Stirling skipper ready for high-energy Edinburgh test as opening day looms

Daily Record

6 days ago

The Binos head to the capital to open their season for the second occasion in a row - and insists the squad has come together after a tough League Cup.
The waiting is over for Stirling Albion as Scottish football's big opening day takes place tomorrow across all four SPFL leagues.
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For the Binos, it's a second straight opening day trip to the capital to match up with Edinburgh City - with hopes from the travelling Stirling fans that they can emulate their late turn-around 12 months ago when late goals from Josh Kerr and Dale Carrick saw them run out 2-1 winners.
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But Michael McIndoe's side are well-fancied to compete at the top end of affairs after becoming the division's surprise package last season.
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Stirling skipper Lee Hamilton - one of several new arrivals at Forthbank this summer - will anchor a Binos defence which struggled for much of last season and is hoping to turn the vibes around after a League Cup campaign which saw them lose all four matches.
The final of those defeats came in the 2-0 loss to Dunfermline Athletic last weekend, but Hamilton insists there have been signs of gelling for the new-look Stirling squad - and they will be ready to match the high energy challenge presented by the Citizens.
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Speaking after the defeat to the Pars, Hamilton said: 'The boys are more than ready to go for the league starting, it's been a hard group with three full-time teams and then the officiating wasn't the best in the Dumbarton game.
'But on the flip side of things, we haven't scored any goals in the group to help ourselves out.
'Going into the league, I think that we're prepared for that, although it doesn't look great to be going in there with zero points on board, but I would say we've doing relatively well with all of the new faces coming in and getting up to speed.
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'It's not the be all and end all in the opening game, but we all know that if you start the season well then it puts you in a good position with the coming games.
'We'll be putting on our best show to get those three points, we know for a fact that Edinburgh like to press and like to play, so it's up to us to go above and beyond that in the way we are on the day.'
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A strong first-half display in Fife will give Stirling boss Alan Maybury something to build on, before goals from Andrew Tod and a last-gasp Rory MacLeod penalty sealed a deserved win for the Pars on the balance of a powerful second 45.
Hamilton was replaced at half-time at East End Park as a precaution ahead of the league opener, but the returning Binos skipper - who also had a stint with boss Maybury at tomorrow's opposition - says he's ready to go.
'I've not played too many minutes recently, my legs were a little tight and the gaffer was just cautious not to overdo things going into Edinburgh, he knows I'll try and play on so he took it out of my hands', Hamilton continued.
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'The boys dug in and more than matched them for most of the game and then the first goal is just a great finish after we don't track a runner and the second is just a lazy leg from Craney to give away the penalty.'
Meanwhile, Maybury has downplayed the importance of tomorrow's game on the direction of Albion's season ahead of another gruelling campaign.
He said: 'We want to start well but if you look at last season, there were teams who finished above us who had bad spells with Elgin losing seven in a row and Spartans had a poor run so teams will be up and down across a season.
'You want to go into every game wanting to win it and that's what we'll do, sometimes there are spells where you need to have that long-term view and working towards a target.
'Despite results, the last few weeks have been worthwhile and we feel in a good place.'