2nd Divison preview

Here's a rundown on the other teams in the 2nd

ALLOA ATHLETIC
Appear to have found their level after yo-yoing for a while – We have done reasonably well against them in recent meetings. Lost some of their more influential players but Quitongo can usually find holes in our defence. Reckon they will be eyeing up mid-table as an acceptable season. Always good to get one over on Tom Hendrie and not in an anti-St Midden way He’s just a right moany bassa.

AYR UNITED
one of our bogey teams reckon we’ve won something like twice against them in 10 year. Enjoying going to Somerset Park (still a dump though) but never seem to get a result there. Difficult to call how well they will do as the have a lot of ex. juniors in their ranks. Interesting to see how John Maisano fits into the team – always had the potential at Cappielow but never quite fulfilled it – Ayr could do a lot worse than build the team round this guy.

DUMBARTON
Another ex. Ton hero lines up for Dumbarton this season – Scotty Bannerman had cemented his place in Ton history with important goals but failed to win a 1st team place last year and moved to “the Rock” in the summer. We never seem to have an average game against the Sons – were either fantastic or dire. Hate the clamor for tickets when we play them at the Rock. They will beat a few on their day but not quite push into the leading group.

FORFAR ATHLETIC
another one of our bogey teams especially at Station Park – no matter how on form we are we never seem to play well or take anything from them. Lost Shields recently which will be a big blow (would have taken him Cappielow last Xmas) obviously puts more burden on Tosh who has been around for ever. Will win points against us but struggle with relegation.

GRETNA
1st hand experience of them last week and was impressed by them. Look a bit top heavy with the arrival of Grady and Alexander’s main task could be deciding to the front pairing. Reckon they will be there or thereabouts in May

PARTICK THISTLE
Dick Campbell’s been here and done it before with Brechin although I don’t know if he will get the time to build anything at Thistle if they don’t have a good start to the season. Still has reasonable squad of players but will have to find the winning ways fast.

PETERHEAD
Bit of unknown quantity to me – obviously fond memories of our 3rd division decider in 2003 but they have taken a while to get out of the 3rd after coming so close on so many occasions. Would have ran away with the 3rd had it not been for Big spenders Gretna. Reckon they will win a lot at home (here have our 6 points now!) but probably settle for mid table safety.

RAITH ROVERS
still recovering for a disastrous spell under Claude Anelka – think this season will be about stabilising the ship and building a challenge for next season. Largely youthful side with a few (very) old heads. Settle for safety and signs of encouragement

STIRLING ALBION
Good record against Stirling in recent years and hopefully that will continue – appear to have lost the momentum gained from the 3rd division push and will need to get it back or could return there. Seem to be lacking a cutting edge up front.

I reckon the top 3 slots will be filled by ourselves, Gretna & Thistle (no real surprises there) but with only top slot guaranteeing a step up then it could be quite a battle. With the new play off system introduced it could mean that the other 2 miss out to either 9th team in 1st division or the 4th place team in the 2nd div.

Think the Ton will hold their own in the head to head matches with Gretna & Thistle but its the games against the other teams that will vitally important to our chances – picking up points at Somerset, Balmoor & Station Park could move us from nearly men to championship winners.