Latest news with #Stranraer
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Stranraer v Queen of the South
Update: Date: 90'+7 Title: Post Content: Match ends, Stranraer 1, Queen of the South 0. Update: Date: 90'+7 Title: Full Time Content: Second Half ends, Stranraer 1, Queen of the South 0. Update: Date: 90'+7 Title: Post Content: Fourth official has announced 6 minutes of added time. Update: Date: 90'+6 Title: Booking Content: Ben Johnstone (Queen of the South) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Update: Date: 90'+6 Title: Booking Content: Evan Dunne (Stranraer) is shown the yellow card. Update: Date: 90'+6 Title: Booking Content: Benjamin Luissint (Queen of the South) is shown the yellow card. Update: Date: 90'+5 Title: Post Content: Foul by Ben Johnstone (Queen of the South). Update: Date: 90'+5 Title: Post Content: Sallu Turay (Stranraer) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Update: Date: 90'+4 Title: Post Content: Attempt missed. Sallu Turay (Stranraer) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the right. Update: Date: 90'+2 Title: Post Content: Cole Burke (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Update: Date: 90'+2 Title: Post Content: Foul by Scot Rough (Stranraer). Update: Date: 90'+1 Title: Post Content: Attempt saved. Harry McLinden (Queen of the South) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal by Josh Lane (Stranraer). Update: Date: 90' Title: Post Content: Cole Burke (Queen of the South) wins a free kick on the left wing. Update: Date: 90' Title: Post Content: Foul by Lewis Hunter (Stranraer). Update: Date: 88' Title: Post Content: Second yellow card to Ross Stewart (Queen of the South) for a bad foul. Update: Date: 88' Title: Post Content: Foul by Ross Stewart (Queen of the South). Update: Date: 88' Title: Post Content: Sallu Turay (Stranraer) wins a free kick on the left wing. Update: Date: 86' Title: Post Content: Delay over. They are ready to continue. Update: Date: 86' Title: Post Content: Delay in match because of an injury Tommy Sharp (Stranraer). Update: Date: 85' Title: Booking Content: Scot Rough (Stranraer) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Tony Watt impressed with Mark Wilson's tactical vision
Talk is all well and good, but it is Wilson's actions that have left Watt convinced he made the right call. The centre-forward had other offers, but Wilson's vision and attention to detail won him over very quickly. And once he signed on the dotted line in Maryhill, he knew he had made the right choice. 'It took quite a while, but there was an opportunity to maybe go abroad, or here, and the abroad one was crazy,' Watt explained. 'It took me about a week or ten days just to explore it, and then after that I spoke with the manager, and I was sold straight away. 'When we actually sat down and spoke, I gave him a word after the coffee and said I'll sign. It just took a week and that was it done. 'The thing that struck me was… I'm quite a good judge of character. I know him obviously through training together because we've played together and he had a great career. But when I spoke to him he was just talking about the small culture changes. 'I've heard the word 'culture' getting bandied about in football: 'Culture, we need to do this, blah, blah, blah', but nobody really doing anything. But he was showing me good examples of the small things that he's doing to improve the club. Just stupid things that people wouldn't understand if they don't know how to run a football club; he was doing small things and I was thinking, 'He's legit, he's serious'. 'And then after two training sessions I was straight in. I've said it to him - I'm impressed. I've said it to the boys. The video analysis, the way details stuff, the way we train, everything. It's good.' One of the biggest tactical tweaks Wilson has implemented during pre-season has been an aggressive high press. It worked a treat during the first half of Tuesday night's 2-0 win over Queen of the South, and Watt says it's the kind of set-up he enjoys playing in. 'I prefer it,' he said. 'I've always preferred it in my career because, contrary to popular belief, my game's probably running – running in behind, pressing people, getting joy, annoying defenders. 'It's good. The way we were set up the other night was brilliant. Straight from the first minute we were on them and it helps you with your jobs, it means you don't really need to think. He's taken the thinking away in my pressing. I don't want this just to be about me praising the manager and trying to get myself on the team! But he's really good, him and Alec Rae.' As the only fit senior striker available for today's trip to Dingwall for the fourth and final Premier Sports Cup group stage fixture, Watt's place in the starting XI seems assured. Having scored on his debut in the 2-0 win over Stranraer, he then failed to add to his tally on Tuesday night, largely due to some goalkeeping heroics from Ross Stewart. One double save – where the keeper twice denied Watt from point-blank range – was particularly impressive. 'The keeper's done me with the second save,' Watt admitted. 'The first one's an unbelievable save, and the second one he smothers is unbelievable. Obviously I'm disappointed it never went in, but to be honest, there's not much more I can do. I'm stretching for the first one and I'm going for the rebound in the second one, so the keeper done well. 'We could have been 3, 4, 5-0 up. The keeper was excellent and I'm just glad that Fitzy got the breakthrough. He's a game-changer and he changed the game for us.' Thistle travel to Dingwall this afternoon in a straight shoot-out for top spot in Group B. A point is enough for Wilson's men to do just that, and Watt says he and his team-mates will be looking to looking to replicate their free-flowing first-half display against Queens against Ross County. 'We'll do our analysis on them and we'll see where they lie and we'll see how we can do it,' he said. 'We just need to go into every game with the same attitude and application we did on Tuesday and give the supporters something to be proud of. 'I think the manager has done that so far and I think the players have done that so far. I can't take credit for the first two results [in the group stage ] because I didn't start and I came in a bit late. But the work they've done before I came in, it must have been good because every game there's been a kind of disciplined, rigid, front-footed attacking performance. And I think if you marry all that together you've got a good recipe [for success].'
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Mark Wilson not expecting much further transfer activity
Wilson will be hoping the view from the away dugout this afternoon will be just as pleasing. Ross County host the Jags in the Premier Sports Cup with top spot in Group B up for grabs, with Thistle currently in the driving seat with three wins out of three in the group stage so far. The recently-relegated Staggies are certain to pose Wilson's men more problems than Edinburgh City, Stranraer and Queen of the South. And with Thistle only requiring a point to confirm top spot, there is surely a temptation for Wilson to play for a draw. Not that he's paying it any heed. Their victories thus far have been based on high-pressing and aggressive football and while Wilson was keen to underline that he is not dogmatically tied to one way of playing, he sees no reason to tinker with a winning formula for now. 'No, we're going to go eight at the back tomorrow,' Wilson joked. 'No, listen - if there was a definite way of doing it, perhaps you might think about it. But there are no guarantees. You could set up with the five at the back and just try and defend your box, then something goes in off somebody's backside and before you know it you have to change your full game plan. 'So a lot of what we've worked on from day one in pre-season is what you've seen playing out in the Edinburgh, Stranraer and the Queen of the South games. It's not being arrogant or saying I'm never going to change throughout the season because that would be stupid of me. We will adapt at some times of the season. We will change shape as the season progresses. 'But tomorrow, when everything is going in the right direction, it would be stupid of me to change it. So we won't go up there and sit in and hope for a point. We'll try and play the stuff that we've been doing so far and hopefully we get a positive outcome.' The long journey north can be an especially apprehensive one for Thistle supporters, given the events of the play-off final that took place in Dingwall two years ago. Those ghosts were somewhat exorcised with a 3-0 win for the Jags in the Scottish Cup the following season. That play-off defeat two years ago can linger in the backs of the minds of supporters, but Wilson insists it has absolutely no bearing on the football side of things. 'This place, what I've learned is they hang on to the bad memories more than the good stuff! I'm certainly not one that's going to linger on that sort of stuff,' he said. 'That's for a different era. 'We're certainly in a different place just now with different personnel about the club. Of course there are one or two who might have still been kicking about behind the scenes, but not from our point of view. So we've got the fresh, clear heads. I think it's just a different environment we're working in as well and it's obviously a different time of the season. 'So there's a lot of optimism about the club at the minute, particularly in the football department from our perspective. It's a game we're actually looking forward to because it's going to be a really tough test. It's a good gauge for myself and Alex [Rae] to see how our players are compared to a team that's come down from the Premiership.' Thistle yesterday signed goalkeeper Josh Clarke on loan from Celtic, and Wilson was frank when addressing his plans for the remainder of the window. 'I mean, I'll be surprised if there's anyone - perhaps one again - and then that'll be us,' he explained. 'It's just being transparent and real with our supporters. That's what the budget dictates. 'There was a wee bit of work to be done to fill big holes that were left. Loan players went back to their parent clubs. The main goal scorer in Brian [Graham] was leaving and there were one or two other things. 'We managed the goalkeeper situation. We had no goalkeepers the day before pre-season. So those are areas that we needed to fill first and foremost. But there wasn't much left, if you like, to go and then say, 'We're going to bolster this and double up every position'. 'That would be great, but I was well aware of that before I came in. And I'm quite comfortable working in that kind of environment with the kids backing us up, and they will get their chance this year. But if we get one or two more in, that might be the end of the business.' Wilson is certainly happy with the players he has at his disposal. Young players will supplement the first team throughout the season, and he believes there is a real sense of togetherness behind the scenes at Firhill. The players and coaching staff spent Thursday on a team-building session at Langbank's Gleddoch Golf and Spa Resort, enjoying a few rounds of the royal and ancient game before sitting down for a meal together. Creating a close-knit bond within the squad, Wilson says, is vital for any successful team. 'It's always important at any club,' he said. 'The atmosphere in the dressing room and the football department - because I include the medical team and myself and the goalkeeping coaches - that's the crucial thing. If you've got a bad working environment, just even off the pitch, then you're never going to succeed on the pitch because everybody is pulling in different directions. 'That seems obvious, but it's not the easiest thing to implement really. The wee things like the golf day and sharing time together over a meal, they're just wee bits and pieces, but the full culture around the training ground has shifted in the right direction. Just in terms of eating lunch in the right manner or sharing analysis time together off the pitch. 'So we do spend quite a bit of time off the pitch and we speak a lot. It's not just the guys go on the pitch for 90 minutes and then they jump in their car and they're away at home right away. I think you can quite clearly see the teams that do that. So it's been something that I've been keen to do, something that always found success in the other clubs I've been at. 'When they have that tight unit, they succeed. And of course, when you've got a tight unit - we've never got the depth of squad probably as some of the other teams in this division - so that helps as well. When you've got that tight unit and you're together, you enjoy each other's company, you will run the extra yard for each other out on the pitch.'
BBC News
7 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Fin and Foil: Wind sports championship heading back to Stranraer
The waters near a south of Scotland town are to host a major sports competition for the second time in a matter of Scottish Fin and Foil Championships is the latest event to descend on Stranraer with 80 to 100 windsurfers and wing foilers expected to take comes after the international SkiffieWorlds saw thousands compete in community-built boat racing on Loch latest three-day event - which starts on 8 August - took place in Stranraer last year too. Fin and Foil, now in its third year, will see "the UK's finest windsurfers, wing foilers, hydrofoil sailors and their coaches" converge on Stranraer. Competitors will take part in four days of training followed by three days of high-speed racing across multiple event is being supported by Stranraer Water Sports Association. Kevin Packer of the group said the association was "thrilled" to welcome a "world-class water sports event" to Loch Ryan."The Scottish Fin and Foil Championships offer spectators a completely different experience to SkiffieWorlds but an equally enjoyable one," he said."The sight of these colourful sails and lightning-fast hydrofoils racing across our beautiful loch is spectacular."Danny Hawthorn, who chairs Scottish Fin and Foil, said Loch Ryan offered a "perfect combination" of conditions like reliable wind, sheltered waters and excellent shore estimated 50 to 60 volunteers are expected to be involved supporting both land and water-based operations. Organisers said traditional windsurfing classes were available for the local community to try the competition showcases wider efforts to boost Stranraer's transformation into a major water sports started earlier this year on a water sports hub in the town and it is scheduled to open next summer.
Edinburgh Reporter
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
McIndoe: developing teenage talent is key
Michael McIndoe, Edinburgh City's manager, praised his men for their first-half performance in the nerve-jangling, Group B, 5-3 penalty shootout victory over Stranraer and also stressed the importance of developing young talent. The 45-year-old told Citizens TV that it was important to get a win thanks to a game-winning penalty from Aidan Burgess after back-to-back defeats by Partick Thistle and Queen of the South. Overall, McIndoe's men enjoyed 62 per cent of the possession in the game at Meadowbank. The straight-talking manager added: 'Much more important than that, was having seven 18-year-olds on the bench, a 16-year-old starting and an 17-year-old starting.' They will be monitored in training and in match environments and they will assessed them week by week. The ex-Coventry City and Bristol City winger, who also dressed for Wolverhampton Wanderers, added: 'The youth programme is developing well. 'It is an exciting time for the youth guys. We are averaging 21.5 (years) in the squad. That is fantastic, long may it continue. They are going to get more opportunity than any other club, ion my opinion, in the SPFL to play. That is what we are here for. 'It is part of the passion to develop young players and I will through them in at the deep end to see how they get on.' There were ten Academy players in the squad for the game and Edinburgh-born McIndoe added: 'Getting back to the first half, we moved the ball really well, dominated possession, created three or four really good half chances, but overall really pleasing.' Like this: Like Related
