10 best Scottish lower league players this week

November 19, 2015

moffat goal

1. John Baird (Falkirk)

“THE BAIRD, THE BAIRD, THE BAIRD IS ON FIRE.” isn’t a song that Falkirk fans sing, and little wonder seeing as a) we’ve just made it up and b) it’s pretty lame. However, if the Falkirk fans decided to give it a bash some Saturday they’d be well within their rights, as their on-fire front-man is currently enjoying the purplest of patches, with his three goals against Alloa his second hat-trick in just four games. Alloa boss Danny Lennon labelled his side’s performance as it’s worst of the season, a bold statement considering they’re absolutely honking most Saturday’s. The win lifted Falkirk to just a point behind Hibernian, and while the presence of both they and Rangers might mean Falkirk’s season stays at good, rather than great, John Baird looks on for his best personal season to date.

2. David Gormley (Clyde)

Fair play to Barry Ferguson. With his Clyde team starting to show signs of revitalisation, perhaps we should stop thinking of the gaffer as someone whose sole contribution to football is his excellent Daily Record column which features some smokin’ hot takes on Glasgow Rangers Football Club. Saturday’s 4-2 win over Elgin City was undoubtedly the Bully Wee’s finest display of the season. Indeed, so impressive was the victory it was difficult to single out anyone in particular, but while Scott Ferguson and Jon Paul Mcgovern put in fine shifts, it was David Gormley, with his finest performance in a white shirt to date, who gets the nod. Two assists and a goal is a fine return from a player who at times has struggled since leaving Auchinleck Talbot, and he deserves a special mention for his final assist, which saw him run a distance that would have left even Forrest Gump puggled out.

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3. Denny Johnstone (Morton)

Can anyone stop Duffy’s Dreadnoughts? That’s the discussion amongst the picturesque Greenock coffee-shops and bistros as Morton made it four wins on the trot with a one-sided 2-0 win over the Dumfries Disappointments. Denny Johnston was the man supplying the goals, and while his all-action, rambunctious brand of play has won admirers since joining on-loan from Birmingham City, his end product has, until recently, been called into question. However, with Saturday’s brace making it five goals in four matches, Johnstone may just be the man who can nudge Morton from mid-table irrelevancies to play-off contenders.

4. Jamie Adams (Ayr United)

These are heady days for Ayr United. Saturday’s 1-0 win over Albion Rovers made it 13 league games unbeaten as they remain a point clear at the top-of-the-table, sticking it to everyone’s least favourite League One club Dunfermline Athletic in the process. At the heart of that run has been Jamie Adams, who, when he isn’t busy trolling Stranraer fans, is assuming the thumping heart-beat of the Honest Men. Once more on Saturday, he was involved in most things; breaking up play, keeping possession, breaking forward when possible and winning more than his fair share of things in the air. Traits that were invaluable as the performance of the side overall on Saturday rarely rose above mediocre in a match where Albion Rovers could count themselves a trifle unfortunate. League One’s big two face off twice in the next few weeks. It should be a pair of fascinating contests.

5. Pat Slattery (East Fife)

With 11 goals already to his name this season, Nathan Austin has predominantly hogged the headlines when it comes to East Fife this term. However, it was a player whose indomitable hard-work can often be under-appreciated in Pat Slattery who was the Fife’s top performer on Saturday. The wide man was already having a fine match, before restoring the Fife’s lead after Reece Donaldson had briefly made the score-line 3-3 with 25 minutes remaining. If East Stirling manager, Craig Tully though he was having a bad weekend, that was nothing compared to the East Fife highlight producer, who had to whittle down 90-plus minutes of balls-out drama into seven minutes.

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6. Jamie Sneddon (Cowdenbeath)

There were some astonishing scenes at Central Park  when the press throng arrived to discover they’d no seats in the press box. Nae luck. On the park, however, the Nish renaissance continues to gather pace, with their latest 3-0 gazzumping of Brechin making it four games unbeaten and three consecutive clean sheets. Part of Cowden’s problem in the early stages of the season was a propensity for conceding soft goals, with Michael Andrews rounded on from all quarters for his risible performances. His release forced Nish’s hand into blooding Jamie Sneddon, who only turned 18 in September. He may have been used out of necessity, but other than the occasional wobble, Sneddon has proved an excellent custodian, and his close-range reaction stop  with the score at 1-0 helped Cowden take all three points. With League One starting to concertina up, Cowden should perhaps start to aim higher.

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7. Steven Doris (Stirling Albion)

After a miserable start to the season saw the Binos slumming it in ninth place in League Two as recently as the end of October, Stuart McLaren’s men suddenly look at their rootin’-tootin’-shootin’ best, with Saturday’s 3-1 win over Arbroath extending their record to five games unbeaten. Not for the first time in the campaign, it was Steven Doris who provided the inspiration, and, once more, it had to come after going a man down after goalkeeper Chris Smith was dismissed with half-an-hour remaining. Doris struck the match winning third goal from the penalty-spot to make it 3-1 with less than ten minutes remaining, but that was after he’d laid both of Albion’s prior goals on a plate for Willie Robertson and Ross Smith. Not only did Doris’ influence have a huge bearing on the location of the three points, it also inspired the Stirling fans to indulge in the world’s smallest Poznan dance.

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8. Michael Moffat (Dunfermline Athletic)

Dunfermline’s early season magnificence was pretty much based on blowing everyone to kingdom-come, but while the goals have slowed to a trickle, their challenge is still being sustained due to a quite phenomenal defensive performance. Saturday’s 2-0 win over Airdrieonians was their eighth clean-sheet in ten league games, and their sixth in succession. Shaun Byrne grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck when he replaced the ineffectual Rhys McCabe, but it was Michael Moffat, a forward who looks rejuvenated under Alan Johnston, who looked the game’s most intelligent performer. With games now being eked-out rather than won at a canter, his predatory instincts are now even more important, and his third minute header summed him up. Smart but ungainly, the finish was part diving header, part belly flop. They all count though.

9. Kieran Millar (Stenhousemuir)

Brown Ferguson’s Stenhousemuir are starting to make something of a habit of this comeback malarkey. Saturday’s come-from-behind 2-2 draw with Forfar may not have been quite as eye-popping as their incredible 4-3 triumph over Peterhead a fortnight ago, but to play for over 60 minutes with just ten men, go two goals down and still finish with a point, shows an astonishing level of resolve and derring-do. Stephen Stirling was withdrawn after half-an-hour to make way for substitute goalkeeper Sean Robertson after Jamie Barclay’s dismissal, but this effectively left Kieran Millar home-alone in the centre of the park. However, like Kevin McAllister taking on the Wet Bandits, he was undeterred, bold and ultimately triumphant, as he tied up the Forfar midfield with a bravura performance. Two late goals to restore parity was the least Stenny deserved. If only they could start games with the same vim and vigour that they generally end them with.

10. Nathan Shepherd (East Stirlingshire)

We’re going to go out on a limb here and say the following sentence has literally never been written before. East Fife and East Sirlingshire had everything. Eight goals, three red-cards and more drama and intrigue than every singe Famous Five book – even Five Run Away Together, when the quintet of teenage super-sleuths scrammed from that horrible Mrs Stick to Kirrin Island. It isn’t often that a top-ten performance could come from a defender whose team has conceded five goals, but left-back Nathan Shepherd manages just that this week, due to a display which saw him popping up everywhere. A particularly useful asset when everyone else in your team is being sent-off. His exceptional dead-ball delivery almost saw him score straight from a corner-kick in the first-period, but he did provide an assist for Shire’s third effort, which briefly restored parity before the roof caved in late in the game as East Fife eventually emerged with a 5-3 win.

 

Written by Shaughan McGuigan (@ShaughanM)


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