Elgin City 0 Stirling Albion 3: Borough Briggs blunders send struggling Elgin City spinning closer to League 2 relegation zone
Beleaguered Elgin City made it seven home games without a win as they crashed to a 3-0 defeat at home to leaders Stirling Albion.
City slipped to second bottom in League Two as their numerous errors were punished by a clinical and impressive visiting side.
Elgin were missing two key defenders with Ross Draper serving the second of a two-match ban and captain Matthew Cooper unable to start due to injury.
Manager Gavin Price handed a starting debut to Dunfermline Athletic loan teenager Andy Tod and a first home start for local youngster Matty Jamieson, who also started in the 2-0 defeat at East Fife last Friday night.
City looked up for the contest from kick off but survived an early scare when Jack Leitch worked his way into the box and fired in a near post effort which Daniel Hoban did well to palm to safety.
Stirling lost centre back Adam Cummins to injury but crucially took the lead with a bizarre goal on 14 minutes.
Hoban tried to kick clear from his box but sent the ball only as far as Ross Davidson, who floated it back into the danger area and Aaron Dunsmore reacted to send a lob over the head of the stranded City keeper from just inside the box into the net.
The visitors doubled their lead on 25 minutes. Darryl McHardy slipped as he tried to take a pass and it fell straight to Dunsmore, who slipped in Dale Carrick to fire home a low finish.
The home side still had a determined look about them and had opportunities to get back in the game.
Top scorer Kane Hester ran from near halfway past a succession of defenders but took on one too many in the box and was tackled.
Then from a Russell Dingwall corner on the right, McHardy rose to head towards the net but Robert Thomson popped up on the line to clear for Stirling.
In stoppage time, the visitors came close to scoring again as a Thomson corner fell on the half volley for Davidson, whose snapshot skimmed inches past.
City needed a big second half performance but their challenge quickly went off track on an error-strewn afternoon.
Jake Dolzanski misjudged a through ball allowing Thomson to go clear on 49 minutes and he teed up Josh Cooper in front of goal, only for the Stirling man to slice wide.
The home side weren’t so fortunate three minutes later when McHardy fresh-aired a big kick out from keeper Blair Currie and Thomson went through to slot past Hoban and make it 3-0.
Perhaps it summed up Elgin’s day when Hester produced a great run to go through on goal only to produce a poor finish which Blair Currie pushed into the air for Andy Tod to nod the rebound wide of a gaping goal on 63 minutes.
Currie made two more saved on 81 minutes to slap away a Hester blast then superbly block sub Rory MacEwan’s fierce follow-up.
Hester then fired wide in the final minute with the destiny of the three points already decided.
Elgin: Hoban; Cairns, Dolzanski (MacEwan 58), McHardy, Towler; Cameron, Dingwall (Findlay 76), Mailer; Tod (Allen 76), Hester, Jamieson (Taylor 53).
Subs: Cooper, Lawrence, McHale.
Stirling: Currie; McGeachie, Cummins (McGregor 9), McLean, Clark; Dunsmore (Denholm 59), Leitch, Davidson (Banner 71), Cooper (Moore 59); Carrick, Thomson (Spence 71).
Subs: Duffy, Hamilton, Weir.
Referee: Peter Stuart
Att: 751