THEY may have been separated by just one place at the start of the day, but there was a massive gulf between Stirling Albion and East Stirlingshire as both attempted to maintain their 100% start to the term on Saturday.

Greig McDonald recognised as much, making the concession as freely as his Stirling defenders had in this 3-1 home defeat. "We got what we deserved," he admitted. "We gave East Stirling three goals. We didn't start playing until we went 3-0 down and it's easy to play at that point. We're better than that."

It was a fair assessment. Not only was the hosts' defending slack, but a lack of width and movement up front left them lacking attacking potency, in stark contrast to their organised and more clinical opponents. Stirling had more possession but struggled to build any momentum, whereas John Coughlin's side used their time on the ball to great effect. Indeed, they scored with their first chance, Max Wright's corner finding defender Michael Bolochoweckyj in acres of space at the front post to head in.

Wright was the dangerman for the away side. By far the best player on the park, he was involved in all three East Stirling goals and hit a post twice himself. The attacker who took advantage of a terrible Ross Forsyth header before cutting back to Paul Quinn, who finished from close range to put the visitors 2-0 ahead after 24 minutes. East Stirling's third came nine minutes into the second-half, with Wright involved again as his effort struck up upright and Jordan McKechnie smashed in the rebound. "It'll come if I keep working away," said Wright of his failure to score. "As long as we win, but I want a goal."

With a three-goal lead, the visitors were able to sit back, but Stirling looked more dangerous later on and pulled one back with 12 minutes left. David Weatherston took a Mark Ferry pass in his stride and squared it to Jordan White, who tucked it in.