Annan Athletic 1-1 Stirling Albion Ten-man Stirling Albion left Galabank with their first point of the new season after a hard fought draw with Annan Athletic.

Albion went behind to Smart Osadolor’s strike just seconds into the second half but pulled a goal back through Sean Dickson’s penalty before both sides had a man sent off.

The Binos made one change to the side that lost 1-0 to Clyde, with Ross McMillan returning from injury to replace the suspended Mark Staunton.

The home side went closest in the early stages when Josh Todd found space to turn and shoot in the box but he dragged his shot wide of Chris Smith’s post.

Stirling almost went in front with a speculative effort after 18 minutes. Sean Dickson and Jon Paul McGovern made a mess of an intricate free kick but the ball broke back to Dickson, whose half-volley from 30 yards missed Jordan Hart’s goal by a matter of inches.

Chances continued to fall at both ends and Smart Osadolor’s low shot beat Smith, but again the Annan man’s effort was wide of the mark.

Peter Weatherson had an even better chance to open the scoring, but the veteran scuffed his shot and Smith was able to smother the ball on the line.

The home side took the lead within a minute of the start of the second half. Osadolor picked the ball up from the kickoff and ran at the heart of the Binos defence, and when they failed to clear their lines, he fired an unstoppable shot beyond Smith and into the far corner.

Josh Todd had two chances to double Annan’s lead inside as many minutes, first failing to connect with Rabin Omar’s low cross before dragging a shot wide when the ball fell to him from a free kick.

The Binos were handed a route back into the tie just before the hour mark when Criag Beattie was felled in the box. The referee pointed to the spot and Dickson stepped up to slot home the spot kick and level the scores.

But just moments later, the visitors were reduced to ten men when Kevin McKinlay was sent off for a challenge on Omar, sparking a melee which also saw Binos assistant Martyn Corrigan sent to the stand.

Osadolor went close again with a shot from distance which flew just wide as the hosts looked to capitalise on their numerical advantage.

The numbers were evened up with ten minutes remaining when Peter Watson was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Craig Comrie.

But the Binos were unable to take advantage and had to settle for just one point as they got their League Two campaign off the ground.