Match report

Match report

The first half started briskly with some good probing runs from Tom Gould who unfortunately couldn’t get a cross in. Stirling then woke up a little and the battle moved to the midfield. Sonjae Cook was linking up well with Louis Moran and Rigby Barnes with some excellent short passing. They moved swiftly up the right channel a couple of times, but strong defence saw these forays go unrewarded.

Harry Wood and Oliver Ramsey withstood some strong attacking from Stirling’s left wing and midfield who attacked several times.  Our overall defence was under threat several times with Jack Gaskin, Noah Duggan, Barnes, Ramsey and Caleb Earley managing to clear the ball repeatedly.  Following several minutes of attacking pressure from Stirling they were rewarded with a goal in the 18th minute.  Gaskin, Eli Parkyn, Wood, and Gould all made penetrating runs at points throughout the first half but couldn’t get many clear chances with Stirling’s defence proving resilient.

Sam Griffiths also produced some good passes and made life generally difficult for Stirling’s defenders. Jackson Bidgood then made a crucial save when he ran out to get the ball as the attacking Stirling right winger was on a clear run - hesitation and not going likely would have resulted in a goal to Stirling. Bidgood made several other strong saves in the first half.  At the end of the first half the score was 1-0 to Stirling.

We started strongly in the second half and spent considerable time in Stirling’s half. Despite this, Stirling still looked dangerous on the counterattack. Wood, Duggan and Earley were all working hard to blunt some swift and skilful attacks from the Stirling wingers.  After some decent pressure, in the 52nd minute, some good attacking play from midfield and Gould on the right wing saw the ball crossed and delivered into Stirling’s goal square. Some muddled defensive work from Stirling saw the ball bounce back and forth and took the goalkeeper off his line at which point Flynn Menzies who had been lurking dangerously popped in a goal to the bottom right from close range.

With the scores now equal there was a prolonged midfield tussle with possession changing several times. Stirling then scored a goal in the 56th minute as a result of a swift counterattack. Parkyn and Gaskin then made some good runs, linking up well with the midfield. This period also saw some excellent incisive, long-range passes from Ramsey and Barnes. Stirling kept Griffiths, who was playing as goalkeeper in the second half, very busy and he had to make no less than four excellent saves throughout the half. Against the general flow and momentum of the game, Stirling then managed to snag a third goal in the 60th minute.  This goal proved to be the spark needed for our players to ignite.

The midfield and defence retained possession well and made several good passes, ultimately resulting in Bidgood, now no longer restricted to goal, zooming up the middle, weaving through a couple of defenders before striking a lovely shot from a decent range into the bottom right of the goal as the 62nd minute arrived. We continued looking for the equaliser despite rather tired legs and the fact it was a Wednesday night rather than a Saturday morning – but it was not to be. Ultimately, Stirling held on for the win. The final result being 3 – 2 to Stirling.