Season Review Part 1
Season Review Part 2
Season Review Part 3
The hardy Brechin supporters who travelled to New Broomfield to see Brechin take on Airdrie were praying for an early Christmas present but once again, City were on the end of another hammering. Despite having the better of the play early on, Airdrie went 1-0 up through Bryan Prunty but City continued to create chances and were unlucky not to have equalised. However, Airdrie netted a second goal just after the break and City’s defence just crumbled as Airdrie slammed in another 4 goals without reply.
So City were rock bottom at Christmas, three points adrift of Queen of the South having played a game more and ten points behind 8th placed Stranraer, things were looking bleak for Pinky’s side.
City fans maybe weren’t given an early Christmas present, but they were certainly treated to a late one as City recorded their first league win of the season at home to Clyde on Boxing Day. City won the match convincingly as Steven Hampshire netted two before Chris Geddes, playing as a trialist, slotted in a 3rd. As time was ticking away Craig Bryson netted a consolation for Clyde but it was too little too late and Brechin eventually got their first league win of the season, much to the supporter’s delight.
'Hammy' celebrates his 2nd against Clyde.
City gaffer Ian Campbell has stated throughout the season that once Brechin got the ‘monkey’ off their backs, they would start picking up more points. City fans were actually beginning to believe that as centre half David White headed Brechin into the lead against league leaders St Mirren on Hogmanay. City fans were thinking to themselves… is this the turning point? Sadly, St Mirren scored a couple of goals to put them in the driving seat but Darren Smith popped up with a spectacular equaliser to silence the home support. Was this the same team we had been watching all season? This team was almost outplaying the league leaders on their own pitch! Typical of City’s season though, St Mirren grabbed a late winner to deny City the point they really deserved.
The January transfer window opened that night and Iain Campbell moved quickly to bring in a couple of new faces. Chris Geddes (20), who played as trialist against Clyde and Scott Devlin (21) were both brought in from the juniors and the City gaffer was hoping these two players would give the side a bit of pace, something we were sorely lacking. Paul Ritchie also left the club to sign for Dick Campbell’s Partick Thistle, who were chasing promotion to the first division.
City were given a break from the league as they took on SPL outfit Falkirk in the third round of the Scottish cup away from home. This turned out to be a typical City match- hard lines, hard luck, no breaks, and a stonewall penalty claim that saw a six-foot centre back used as a peg for the goal-nets! Perhaps since Falkirk had failed to win any of their last 11 league fixtures at this stadium and had lost on nine of those occasions, Brechin may have given themselves something to believe in and fight for. Had they converted the chances they created, especially when the status quo was maintained in the first half, it could have been City in the hat rather than their supposedly more illustrious hosts. Two Alan Gow goals sandwiched a Charlie King equalizer as Falkirk put their name into the hat for the next round.
There were further player movements before the crucial match at home to Stranraer as the manager arranged two temporary transfers with one player coming and one taking temporary leave. The loan transfer of Danny Grainger from Gretna until the end of the season had been completed while Steven Ferguson moved to Dumbarton until the end of the season.
In the crucial six pointer at home to 8th placed Stranraer, City planned siege on Stranraer’s goal in the second half but just couldn’t find the net. City defended superbly at the other end though so the game finished goalless, a result neither team would have wanted.
New recruit Danny Grainger in action against Stranraer.
The following week City were at home once again, this time to local rivals Dundee. Brechin were never at the races however, as Dundee cruised to an easy 3-0 win. The Dark Blue’s second goal, scored by left back Paul Dixon, was nothing short of spectacular.
Paul Dixon scores a spectacular second goal for the Dark Blues.
With the transfer window deadline looming the Manager once again freshened up the squad. Steven Hamilton was released while Scott Wilson, formerly of Raith Rovers, was brought in. Craig Winter also left the club to join Dumbarton while Gary Bollan’s proposed loan move to Raith fell through.
For the match against St Johnstone at McDiarmid, City gaffer Iain Campbell had a real selection headache, and it certainly wasn’t a good one. Almost half of the squad was out injured or suspended, so he had to bring in a couple of trialists, one being former Hibs youngster Kevin Nicol to make up the 16 man squad. The dilapidated Brechin side didn’t fare all too well against the Perth Saints as they were brushed aside, losing 3-0.
On the very last day of the transfer window, ‘Pink’ managed to bring back a former fans favourite in Chris Templeman on loan from Morton, in order to bolster his striking options. Chris wasn’t getting much of a chance at Cappielow so he jumped at the chance of returning to City.
Chris Templeman started in City’s next match at home to Airdrie United and showed some of the flair that made him such a firm favourite with the City faithful. However, he couldn’t inspire a poor Brechin side to victory, and so 0-0 it finished.
Chris Templeman in action against Airdrie.
It was now ‘make or break’ time for City as they took on QotS down at Palmerston. It was a match Brechin really needed to win to keep alive their hopes of staying up while a loss would have hammered another nail in City’s coffin. Both sides created good chances but neither could find the net so it finished 0-0 for the second successive match. Brechin were now on the verge of relegation and had failed to score in the previous 5 matches, that’s 450 minutes of football without hitting the net!
