Saturday cannot come soon enough for striker Lewis Dobbie.
The frontman took his tally to six goals in the last five games with his double against Dumbarton.
The summer signing from East Kilbride had also scored a double against Kelty Hearts and will be part of the squad making the long trip to Elgin City looking to continue the fine run.
He said: “I just want to keep playing games as much as possible.
“I think that is six goals in my last four or five games now.
“I just want to keep playing as many games as possible.
“That’s why I came here and it is a bonus when you are scoring goals as a striker.
“I was looking at a stat the other day and I think I have already played more minutes this season than I did last season.
“I was never getting a run of games to show what I have got and I feel like I have done that this season with my goals paying back the manager for putting his trust in me.”
Elgin sit just two places and two points below Stranraer as both clubs get ready for the penultimate round of fixtures in the first quarter.
Back-to-back away defeats mean that Elgin will be looking to get back to winning ways at home, where they are unbeaten in the league this term.
Seb Mason’s first goal in a Stranraer shirt pulled the club level against Dumbarton last weekend.
His strike partner was full of praise for his team-mate and said: “It is really good playing with Seb, especially for me in the nine or ten position.
“He puts his body about and I tend to be playing off of him.
“For me, he is really, really good to play with.”
After Mason’s effort, two goals from Dobbie saw Stranraer pick up three points.
The 21-year-old’s clever close range finish put his side in front and then a spot of quick-thinking allowed him to put the Blues well on course for three points.
He said: “It was a wee backheel for the first goal.
“Evan Dunne got the flick on and it was one of those instinctive finishes.
“I like them a lot better than when you have got too much time to think.
“It was a wee instinctive flick, which, thankfully, went in.
“The second goal – everyone just kind of switched off.
“Zach was standing over the ball and Zach and myself have got this really good relationship and he has assisted maybe three or four of my goals.
“As soon as he saw me make the run, he has played it and I think we were the only two in the stadium that were switched on.”
Last meeting
Robbie Foster scored the final goal of the Stranraer season as the Blues wrapped up 2025/26 with a win.
That came towards the end of the second half but in the opening 45 minutes Ronan Hughes had twice come close.
Russell Dingwall blasted home an impressive effort, which was ruled out by the offside flag, just before half time.
Max Currie then pulled off a brilliant reflex save to deny Dingwall as both teams pushed for a winner. That would come when Foster was in the right place to nod home a Hughes shot.
Elgin City: Ritchie, Virtanen (Thompson 81), Girvan (Cairns 70), Murray, Neill, Ross (Booth 70), Cameron, Spalding (Hyde 46), Dingwall (Hester 63), Sargent, MacIver.
Not used: Machado and Taylor.
Stranraer: Currie, Ecrepont, Reid, McGrath, Docherty (Gillie 62), McKnight (Dunne 61), Lynch, Hughes, Hunter (Dolan 62), Edgar (Foster 61), Cleland (McManus 74).
Not used: Coll and Tas.
Last five meetings
- Elgin City 0 Stranraer 1 (Foster) at Borough Briggs on May 2, 2026
- Stranraer 1 Elgin City 2 (Cleland; Hester and Girvan) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on February 28, 2026
- Elgin City 1 Stranraer 2 (Murray; Plank and Rough) at Borough Briggs on December 13, 2025
- Stranraer 1 Elgin City 1 (Russell (Pen); Hester) at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park on September 20, 2025
- Elgin City 3 Stranraer 0 (Dingwall, Golding and Gallagher) at Borough Briggs on April 26, 2025
Last five games
Stranraer
- WIN v Dumbarton (H): 3-1 (Mason and Dobbie x2)
- WIN v Forfar Athletic (A): 0-3 (Dobbie (Pen), McLuckie and Dunne)
- LOSS v Celtic B (H): 3-4 (Dolan (Pen), Healy and Trialist)
- WIN v Kelty Hearts (H): 2-0 (Dobbie x2)
- WIN v Gala Fairydean Rovers (H): 3-0 (Cleland, Traynor and Hughes)
Elgin City
- LOSS v Annan Athletic (A): 2-0
- WIN v Fraserburgh (H): 7-0 (Willox, Murray x2 (Pen x1), Gallagher, MacDonald, Brown and Own Goal)
- LOSS v Dumbarton (A): 2-1 (MacIver)
- WIN v Stirling Albion (H): 4-0 (Girvan, Gallagher, Colloty and Brown)
- WIN v Clachnacuddin (A): 0-2 (Colloty (Pen) and Booth)
Last time out
Stranraer
Lineup v Dumbarton: Currie, Ecrepont, McLuckie, Nair, Dunne, Quigg, Traynor (Stuart 67), Bruce (Foster 82), McManus (Dolan 67), Dobbie, Mason (Cleland 76).
Not used: Cameron, Lynch and Henderson.
Elgin City
Lineup v Annan Athletic: Morrison, Murray, Neill, Girvan, Booth (Towler 78), Mackay, Gallagher (Cairns 71), Grant (Brown 64), MacIver, Hester (Colloty 64), Dingwall.
Not used: Cummings, MacDonald, Machado, Willox and Ritchie.
Transfers
Stranraer
Ins: Murray Binnie (St Johnstone), Zach Bruce (Hibernian, loan), Connor Cameron (Renfrew), Dean Cleland (Hibernian), Lewis Dobbie (East Kilbride), Lewis Gillie (Hibernian, loan), Aaron Healy (Arthurlie), Seb Mason (Carlisle United, loan), Mark McLuckie (Bo’ness United), Kenzi Nair (Heart of Midlothian), Dominic Plank (Heart of Midlothian) and Archie Traynor (Kilmarnock, loan).
Outs: Murray Binnie (Bo’ness United, loan), Ryan Edgar (Cumnock Juniors), Matthew Gillies (Heart of Midlothian, end of loan), Lewis Hunter (Caledonian Braves), Deryn Lang (Dumbarton), Joseph McGrath (Hibernian, end of loan), Kirk McKnight (Annan Athletic), Corey O’Donnell (Annan Athletic), Lewis Reid (Ross County), Tommy Sharp (Cumnock Juniors), Lyndon Tas (Heart of Midlothian, end of loan), Sallu Turay (Linlithgow Rose) and Sean Docherty.
Elgin City
Ins: Callum Brown (Ross County, loan), Oliver Colloty (Peterhead), Aaron Cummings (Aberdeen, loan), Matty Grant (Johnstone Burgh), Lewis Mackay (Ross County, loan), Joe Morrison (East Kilbride), Morgyn Neill (Dumbarton), Liam Scullion (Clyde), Evan Towler (Montrose), Kieron Willox (Stoke City).
Elgin City outs: Matthew Cooper (Formartine United), Connall Ewan (Brora Rangers), Thomas McHale (Nairn County), Josh O’Connor (Berwick Rangers), Dylan Ross (Aberdeen, end of loan), Ryan Sargent (Fraserburgh), Ali Spalding (Arbroath, end of loan), Robbie Thompson (Inverness Caledonian Thistle, end of loan), Josh Walker (Alloa Athletic), Rocco Hickey-Fugaccia and Oliver Kelly.
Five facts
- Seb Mason’s first Stranraer goal came in the 55th minute against Dumbarton last weekend. That was Stranraer’s first goal in the 55th minute since Finn Ecrepont scored against Stenhousemuir in April 2023.
- Stranraer have taken nine points from the last nine available. The last time they won four league contests in a row was in April 2021. A 1-0 win over Stirling Albion (Andy Stirling), was followed by a 4-0 win over Stenhousemuir (James Hilton, Tom Orr and a Ruari Paton double), 2-0 victory over Albion Rovers (Hilton and Joao Victoria) and, finally, a 1-0 win over Queen’s Park (Matty Yates). The run was ended by Elgin City.
- Happy birthday to former Stranraer forward David McKenna. He played for St Mirren, Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion before joining Stranraer from Brechin City in 2013. A single season was followed by time at East Stirlingshire and Annan Athletic. He made 47 appearances and scored five goals for the Blues. Impressively, whenever he scored, he was always on the winning side: 4-3 v Brechin City, 6-3 v Ayr United, 3-1 v Dunfermline Athletic (where he scored two) and 2-0 v East Fife. He turns 40 on Saturday.
- Dumbarton held a 1-0 lead at half time against Stranraer last weekend. The last time the Blues managed to turn that scoreline round at half time at The LIME Stadium at Stair Park was on April 16, 2016. Brad McKay had given Dunfermline Athletic a 1-0 lead at the break but goals from Mark McGuigan and Andy Stirling, as well as a Craig Malcolm double saw the game turned on its head and Stranraer win 4-1. The home team was: Belford, Robertson (Rumsby 89), Pettigrew, Bell, Dick, Cairney, Thomson, Gibson (Kemp 73), Malcolm, Stirling, McGuigan (Longworth 87). Not used: Barron, Aitken, Turner and Currie.
- Last season, Lewis Dobbie played 939 minutes for East Kilbride. By the second weekend in September, he had clocked up 975 minutes for Stranraer.
Admission
Fans purchasing tickets via Elgin’s online portal make a £1 saving compared to paying cash at turnstiles.
Elgin’s discounted online ticket prices are as follows:
Stand
- Adult – £19
- Concession – £14
- Accompanied Under 16s – £2
- Unaccompanied Under 16s – £5
Ground
- Adult – £17
- Concession – £12
- Accompanied Under 16s – FREE
- Unaccompanied Under 16s – £3
Podcast
Check out the latest edition of club podcast Look Blues Talking for a full review of the win over Dumbarton, post-match reaction from Seb Mason, and previews of the weekend’s action and our cup trip to Berwick Rangers on Tuesday night.
Coverage
If you can’t make the journey to Elgin on Saturday, you can follow our live matchday updates on X (formerly Twitter).
The manager’s post-match reaction will be available on YouTube following the game.
Club 1870 subscribers get a first look at the goals, along with full match footage.
Extended highlights will be available via YouTube on Sunday morning, with Laurence Nelson joined by Martin McLelland on commentary.
Photos: Dylan Heron (DylzVisualz), Bill McCandlish, Colin Poultney (Collarge Images)