RARELY does finishing second bottom of the league lead to mass celebration and players being carried off the pitch shoulder high, but that was the scene at Firs Park on Saturday. Playing their final match at the ground, East Stirling ended a five-year run of finishing as the worst league club in Scotland with a 3-1 win over Montrose.
That result, combined with Forfar's 1-1 draw with Dumbarton, moved them off the foot of the Third Division and preserved their full membership status in the SFL.
The day got off the an inauspicious start when Dave King sliced the ball over his own
goalkeeper, Gary O'Connor, to put Montrose ahead. But Andy Rodgers, formally of Montrose, equalised for Shire 20 minutes into the second half before substitute Joe Savage and Michael Bolochoweckyj ensured Firs Park had something to celebrate. They will lodge with Stenhousemuir next season.
Manager Jim McInally said: "At Easter we were seven points behind but you can see how much it meant to people."
Forfar, who had Michele Lombardi sent off for elbowing Craig Brittain, fell behind to Chris Hamilton's goal before John Ovenstone equalised and Chris Geddes missed a late chance that would have sealed ninth place.
Arbroath and Stranraer both kept their powder try for the play-offs with a goalless draw, while Elgin's season ended in a disappointing 5-1 defeat at home to Stenhousemuir, Robert Love claiming a hat-trick. Champions East Fife required late goals from Bobby Linn and Kevin Fotheringham to secure a 2-2 draw with Albion Rovers, whose goals came from John Gemmell and Robert Barr.
The full article contains 280 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
