Robin Bairner Column – Part 13

Date – 8th August 1997
Venue – Forthbank Stadium
Competition – League Cup Second Round
Result – Stirling Albion 6-2 Kilmarnock
Kick Off – 7.45pm

Turning up to the game that warm summer’s evening you could sense something unusual was going to happen, Chick Young’s immortal word on BBC Radio Scotland that evening were, ‘And we’re going to the one place there want be a shock tonight…..Forthbank’, must now be up there with the quotes of other such greats such as Kevin Keegan in the gaff steaks. Stirling produced an absolutely scintillating performance to send the Ayrshire side home in disgrace and manager Bobby Williamson describing it as the worst night of his managerial life.

Both sides were virtually at full strength and Killie included new signings Pat Nevin and Jerome Varielle in their starting line up. The Binos, on the to other hand, fielded arguably their strongest side in the eleven or so years I have followed them. A strong back four of Andy Paterson, Gary Paterson, Ronnie McQuilter and Paul Deas was complimented by the outstanding Mark McGeown in goal. In midfield Carberry, Tait, Taggart and Gibson provided not only the grit and determination but the craft to carve open defences while Stuart ‘Skippy’ McLaren and Alex Bone supplied a goal scoring threat.

The first half was evenly contested with both sides punching and counter punching without making a significant impact on the other’s defence. This changed in the 37^th minute however, when Stirling won a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Andy Patterson’s cannonball of a free-kick left the Kilmarnock wall in ruin and their goal breached for the first time.

Only three minutes later it got even worse for the Ayrshire side when John Gibson stooped bravely to head home McLaren’s cross to send the Binos in with a 2-0 half time lead.

After a brief flurry from Killie at the start of the second half where they were denied what looked a stone wall penalty Stirling captain and former Kilmarnock player Tommy Tait’s beautifully floated header found the back of the net via the underside of the cross bar and possibly post too! The goals were now flowing and tensions ere raised in the home support when Jerome Varielle made it 3-1 just three minutes after Tait’s goal had seemed to give Stirling victory.

There was to be no need to worry though. Kevin Drinkell replaced McLaren with Stevie McCormick who had bagged another two fantastic goals within ten minutes of coming onto the park. The Kilmarnock fans had mostly flooded to the exits by the time Paul Wright had pulled another one back for Killie with over quarter of an hour to go.

There was time for one final Stirling goal, which came in injury time and fittingly to the superb Craig Taggart, and it was a goal fit to grace any match. The midfielder latched onto a long ball forward and from what seems like twenty five yards out and at an angle hit a quite awesome first time volley into the corner of the net to really give the score the gloss it deserved.

The match deserves to be talked about forever, and probably will be, as one of the greatest in Stirling’s short history and for me represents the pinnacle of the Drinkell era. Although Stirling were knocked out by Aberdeen in the next round and were ultimately to be relegated that season this match will live on in the hearts and minds of every Stirling supporter (and probably Kilmarnock supporter, but for totally different reasons!) forever.