Albion leapfrog the Anvils

GRETNA FC 2008 dropped to second bottom in the Lowland League on Tuesday night after being leapfrogged by Albion Rovers. The Black and Whites fell to a 2-0 defeat at Cliftonhill after Albion’s Barry Duncan scored a brace for the home side. Gretna assistant manager Kevin Somerville gave his assessment of the performance following the full time whistle. He said: “I think Albion Rovers deserved to win the game, I thought they were clinical when chances were presented to them. “We didn’t defend well enough, certainly for the second goal, and I thought we were a wee bit tepid when we tried to respond and get ourselves in front. “I thought after the first 15 minutes in the first half we settled in until about 40 minutes in when we lost a goal, which was disappointing. “It was just one of those nights where it didn’t click for us. The boys certainly worked hard, I can’t fault their effort. It was just that bit in the final third wasn’t quite there.” Last Saturday Gretna claimed a point at home to basement boys East Stirlingshire. Sam Atkinson’s last minute equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw. The Black and Whites face Cowdenbeath at Raydale Park this Saturday at 3 pm. Somerville added: “Tonight’s result and, obviously, only getting the one point on Saturday makes this game more important if we want to keep trying to catch folk in the league. “We need to regroup. We’ll probably look to make a couple of changes. For some of the guys a third game in a week is maybe going to be a step too far, so we’ll look to freshen it up a little bit. “It’s another game that we could get points in, but tonight tells you – if you’re not absolutely at it you don’t get anything in this league.” And on Wednesday night the team travel to play Creetown in the SCFA Challenge Cup semi-final. Kick off at Castle Cary Park is at 7.45 pm. Somerville said: “It’s huge. We saw last year the importance of winning that cup, it gave everyone a lift and a chance to celebrate something. “We want to try and get that cup again to give everyone a lift.”