Stranraer and Clyde stay level as Elgin City slip at home
League Two's top two both won on MatchDay 13 and remain level on points, but their defensive records tell very different stories. Elgin City lost ground at home.
By Barrie Moran,
Stranraer and Clyde both won on MatchDay 13, so the top of Scottish League Two still has two clubs on 27 points, separated only by goal difference. Stranraer lead on 19 to Clyde's 10. Look at how each of them has been getting their points and that gap starts to look like more than a tiebreak.
Same points, very different routes
Stranraer beat Stirling Albion 3-0, and that was their form in miniature. Over their last five matches they have scored 11 and conceded one. Clyde have also scored 11 in their last five, but they have conceded 10. Their 3-2 win over Spartans was entirely in character: enough goals to win, and enough let in to make it close.
My view is that Stranraer are the sounder leaders. Clyde are unbeaten in four, but a side conceding at that rate is winning races rather than controlling matches, and races are easier to lose. What would change my mind is Clyde keeping the ball out of their own net for a spell, or Stranraer's defence starting to leak. Neither has happened yet.
Elgin City drop further off the pace
The other result that mattered at the top was Elgin City 0-2 Dumbarton. Elgin had been unbeaten in the four matches before it and came into the round as the obvious side to keep the top two honest. They stay third on 21, but the leaders are on 27 and a home defeat to the side in seventh is not the result of a team closing a gap. Dumbarton move to 16 points with a win that does a lot for their own season.
Edinburgh City are fourth on 20 after a 1-1 draw with Forfar Athletic. They are unbeaten in three, but they have drawn three of their last five and scored four goals in that time. That record keeps a team out of trouble. It does not put pressure on the clubs above. For Forfar, the point ended a run of defeats, though they are still without a win in five and sit ninth on 12.
Alternating fortunes in mid-table
Spartans and Kelty Hearts are level on 18 points and have both spent the last five weeks alternating wins and defeats, just out of step with each other. This week it was Kelty's turn to win, 2-1 away at Annan Athletic, while Spartans lost at Clyde. Spartans stay fifth on goal difference, 2 to Kelty's minus 5.
Stirling Albion's heavy defeat at Stranraer followed a decent run of results, and they remain eighth on 15 with a goal difference of minus 10.
Annan Athletic's run goes on
At the bottom, Annan Athletic have now lost five in a row and conceded 16 in that run. They are last on 9 points, with Forfar on 12 the nearest side above them. Scoring against Kelty was something, but a team conceding at that rate needs more than one goal a match to get anything, and at the moment they are not getting it.