When Manchester United or Celtic do it, everyone applauds and raves about how the difference between Great Teams and Also-Rans is that the 'real teams' never give up and fight to the bitter end, confident that they have what it takes to grab a winner. Why is it, then, that I still heard folk moaning this afternoon as they were leaving Bayview. Get a fuckin' hold of yerselves!! It hadn't been the greatest game of football you'd ever seen but our boys didn't stop working for the full ninety minutes. Every one of the guys who pulled on the shirt this afternoon performed. And anyone who says otherwise will get a boot in the haw-maws next time ah see them... (or whatever the equivalent rhyming slang for a burd's bits is - hey, ah'm nae sexist!).

Ma downstairs neighbour is a wifey called Angela (from a famous Fife fish and chip dynasty) who can be as annoying as fuck. Every weekend she has the same loud, long-winded argument wi' her bidey-in It starts about ten on Saturday night and wanders aimlessly on until the wee small hours. And it's always the same - rambling pish about absolutely bugger all! It's starting tae get like that at Bayview. Every week the boys go out and run their socks off; every week they try their damnedest; and every week they pretty much deliver - that's another 'eight-in-a-row' they've just chalked up for us this afternoon. Like, that'll be twenty four unanswered points on the bounce!!

And yet, every single week, as I make my way happily to the gates, my pleasure is marred (before ah'm even oot the stadium, for fuck sake) by the self-same moaners whingeing away about absolutely fuck-all! "He was shite, he didnae bother his shirt, Baikie's an arsehole etc, etc, etc". I really don't know what it is they're looking for or expecting. Would exciting free-flowing hammerings from all-comers suit them better? Who knows; ah guess there's just no pleasin' some folk....

As it was, ah was more than satisfied with this afternoon's outcome. Right from the start the boys came out and put in a shift. It had been a difficult week and, undoubtedly, Fozzie's woes would have rubbed off on the rest of his team-mates; to say that we were all in shock after Tuesday's announcements from the beaks at Hampden would be the understatement of the year.

However, what the team delivered is what we've become used to all season - why should we have expected anything less? The professionalism and commitment displayed by the team was a credit to each and every one of them! And the fact that it took until injury time to claim all three points just proves tae me that we're the Third Division's equivalent of Manchester United - not jammy, quality!

To be fair to the 'Shire, they again gave a very good account of themselves. You can't help thinking that if they could play as well against the minnows as they do against us, they'd be a shit load higher in the table than they are. They'll be disappointed not to head back to Falkirk today with a point but, in all honesty, despite working hard, they failed to create a whole lot in front of goal. That, however, doesn't mean that they weren't a handful today. Tweed, Smartie and the gang will all know that they've been in a game and will feel proud that they've taken full points - I've seen us play worse and win a lot easier.

In the middle of the park, too, they were proving enough of a nuisance to make our normal great passing game falter somewhat. Where we'd usually expect fast, free-flowing movement from the boys, our efforts today did, at times, look rather disjointed. But surely the mark of a great team is when they're capable of changing if Plan A isn't working. If a move broke down, they were content to slide back, gain their composure and start all over again. It wasn't braw but if the opposition doesnae have the baw, you can be sure they canny score!

Not that they made things easy. Our forwards must have been fuckin' knackered by the end of the game - their movement and consistency of purpose was little short of heroic with both Linn and Templeman again having a great match - despite the incessant cat-calls from a particularly nasty fucker in the East Stirling support. To big Chris's credit, it was magic to see him simply turn and smile at his abuser - ah was only ten yards away from the prick and wanted tae punch him in the puss (and so, encouragingly (well, mebbe no') did the big security boy I was standing beside.....).

Both had been a bit unlucky on a number of occasions throughout the first half. Linn, in particular, will think he should have done a lot better when, with just five minutes on the clock, his effort was shanked well wide. Templeman, too, was creating plenty of space for himself but just couldn't find the cutting edge in front of the East Stirling keeper. We all felt, however, that the goals would surely come.

It was a wee bit awkward, mind, when, just past the half hour mark, our two erstwhile heroes combined tae make planks of themselves. Templeman had done well to get past his marker and ran, purposefully, into the box. However, just as he was making room for himself to have a pop at goal, his pal, The Boaby, came sprinting into the area and had a dig himself. The ball looked goalbound - well, until, just three yards into its flight, it blootered off Chris and ricocheted clear. It was as good a piece of defending as you could hope to see. The twat in the stand had a field day but at least the boys saw the funny side of it - both smiling as they pulled themselves back up off the turf, despite Templeman just taking one in the nacks. But it didn't discourage them and before long they were both back into their strides trying to create opportunities for each other.

Sadly, no further real chances were to present themselves and the boys trotted off for their half time cuppa with the scores still level. The Shire will certainly have been the happier but it was evident that the guys in the black and gold shirts were far from disheartened. And that, for me, is the mark of a great team spirit.

And there was no let-up after the break. We continued to play as patiently as we had in the first half and within the opening ten minutes we were again unlucky not to take the lead. Lloyd Young fired in a great effort from just outside the box, only to be thwarted by a decent save from the Shire's keeper, Mike Brown. The match sponsors eventually decided to award the Man of the Match accolade to Fozzie (and, considering the week that he and his family have had to endure, few would argue with the award - he was immense this afternoon!) but, for me, the performance of the day (on a day full of accomplishment all over the park) came from Lloyd.

He's been in a rich vein of form for some weeks but today I thought he was outstanding. His combination play with Cameron and Fotheringham was, at times, jaw-dropping. And this afternoon we witnessed a new vigour when he tracked back if things went awry. He got right stuck in throughout, consistently harrying the Shire players - some of his recovering tackles were superb (we'll no' dwell too long on the couple of more meaty ones other than to say there'll be nobody in the East Stirling team that reckons that he's a soft touch....).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the park, new boy Kevin Davison and his buddy Greig McDonald were also cranking up the pressure on the Shire defence. Despite this only being his fourth match for the Fife, it's apparent that Kevin's settled well into the team. That, combined with his undoubted talent, augurs well for the run-in. He was substituted with twenty minutes remaining but the switch looked more tactical rather than for any injury concerns. He can be happy that he earned his crust today (not that is stopped a few niggardly comments from the stand as he made his way back to the bench - what the fuck are those guys on!!!?).

Thankfully, ten minutes later when Bobby Linn finished for the day there appeared to be more consensus among the fans who, to a man (woman and wean...), rose to cheer the wee forward from the park. He'd put in a great effort and was unfortunate not to pick up a goal. In his stead, Craig O'Reilly was left with just the final ten minutes or so to attempt to make an impression. He didn't have long but, like everyone else, tried his best. It must be tough for someone who knows that he'll not often start many games to still keep his concentration and his motivation. But to be fair to the big lad, whenever he gets his opportunity, he gets right stuck in!

As it was, our breakthrough was to come as a result of efforts of the guys who'd been there from the start. As the game went into time added on, it looked more and more like East Stirling would be stealing a point to take back home with them. The last we'd heard, both Montrose and the Silkies were winning so it was now or never. It was far from desperate but with the seconds ticking away, Cameron, Smart and McDonald were all pressing forward (thank fuck that there was nobody in the Shire team capable of launching a counter-attack; it would have been Tweed and McCulloch against them all....) trying to help out in our efforts to grab the points.

In what turned out to be the second last action of the game, Cameron whipped a neat chip into the box. Right back (who else?), McDonald looked ready to accept the pass but was clumsily knocked over by David King (that's no' the boy that the Russian was suggestin' that we've got on a pre-contract, is it?) and the ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

If he had any fear, Dougie hid it well. He strode purposefully up, placed the ball on the spot and prepared for the kick. He confidently blasted his shot low into the corner of the net and the game was won. If Dougie looked releived in the middle of the park, it was nothing compared with the delight that we were all feeling in the stand (I'm presuming that, at that stage, even the doomsayers were relatively happy). It was the hardest won three points of the season so far but, once again, proved that, despite the cynics among the fans, maybe we should cut Baikie some slack and appreciate just what he and the team are delivering to us week in, week out. The countdown's now well and truly underway; it can surely only be a matter of time.....

See you all for Stenny next week. C'mon the Fife!

...