The University of Stirling men’s football team earned victory in an entertaining Lowland League clash with Edinburgh University, winning 3-2 at Forthbank.
Strikes from Ciaran McAninch, Cameron McKinley and Ben Maciver-Redwood were enough to secure the win, their first in the Lowland League in four games.
Head Coach Chris Geddes said: “A win in the end is the main thing, especially considering we’d lost the last three at home.
“I think in the second half especially we were dominant, Yan did have to make two really good saves but their goalie was busy too. I think we deserved to win but yeah, it was a tight one.”
Edinburgh played the match at a high pace throughout, with an early counter-attack resulting in a free kick on the edge of the box. The Edinburgh player stepped up and curled his free-kick into the top right corner, leaving Yan Gromov Godik with no chance.
Stirling were able to respond almost immediately through pressure of their own. Ben Heal regained possession and played Maciver-Redwood down the right wing, who found Ciaran McAninch to strike. His shot was blocked but the ball ricocheted back onto him and into the far corner.
After equalising, the match followed a similar pattern to Stirling’s recent home games, creating numerous chances without taking the lead. Heal and McKinley combined on the edge of the box to release the midfielder, but his strike was saved well by the Edinburgh goalkeeper.
It looked as though these missed chances would cost Stirling as Edinburgh retook the lead. A low cross from the right was tapped in, leaving the hosts with plenty of work to do.
Once again though, it took Stirling little time to equalise again. McKinley played the ball out wide to McAnninch, who beat his man and crossed for an onrushing McKinley to tap in and ensure the game was level at half time.
The second half saw Stirling pen back their opponents in search of their first lead of the game. Heal cut the ball back from the right for McKinley, whose first shot was saved then he failed to tap in the rebound.
Stirling were seeing a lot of success down the right and created plenty of promising opportunities. James Stokes cut in and saw a shot blocked, then Maciver-Redwood had his strike saved comfortably.
Eventually, the pressure paid off and Stirling had their deserved lead. Clever striker’s play from Jack Docherty gave McAninch space on the left, floating the ball to Maciver-Redwood to power home a header.
Samuel Raphael had a few shots from the left which flew wide but Edinburgh’s best chance to equalise came in stoppage time. After Gromov Godik saved from close range, the ball broke into the box for an easy tap-in, but James Russell produced a remarkable last-ditch challenge to secure all three points for the hosts.
Geddes’ side will hope to bring the confidence of this result into Wednesday’s East of Scotland Qualifying Cup final against Edinburgh City.
University of Stirling: Gromov Godik, Aslanoglu, Service, Lavery, Scally, Russell, Heal, Stokes, McAninch (Jeanes 90), McKinley (Docherty 67), Maciver-Redwood (Morris 90).