You are currently viewing Kelty Hearts preview

Kelty Hearts preview

Only one team has avoided defeat in Scottish League Two this season.

On Saturday, Stranraer are looking to change that when they travel to Fife.

Five wins and two draws from the opening seven games reflects an impressive start for Kevin Thomson’s Kelty Hearts but Scott Robertson is looking to put an end to that run.

The player/coach is one of only two players not to miss a minute of the opening 11 games for Stranraer.

He said: “They might, but I would be very surprised if they went the whole season unbeaten.

“Not many teams at any level do go unbeaten.

“Somebody at some point is going to beat them, somebody is going to take points off of them.

“Why not us on Saturday?

“We are playing well, we have had a good run of results – other than the Edinburgh City game.

“We have drawn away to Forfar, we won away to Cowdenbeath, a decent performance against Partick Thistle, good performance against Edinburgh and a good result against Stenhousemuir.

Stranraer have seen an upturn in form recently

“I don’t see why we should not be going to the game confident.

“It is going to be a tough game but every game in this league is tough.

“You turn up and you have got a chance; if you don’t turn up then there is a good chance you are not going to win.”

The Blues picked up their first three points at Stair Park in the league this season when they defeated Stenhousemuir last weekend.

Matty Yates and Broque Watson found the net in the 2-0 win, although both men missed from the penalty spot as well.

Robertson was quick to stress that nothing was won or lost at the beginning of the season.

He said: “We are certainly not going to get carried away.

Robertson (centre) is hoping the Blues can build on wins over Cowdenbeath and Stenhousemuir

“It was six games into the season before Saturday.

“If we had lost we were not going to throw in the towel.

“The way we have played in the majority of the games this season, if we had lost on Saturday we would not have been happy but we would just keep working away because there are plenty of signs there.

“We are as good as anybody else in the league.

“The result last Saturday was not the be all and end all but obviously it was good to win and get a home win.”

Robertson, who, if selected, will make his 270th appearance for the club on Saturday, felt there was more to come from the squad.

Injuries and absences have not helped the side at times, with the victory over Stenhousemuir the first time Jamie Hamill has been able to name the same starting line-up.

Even then, Darryl Duffy, Tommy Muir, Sean McIntosh, Curtis Lyle and Dean Hawkshaw were all missing from the squad.

Last meeting

Kelty Hearts 2-3 Stranraer

The Blues scored a dramatic winner in the last meeting between the sides

A behind closed doors thriller took place at Stark’s Park in the Scottish Cup earlier this year when Stranraer came from two goals down to win.

Nathan Austin’s effort from outside the box beat Greg Fleming, before Scott Robertson was penalised for a tackle in the box. Kallum Higginbotham scored the spot kick to have the ‘home side’ 2-0 up at half time.

However, Thomas Orr equalised three minutes after the restart before Robertson headed home an equaliser.

Then, with seconds remaining, James Hilton was brought down for a penalty kick, which Ruari Paton fired home.

Kelty Hearts: Jamieson, Stevenson, Boyle, Hooper, Hill, Reilly, Tidser, Philp (Anderson 86), Higginbotham, Austin, Easton.
Not used: Cooney, Reid, Shanley and Donaldson.

Stranraer: Fleming, Robertson, Cummins, Sonkur, McManus (Hilton 89), Gallagher, Stirling, Millar, Duffy (Victoria 74), Paton, Orr.
Not used: Burns, Devitt, Elliott, Yates and Walker.

Last five games

Stranraer have two wins, two defeats and a draw from their last five games

Stranraer

  • WIN v Stenhousemuir (H): 2-0 (Yates and Watson)
  • LOSS v Edinburgh City (H): 0-1
  • LOSS v Partick Thistle (H): 0-2
  • WIN v Cowdenbeath (A): 1-2 (Rennie and Gallagher)
  • DRAW v Forfar Athletic (A): 1-1 (Duffy)

Kelty Hearts

  • WIN v Albion Rovers (A): 0-3 (Austin x3)
  • DRAW v Elgin City (H): 1-1 (Higginbotham)
  • WIN v Stenhousemuir (A): 1-4 (Agyeman x2, Cardle and Barjonas)
  • WIN v Edinburgh City (H): 1-0 (Barjonas)
  • DRAW v Forfar Athletic (A): 2-2 (Austin x2)

Last time out

Stranraer

Lineup v Stenhousemuir: Scullion, Robertson, Burns, Sonkur, Ross, Brady (Langan 70), Gallagher, Woods (Moore 70), Smith (Irving 87), Watson (Walker 77), Yates (Ngoy 87).
Not used: Ellis and Rennie.

Kelty Hearts

Lineup v Albion Rovers: Jamieson, Hooper, Forster, O’Ware, Black, Cardle, Barjonas, Philp, McNab, Higginbotham, Austin (Biabi 76).
Not used: Peggie, Tidser, Finnan, Ngwenya and Donaldson.

Admission

Admission is on a “pay at the gate” basis, priced at £13 for adults, £8 for concessions, and free for under 12s when accompanied by an adult.

There will be no live video coverage available for this fixture.