Tidy up mistakes plea

ANNAN boss Wullie Gibson says there are ‘improvements to make’ following back-to-back defeats on home turf.

Last Saturday his side lost 4-3 to Dumbarton in a League Two clash at Galabank.

And on Tuesday night Athletic succumbed to their second defeat in the re-designed Challenge Cup against Stenhousemuir.

The Black and Golds lost 3-1 to the League One outfit at a sparsely populated Galabank.

Nicky Jamieson fired Stenny ahead before the Annan trialist equalised shortly after halftime.

But a Ross Taylor free kick and Dale Carrick wonder-strike put the game out of Athletic’s reach.

In both of the aforementioned contests Annan created numerous chances and were, for long spells, the better team.

Speaking after the Stenny game, Gibson said: “I’m really pleased with how we played, we matched them for long periods of the game and I thought we controlled large parts of the game as well.

“I’m a wee bit aggrieved that we went in (at halftime) 1-0 down but we came out, we showed a reaction and Gravine (the trialist) took his goal really well.

“Then came the frustrating part. It was a foul but we asked the referee to recount the yards to the wall, and he wouldn’t.

“I recounted it after the goal and it’s 13 yards. Everybody could see how far the wall was away (from the ball)

“Don’t take anything away from the boy’s finish, it was a great free kick. But I think it helped with that extra distance.

“The third goal was a great finish from Dale Carrick, he’s been doing that his whole career.

“It’s tough to take, I went in (to the changing room) and said I don’t want to be that manager who is sitting and saying how well we played when we got beat. “That’s seven goals conceded on our patch in two games – there are improvements to make.

“There’s a way I want to play and you can see that. I’ll not differ away from that.

“If we can tidy up on the little things and make it a wee bit harder for teams to score against us, surely luck will come our way at some point.”

Nicky Jamieson, the scorer of Stenny’s opener, had ten minutes earlier escaped what could easily have been a red card after a ‘wild swipe’ on Athletic captain Tommy Muir.

If the visitors had been reduced to ten men the game would have been greatly impacted. Gibson added: “The referee said to me at the time it was touch and go. For me, he’s had a wild swipe at Tam, and he could’ve been seriously injured. “I think you could hear the gasp from the fans. I think Stenny just got a little bit of everything tonight and we didn’t get too much.”

Attention now turns to tomorrow’s fixture away to League Two leaders Spartans in the Scottish capital.

Gibson said: “It’s a massive game. They’re sitting on nine points and have started the season incredibly well.

“They’ve got a good team, and they’ve got good experience in that team.

“Boys need to recover, make sure there is no hangover from tonight and we’ll go up there and try to get a result.”

The gaffer said he hoped Tuesday night’s trialist would be involved on Saturday.

Meanwhile on the injury front, Scott Hooper is closing in on his return, Josh Dixon will resume training at the start of September and Joel Mumbongo remains out long-term.