MIKE Jack wrote another piece of history on Saturday when he scored Annan Athletic's first SFL goal at Galabank as the former East of Scotland League side secured a 1-1 draw against ten-man Stenhousemuir.
Just a week previously the midfielder became Annan's first goalscorer in the Scottish League when he netted their equaliser in the opening-day 4-1 victory at Cowdenbeath. And he was it at again at the weekend when he shot home in the sixth minute
to cancel out an opener from Stenhousemuir's Andy Brand just two minutes previously.
However, Annan should have gained an initiative when the visitors had Paul Tyrrell sent off after an hour, but instead it was Stenhousemuir who looked most likely to nick a winner. The match ended all square, and Annan remain top of the table, albeit on goal difference.
Harry Cairney, the Galabank manager, felt his side, suffered from nerves as a crowd of 1,150 turned out for what was a momentous – but somewhat anti-climatic – occasion.
"We were very flat and the big crowd and the hype associated with the game appeared to make us nervous," said Cairney.
"We should have dominated once they went down to ten men but if anything Stenhousemuir seemed to get stronger."
Off the field, the hard work put in by everyone at the club to be ready in time appeared to pay off, although Stenhousemuir manager John Coughlin was far from enamoured with the state of the Galabank pitch.
"The grass had clearly not been cut for a while," he said. "After seeing the length of the grass I changed the team-talk and told them to play more route one, which didn't help."
Elsewhere, Dumbarton saw their stuttering start continue as they could only draw 1-1 away to Elgin City. Jim Chapman's side required a late Raymond Logan equaliser to secure a point after
Steven McKay had given the hosts a 24th-minute lead.
Albion Rovers are the only side yet to pick up a point after losing 1-0 to East Stirlingshire courtesy of an Eddie Forrest goal.
Cowdenbeath got off the mark when a 69th-minute goal from Mark Ramsay gave them a 1-0 win over Forfar Athletic.
Montrose and Berwick Rangers shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Links Park. Chris McLeod nodded an early opener for the home team, but summer signing Andy Howat forced home an equaliser with just six minutes remaining.
The full article contains 425 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
