Edinburgh City play out 10-goal epic in 25-year Scottish football first as Spartans bring hammer down on foes
It was a good weekend for both Edinburgh City and Spartans in League Two.
Edinburgh City secured an eye-popping 7-3 victory over Stirling Albion in their latest League Two clash on Saturday.
Michael McIndoe’s side blew the Binos away in the first half at Meadowbank and were up 5-0 by the interval. Innes Lawson had scored twice inside 42 minutes and made it a hat-trick after the break with the game winner as Steven Whittaker’s demolished foes picked up a few consolation goals. It puts the Citizens eighth after racking up the first 7-3 scoreline in Scotland’s top four professional leagues, or the major cups, in over 25 years since Inverness Caledonian Thistle defeated Ayr United 7-3 in Dec 2000.
Manager McIndoe, who’s team face Kelty Hearts on the road next, said post-match: “Excellent. We asked the players to be a lot more efficient in our forward play. We've been creating a lot of chances in the last two months but not been efficient enough. I think we took 60-70% of our chances. The three goals flattered them. I don't think we should've conceded any goals.
Edinburgh City 7-3 Stirling Albion assessment
“I don't want to be disrespectful to Stirling but that game should've been 7-0, not 7-3. I had a wee dig at the players afterwards to say ‘listen, I'm happy with the score and seven goals, but I'm not happy with the three we conceded.’ That needs to be eradicated quickly because they didn't deserve to score three against us.
“The seven goals are really good as well. I think you look at them individually, the build-up play, we were very slick in our approach. The movement was fantastic. Some of the football was fantastic. Fantastic for Innes to score his hat-trick.”
Spartans meanwhile hammered Forfar Athletic 5-1 at Ainslie Park. Sporting director Mixu Paatelainen is assisting the coaching staff currently with manager Dougie Samuel taking a leave of absence but upheaval did not impact the players. Mark Stowe grabbed a hat-trick and Cammy Russell was at the double during a convincing win. Up next for Spartans is an away clash at Dumbarton after this victory put them third.
Spartans 5-1 Forfar Athletic assessment
Russell said: “Good performance. First half was a lot better than the second half. We probably started a little bit sloppy, but yeah, we got there in the end. First half we were just playing some good football. Marc McNulty’s laid it off to me and I just tried to hit the target. In the second half I just had to try and hit it quickly and hit it hard. I didn't even see it go in, so yeah, nice to get off the mark in the league.
“I think you can tell that each week we've been getting better and better. I think the fans can see that and appreciate that as well. Creating more chances, we're scoring more goals, we might not have won but they've been entertaining games for sure. Hopefully they enjoyed it as we're definitely enjoying playing here at home. Obviously goals aren't everything. I feel like I've been playing quite well and it’s about trying to help the team. Sometimes the goals help, and the goals have helped the team a lot, so that's what it's all about.”