Stranraer and Clyde share top spot and both go on the road
A preview of Scottish League Two MatchDay 14, where the joint leaders travel, Elgin City meet their form twin and Annan Athletic try to stop the rot.
By Barrie Moran,
Stranraer and Clyde go into MatchDay 14 level on 27 points at the top of Scottish League Two, and both are away from home on Saturday. That is the round. All five matches kick off at 15:00 and every one of them matters to somebody, but only two decide who sits top by teatime.
The leaders on their travels
The most telling line in the division belongs to Stranraer: one goal conceded in their last five league games, with 11 scored at the other end. They are unbeaten in five and won the last meeting 2-0 when they face Kelty Hearts and Stranraer at New Central Park. Kelty's recent sequence reads W L W L W, which is either a team finding its feet or a coin that keeps landing alternately. They won last time out, and if the pattern meant anything they would be due a defeat. It does not, but nothing else in their record gives me reason to think they will be the first side in a while to get two goals past this defence.
Clyde's numbers tell a different story. Their last five have produced 11 goals for and 10 against, so they win plenty but leave the door open doing it. Edinburgh City against Clyde at Meadowbank pits that against the opposite: Edinburgh City, fourth and unbeaten in three, have scored four and conceded five in their last five, with three draws in there. Clyde edged the last meeting 3-2. If anything separates the two leaders this weekend, I think it is Edinburgh City's habit of dragging games to a stalemate.
Even if both leaders win, Stranraer's goal difference of 19 against Clyde's 10 keeps them top. My view is that Stranraer are still first on Saturday night. A first defeat for them in six would change that, and their recent record does not suggest it is likely.
Elgin City and their mirror image
Elgin City are third on 21 points and go to Forthbank, where Stirling Albion have exactly the same last five: L W D W W. The similarity stops there. Elgin's goal difference is plus 9, Stirling's minus 10, and Elgin won the last meeting 4-0. Stirling's recent run is far better than their season, and on Saturday they find out whether it is a revival or a good spell. I lean towards Elgin, because a 4-0 is a hard thing to talk your way past.
The bottom two need something
Annan Athletic are bottom on 9 points, have lost their last five and have conceded 16 in that time. Yet the last time they met Dumbarton they won 2-0. Dumbarton against Annan Athletic at The Rock is their best chance of a turn, against a Dumbarton side who won last time out but have not strung two wins together in their last five. That is a thin straw, but it is the only one Annan have.
Forfar Athletic, ninth and without a win in five, face a Spartans side who beat them 5-1 last time. Spartans' own form reads L W L W L, so they are hardly settled either. Still, Forfar Athletic and Spartans brings 12 conceded in five games up against a side who scored five past them, and that is a lot of ground for Forfar to make up in one afternoon.