The University of Stirling men’s first football team picked up their first win of the season, beating Livingston B 4-0 in the opening round of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
James Russell, James Malcolm, Ben Maciver Redwood and Nathan Tallen were on the scoresheet in an impressive performance at Forthbank.
Head Coach Chris Geddes said: “We’re delighted to get the first win of the season.”
“At one nil it’s anyone’s game so I wasn’t too happy at halftime. We need to do better at taking the chances we created to punish teams, but then second half we were a lot more clinical.”
Looking to build on Saturday’s positive result against East Kilbride, the Uni were quick off the blocks and led after three minutes. A throw-in from the right found Russell who skipped past several challenges to fire low into the right corner.
The uni dominated the early stages of the game following the goal. Cameron Mckinley nearly added a second but was unable to get a shot off early enough after a quick break.
Livingston B took until the 26th minute to threaten Yan Gromov Godik’s goal. Experienced striker Dylan Bahamboula was able to control a long ball down the right and play in Che Reilly, who fired wide of the far post from just inside the box.
This pressure spurred the Uni on to finish the first half with a flurry of good chances. James Stokes had the beating of his man all game long and put multiple dangerous balls into the box. The first fired over by Luke Morris then Mckinkey failed to convert from five yards.
Second-half goals cap off great Uni performance
The second half picked up where the first left off with Maciver Redwood and McKinley both seeing shots blocked.
Stirling were relentless in their pursuit of a second goal and finally got their reward in the 69th minute. Stokes again supplied the pass on the right which was finished off by substitute James Malcolm.
Just three minutes later the Uni had their third. Maciver Redwood, who had threatened all game, cut into the box from the right and slotted the ball low into the far corner for his first goal of the season.
The Uni rounded off an excellent performance with 4 minutes left as debutant Nathan Tallen capitalised on a rebound from an Isa Aslanoglu shot that hit the post to add a fourth.
Geddes’ side will travel to League Two Clyde FC in the next round of the tournament, but all focus now turns to Saturday’s trip to Berwick Rangers in the Lowland League.
University of Stirling: Gromov Godik, Southern (Service 78), Aslanoglu, Lavery, Morris (Malcolm 65), Scally (Munro 78), McAninch, Stokes, McKinley (Tallen 78), Maciver Redwood (Monomer 84), Russell.
See the full gallery from the match on the George Vekic Photography website.