Stranraer and Clyde both win and stay level at the top
Stranraer and Clyde both won to stay level on 30 points, Elgin City lost again, and Annan Athletic put five past Dumbarton on League Two's MatchDay 14.
By Barrie Moran,
Only goal difference separates the top two in League Two, and MatchDay 14 did nothing to change that. Stranraer won 1-0 at Kelty Hearts, Clyde won 6-2 at Edinburgh City, and both sit on 30 points from 14 matches. Stranraer stay first on a goal difference of 20 to Clyde's 14.
Two ways of winning at the top
The figure worth holding onto is Stranraer's goals-against column. Over their last five matches they have conceded once. Their run reads W W D W W, and Saturday was more of the same: one goal at Kelty was enough because nothing got through at the other end.
Clyde's last five have exactly the same shape, W W D W W, but they were built differently, with 15 scored and six conceded. Saturday was that pattern in miniature: six scored and two let in.
My view is that Stranraer's way is the more durable of the two. A side that concedes once in five matches does not need its forwards to have a good afternoon, and that matters over a winter. What would change my mind is Clyde starting to keep clean sheets of their own, or Stranraer dropping points in games where they lead by a single goal. Either way, nobody else is close. Elgin City are third on 21.
Elgin City and Edinburgh City slip
Elgin City lost 2-1 at Stirling Albion, their second defeat running. Third place is still theirs, but the recent output is modest: four scored and five conceded across their last five.
Edinburgh City stay fourth on 20 but have now gone two without a win. Conceding six at home has left them on a goal difference of minus one, and their last five show six scored and eleven conceded. That is not the record of a side settled in the top four.
Three clubs on 18 points
Stirling Albion's win lifted them to 18 points, level with Spartans and Kelty Hearts. Stirling have the best recent form of the three, with three wins in five, but the worst goal difference at minus nine, so the season's earlier damage has not been repaired yet.
Spartans lost 2-1 at Forfar Athletic, their second straight defeat. Kelty's last five read L W L W L, and the pattern is hard to read as anything other than inconsistency.
Annan's big afternoon at Dumbarton
The result of the round on the scoresheet was Dumbarton 0-5 Annan Athletic. Annan had lost four in a row before Saturday and are still bottom on 12 points. The curious thing is that their goal difference of minus seven is better than that of both Dumbarton and Forfar, who sit on minus ten each. Annan have scored ten in their last five, more than either of those two.
Dumbarton stay eighth on 16, with five scored and ten conceded in their last five. Forfar's win over Spartans moved them to 15 and left them unbeaten in two after three straight defeats. One five-goal win does not make a recovery for Annan, and I would want to see a second result before reading much into it. But the bottom of this table looks more crowded than the points alone suggest.