Match Report - By Keith Johnston

Obviously the past week was a big one for the club for off-field reasons and the players were doubtless looking forward to today’s game and the chance to prove that they can still be a success, even without Chris Templeman. Charlie King came in for Sanny and of course Craig Nelson was able to make his cup debut for the club having joined on a permanent basis from St Johnstone.

Today’s visitors were Stirling Albion who won 3-0 on their last visit to Glebe Park. Since then they have had a mixed run of form, although they won last week. It was a cold, foggy afternoon at the Glebe although the moisture in the park was suited to Brechin’s passing game. Many thought that the obvious way to deal with Sanny’s departure would be to move Gibby up front alongside Paul Ritchie, but instead Dick Campbell kept him on the wing and Steve Hampshire played in attack.

The game started well for Brechin who should have been at least a goal up in the first ten minutes. In the 6th minute, Steve Hamilton played the ball inside to Paul Ritchie who intelligently slipped a through ball to Craig Winter. He was one-on-one with Myles Hogarth, but the big keeper came out to block the shot.
Moments later Ritchie himself had a golden opportunity. Scott Walker found Steve Hamilton out wide; he got past Devine and crossed low for City’s number 9. To be fair the ball was slightly behind him when he hit it, causing the effort to go narrowly wide.
However, having missed these two great chances City could have been made to pay the price at the other end. David White’s miskick was as uncharacteristic as it was dreadful and it allowed Martin Glancy clean through against Nelson. But the big stopper showed his worth to City, saving with his boot. That said, there is no doubt in my mind that earlier in the season when Glancy and McLean were on top form this would have been buried.
The other half of their attacking double act then had a shot at goal after Paul Nugent had dispossessed Steve Hampshire. McLean’s effort was wide of the target, but it was worrying how much space he had in a threatening area.
Thankfully, even though there were only around ten minutes on the clock at this point, McLean’s shot turned out to be the last real effort on goal by the visitors of the first half as Brechin had the better of the play until the interval.
In the 16th minute, Gibson’s cross found Byers whose effort was well saved by Hogarth. Shortly after Gibby himself had an effort on goal that went narrowly wide.
Midway through the first half Craig Winter had a shot on target that was again well saved by the keeper.
I then had the chance to have a brief conversation with Chris Templeman who had come to Glebe Park to say his goodbyes, as he came and stood nearby. I wished him all the best at Morton and thanked him for being great to watch in his time at the club. He said that he enjoyed his time here and had a lot of happy memories.
Later, he would come onto the pitch at half time with City chairman David Birse and receive a fabulous and richly deserved ovation from the home support.
Back to the match, and Brechin took a deserved lead on the half hour mark. Paul Ritchie played the ball out wide to Steve Hamilton before continuing his run into the box. Hamilton’s cross was inch perfect and Ritchie powerfully headed it past the goalkeeper and into the net.
A few minutes before half time City had a chance to double their advantage. A great run by Kevin Byers resulted in him playing an excellent ball through for Steve Hampshire but he blasted over.

Into the second half and Brechin had a couple of half-chances in the early stages. First, Scott Walker – always a threat from set-pieces – headed wide from a Byers corner. Then a Steve Hamilton long throw was flicked on by Walker for Ritchie who knocked it over.
At the other end Scott McLean was allowed a bit too much space in the box but his shot on the turn was straight at Nelson.
In the 65th minute, Myles Hogarth made a great save to keep his side in the game. Paul Deas supplied a great cross for Scott Walker and his diving header was acrobatically stopped by the keeper who also did well to deny Gibson on the rebound.
Ten minutes later, Brechin had loud appeals for a penalty when a free-kick that was played into the box appeared to strike the arm of a Stirling player, but nothing was given.
Unfortunately this made for a tense last 15 minutes as the visitors piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser. Scott McLean had a good chance in the 75th minute after he got away from Scott Walker, but Nelson made a cracking diving save to deny him.
The visitors had the better of the closing stages but Brechin were keeping them at bay well with some dogged defending. Substitute Scott MacNicol also had a decent strike at goal that could have made the game secure.
City weathered the storm of the last five minutes and almost scored a second in the last minute when Jamie Smith’s low cross was hit over by Steve Hampshire.
But the ball wasn’t really sticking up front when it was being cleared and City fans were relieved to hear the full-time whistle after a few minutes stoppage time had been played.

Overall the result is all that matters, but it could have been a more comfortable afternoon for City as they missed a few good chances. As for whether the loss of Templeman will haunt City in the remainder of the season, its too early to say at this stage. However, his ability to hold the ball up when we are under pressure was certainly missed today, before you even consider his attacking potential. But give the current players time and they will surely adjust as Brechin are a good all-round team and Dick Campbell has made it clear that he will strengthen the squad in January.

Safely into the third round, City supporters hurried home to watch the 5pm draw on television. City drew Berwick or Dumbarton away so while it is neither a glamorous tie, nor a home game, it is still one that Brechin will be favourites to win.

The full draw is as follows:

Celtic v Rangers
Montrose v Queen of the South
Kilmarnock v Motherwell
Raith v Alloa
St Mirren v Hamilton
Clyde v Falkirk
Arbroath v Aberdeen
Dumbarton or Berwick v Brechin
Gretna v Dundee United
Huntly or East Fife v Dunfermline Athletic
Ross County v Airdrie
Hibernian v Dundee
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v St Johnstone
Partick v Hearts
Livingston v Morton
Ayr v Stranraer

Ties to be played weekend of Saturday 8 January.

Other Results - Tennent's Scottish Cup Round 2

Albion Rovers 0 Arbroath 1

Arbroath get a result where Brechin failed earlier in the season.

Alloa Athletic 2 Stenhousemuir 1

Good result for Alloa against third division Stenny.

Ayr United 3 Edinburgh City 0

Comfortable win for Ayr against the non-league side.

Cove Rangers 1 Morton 7

Morton's players must be worried about losing their place to Sanny!

Dumbarton 1 Berwick Rangers 1

Brechin will meet the winners of their replay in round 3.

Gretna 3 Elgin City 0

No surprise as Gretna make the third round.

Huntly 0 East Fife 0

East Fife will settle for a replay as Christie Park has accounted for many a league side over the years.

Keith 0 Montrose 1

Narrow win for Montrose to follow up their first round demolition job at Forfar.

Stranraer 1 Queen's Park 0

The 1-0 specialists do it again.