It has probably gone unnoticed to many, but there is a team in Scottish football that has put together a run of results that has seen them go unbeaten since the end of September across all competitions.
The team in question, Third Division side East Stirlingshire, beat Elgin City 4-0 at Borough Brigss this weekend, bringing their total number of games without losing to eleven. That run included the inflicting of heavy defeats on ’stronger’ teams in the league, such as Dumbarton (5-2) and Montrose (5-0) and have seen the Shire move up to 6th in the table.
Part of a pack of five teams in the table separated by only three points, East Stirling are now only five points behind league leaders Stenhousemuir. The 30 goals they’ve scored this season have come courtesy of, amongst others, Andy Rodgers and Brian Graham with seven each, and Colin Cramb who has chipped in with six, while former Dundee United legend Jim McInally – who took over in March of this year – is manager. East Stirlingshire currently play their games at Ochilview Park, the home ground of league rivals Stenhousemuir and is also the club at which Alex Ferguson started his managerial career.
The success the club has had this season is certainly a far cry from previous years. The eight points they accumulated at the end of the 2002/03 season started a period for the club that saw them finish bottom of the league every season, until the end of the 2007/08 season, when a final day victory over Montrose saw them jump into ninth place. The clubs poor record was the inspiration for a book by Jeff Connor, called Pointless, which followed the club through the 2004/05 season – a feature on Norwegian television led to further publicity about the Shire’s plight and the founding on a Norwegian East Stirlingshire fan club.
The Shire are clearly an example of a phoenix rising from the ashes, and, in our opinion, are worthy of this weeks “Performance of the Week” award. Long may their run continue.
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