Match Report

LATE GOAL SECURES PRECIOUS POINT AS ANNAN CONCEED YET ANOTHER PENALTY

Annan Athletic – S Davidson 86 min, – Albion Rovers – D Crawford 49 min .

Annan Athletic retained their unbeaten run courtesy of a superb late strike by substitute Scott Davidson which cancelled out Albion Rovers 48th minute penalty scored by David Crawford,it was a match which failed to live up to the top of the table billing

The first half produced few if any moments of real inspiration to get the fans off their seats and both teams defended well to minimise the scoring opportunities. Chances were few and far between and neither keeper was forced into producing any saves of distinction. Annan created the first opportunity in the 18th minute when Hopkirk connected with a Bradley cross but the effort went past the post. Minutes later Ally Love carved open a real chance when he won his way to the bye line finishing with a low cross across the face of the goal but unfortunately for Annan there was nobody there to provide the finishing touch to the inviting cross. Albion Rovers carved open a clear cut opportunity in the 27th minute when Phillips exposed the Annan defence with a ball into the path of Liam Cusack who had drifted beyond his markers to finish with a lob which Kenny Arthur could only watch with relief as the ball landed on the roof of the net. Iain Chisholm was presented with a good opportunity in the in 30th minute when Kenny Mackay laid the ball into his path but his shot from a promising position failed to hit the target and a scoring opportunity was squandered. Stephen Black was forced to concede a free kick in the 37th minute which earned him the first yellow of the afternoon. As the game edged towards half time Albion were unlucky when David Crawford’s pin point cross found Mark McGuigan but the shot went narrowly past.

Albion were presented with a real opportunity at the start of the second half when Annan conceded a needless penalty kick and the incident lead to a moment of controversy when Peter Weatherson was booked for a foul on Mark McGuigan when it appeared that Stephen Black has conceded the spot kick by pulling the jersey of McGuigan. David Crawford took the penalty and sent Kenny Arthur the wrong way to give Albion the lead. Black who had been booked previously was replaced almost immediately by Keiran Brannan in the first of three substitutes that manager Jim Chapman made in an effort to turn the match around. The introduction of Scott Davidson in the 68th minute proved to be a key decision by Chapman as Davidson apart from scoring the late equaliser gave Annan a much needed injection up front. Annan had efforts from Hopkirk and MacKay on target but Albion came very close to adding to their one goal advantage in the 70th minute when Mark McGuigans header from David Crawford’s cross struck the top of the cross bar. Kenny Arthur then tipped over a well struck shot from David Crawford but it was Annan who had the final say when Peter Weatherson and Matty Flynn combined to set up substitute Scott Davidson who finished a direct run with a superb unstoppable low shot into the keepers right hand side. Annan almost snatched the winner at the death when David Hopkirk’s near post cross found Kenny MacKay but keeper Neil Parry made an important save low down to direct the effort round the post.

Annan Athletic – K Arthur, I Chisholm, P Bradley (J Moffat 86 min), S Black (K Brannon 48 min), P Watson, S Sloan, K MacKay , M Flynn , P Weatherson, D Hopkirk , A Love (S Davidson 68 min) . Substitutes not used S Swinglehurst, G Anderson, K McCrudden and A Mitchell.

Albion Rovers – N Parry, A Reid, R Dunlop, P Innes, C Donnelly, M Dunlop, D Crawford, L Cusack, M McGuigan, P Walker ( S Chaplain 75 min), G Phillips. Substitutes not used R Tiffney, D Millar, C Dallas, M McGinley, J Flood, M McGuire.

Crowd 492

Referee G Duncan Assistants B Templeton and M Denne.