) have been vital but it's been a real team effort in a season which could hardly have had a worse start - two goals down to Dumbarton in the opening five minutes of the first game. Carrick, keeper Blair Currie, skipper Paul McLean and striker Robert Thomson have all started 30 or more games, with Ross McGeachie - in his testimonial year - just behind.
Annan Athletic have yet to win promotion since joining the League in 2008 but might feel this could be their year, 12 months after losing out to FC Edinburgh in the play-offs. Peter Murphy's men struggled in the early part of the campaign but have been impressive from November onwards and have won their last three matches to go third in the table, five points clear of fifth-placed Forfar Athletic.
The Galabankies are the only side to have beaten the Binos at Forthbank this term and possess attacking threat in abundance - not least through striker Tommy Goss, who tops the cinch League 2 scoring charts with 22 league goals. Winger Chris Johnston leads the assist chart on 15, jointly with Matty Yates of Stenhousemuir, while Aidan Smith grabbed a double in last week's 4-0 thrashing of bottom club Albion Rovers.
The last meeting of the sides at Galabank in February was a thriller as Albion hit back for a 2-2 draw with stunning goals from Ross McGeachie and Kieran Moore despite having keeper Blair Currie sent off in the first half. Another draw this time would get Stirling over the line and take Annan closer to securing a play-off spot.
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