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On a sunny, windy afternoon, we probably had the better of the first half hour. After 5 minutes Doris was put in the clear out right but a cynical tackle went unpunished. The referee subsequently made up for lost time eventually booking 6 Stenny players and 3 Lichties (Scott, Rattray inevitably) in a tussle without much edge.
Arbroath passed the ball a bit better but carved out very little, The Stenny defence looked solid and we lacked guile and pace to break through. Stenny never threatened the entire half
Second half we didn't come out. Two subs for Stenny gave them new options. Our defence was asleep when a decent ball was slung in from a freekick 25 yards out after 50 minutes for Smith to nod in easily at the far post. Then 7 minutes later, a corner was not cleared and the ball broke to Thomson who headed in cleverly and powerfully from 10 yards.
Stenny were attacking at every turn now and we could not get hold of the ball. Several chances for the home side went amiss as they tore our defence apart. Eventually a lovely passing move down their left (admittedly rather lame defending allowed such an advance) ended in a neat pass to Diack who smashed it high into the net. This guy is such a complete tool that he tried to provoke the Lichtie fans by taking off his shirt (thereby earning a booking) - what an asshole but unfortunately often scores againt us. He didn't provoke us because the support had left in spirit if not in body.
Late on Scott could not convert when one to one (from an angle against the keeper). Not our afternoon, day, week - 10 goals conceded for one scored.
The St Johnstone game took its toll as did the absence of Sellars but we looked a bit clueless in attack, never competed in midfield and the defence suddenly looked shaky. No cause for worry after 3 away games in the first 4 but a reality check
Back to business as usual - and now the international break