Proud Peterhead captain Steven Noble described lifting the League 2 trophy as the best moment of his career after the Blue Toon put a heavy home defeat by Stirling Albion behind them to celebrate in style.
The Buchan club’s most memorable season since joining the senior ranks of Scottish football in 2000 reached a climax when Noble held the silverware aloft at Balmoor.
Noble was adamant the party atmosphere would not be spoiled by the play-off chasing Binos, who ended the Blue Toon’s unbeaten home record.
Noble said: “It was a great feeling to lift that trophy. I had been looking forward to that moment since we clinched the title away to Clyde a fortnight ago. I only got three hours sleep the night before the game through excitement.
“It’s a pity the game was so bad. The result maybe put a wee bit of a damper on things but to lift that trophy was a great feeling. Being the captain made it even more special so by a long way this is a career highlight. Of course it would have been nice to get a result and preserve our unbeaten home record.
“There were other records that we could have broken as well but we have done what we set out to do which was to win the league and we have done it convincingly.”
The contest meant more to Stirling and it showed.
The Binos carried a bigger threat and went in front in the 31st minute.
After some crisp passing outside the Peterhead penalty area, the ball went wide for David McClune and his cross was headed home from six yards by the unmarked Craig Comrie.
Graeme Sharp’s mistake allowed Stirling to double their lead four minutes later.
He could not deal with a long punt forward, the ball skimming off the top of his head, and David Weatherston broke clear to slot the ball past Graeme Smith.
An away victory was assured in the 53rd minute when Stirling scored a third.
Phil Johnston squared for Graham Weir, whose low drive from 18 yards nestled into the bottom corner.
Comrie added another with 15 minutes remaining, latching on to a throughball to fire into the net off the legs of Ross Smith.
Long before this point, the Peterhead supporters, and seemingly the players too, were thinking only about the post-match celebrations and the culmination of a consistent campaign, which has yielded 22 victories and 72 goals.
Noble is looking forward to testing himself in League 1 and is convinced the Blue Toon players will be able to hold their own in the third tier of Scottish football.
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