Braehead 0 Stirling 1

Title in Stirling hands after battling win

Stirling took a huge step towards promotion and perhaps the division 2 title with a win over rivals Braehead. Coming off the back of a 4-1 defeat the previous week from the same opponents, Stirling were determined to put up a better showing this time around.

Stirling had the better of the opening exchanges as the more experienced Braehead side seemed to take the students for granted. Stevie Boyle slotted into centre half alongside Ryan Mahoney and these two put on a tremendous showing snuffing out attacks time and again.

Will Barker was breaking forward from midfield looking for through balls and he nearly gave the lead to the away side after ten minutes. Graeme Crawford played a ball forward from the right back area which Barker took in his stride before firing across goal, narrowly wide of the target.

It was from a similar run, however, that Stirling was to take the lead. Barker pounced on the second ball of a Ross Harkness goal kick and timed the pass perfectly to release Euan McCall. Taking the shot first time, McCall put it neatly into the bottom corner to put the university side ahead.

Braehead were dangerous on the ball with pace and height causing the students some problems. For all their positive attributes though, Stirling remained relatively untroubled throughout the first half. A flicked ball left the striker one on one with Harkness but his attempted lob was gathered easily by the tall keeper.

One other moment of danger came when the ball was cleared off the Stirling line much to Braehead’s dismay. However the ball was clearly not over, a fact admitted by the Braehead player’s closest to the play.

The second half took a similar appearance to the first, with Braehead having the majority of the ball, but failing to break down a stubborn defence. Play was disrupted by a spate of injuries to both sides and although none were serious, play was disrupted sufficiently to cause the game to lose its flow.

Stirling were compact and threatened on the counter against a Braehead side who looked to use the presence of their ginger haired centre mid and their lofty striker to cause problems. For all their attempts the back four, ably supported by the rest of the team, was dealing with the pressure well.

Both sides were reduced to ten men after the hour mark, as a contested tackle led to a heated aftermath in which the referee sent both players off. Stirling went to a 4-4-1 to deal with this and coped comfortably with enforced change.

Harkness’ goal remained relatively danger-free as only a couple of long range efforts, which were dealt with comfortably, threatened an equaliser.

Stirling could have wrapped the game up with five to go as Betreen took advantage of an over committed defence to go through on the keeper. Unfortunately his usual precision finishing let him down and Stirling held out for the last minutes efficiently.

Ref’s Man of the Match: Stevie Boyle/Ryan Mahoney

Stirling: Harkness, Crawford, Boyle, Mahoney, Watson, McLean, Bews, Barker, Smith (Quinn), McCall, MacDougall (McLaughlin) Subs: Chapman