Match report

Season Date Round Venue
2019 U16 18th May 1:00pm Cup Round 1 SUFC Aldgate Oval
Goals
N. Robinson (2'), N. Robinson (29'), O. wn Goal (50'), S. Bartlett (51'), S. Bartlett (63')

Best
S. Bartlett (1st), N. Robinson (2nd), T. Packer (3rd)
Goals
J. Hoyle (21'), B. Tyas (39'), R. Boyes-Flynn (72'), T. Christiansen (73')

Best
J. Hoyle (1st), T. Christiansen (2nd), B. Tyas (3rd)
Match report

After a tightly fought match earlier in the season where Woodside came out on top, this first round cup game promised to be a hard fought affair. Stirling started strongly, and when Nick Robinson scored in the second minute, had some early confidence. Both sides had chances, with one of the best being from a Woodside free kick which saw Liam Gibbs in the United goal out of position, but the powerful shot from Woodside was bravely blocked by Matt Daly in the United defence. On 21 minutes, another Woodside cross into the box which saw the initial shot blocked by Joseph Doyle, but the rebound was put away by Hoyle for Woodside to level the score.

Stirling United then had a good period of play, with a lovely shot from Sam Bartlett saved by Casey Paterson in the Woodside goal. Following this, Robinson pushed forward with a great solo run that saw his shot go just wide, but almost immediately, he followed this up with a beautiful left foot shot that hit the back of the net to give Stirling the lead. Bartlett had a number of further opportunities saved by Paterson, but as the end of the half approached, Woodside turned the tables and pinned Stirling in their back half. A Woodside corner resulted in a shot that just went wide, and just before the whistle, Tyas took a long range shot from well outside the box which he struck beautifully into the top of the net to level it up at half time.

Early in the second half, a great run and shot from Toby Christiansen for Woodside was well saved by Gibbs in the Stirling goal. At the other end, Bartlett had another shot that went just wide, followed by a great cross from Tyson Reuter which saw the ball pass multiple Stirling forwards before a shot from Anton Levings also missed the target. Continued pressure from Stirling eventually saw them retake the lead thanks to an unlucky own goal after yet another brilliant save from Paterson. A minute later Tom Packer made a great run down the right wing, and then with a precision pass found Levings on his inside, passing to Bartlett who scored through the tiniest of gaps on the near side of the goal. A further period of end to end play eventually saw Bartlett trap the ball with great skill, and then score with his favoured left foot to put Stirling ahead 5-2 with 17 minutes left to play.

With the game looking to be well in hand with less than 10 minutes to go, Woodside scored two in two minutes through Boyes-Flynn and Christiansen which set up a tense final stage of the match. Both sides had chances, but when the final whistle blew, Stirling prevailed in what was a highly entertaining and competitive match. Stirling go on to the next round, while a gallant Woodside can lick their wounds and continue the fight for the league.