Keith 2 – 3 University of Stirling
Saturday 21 September, Scottish Cup First Round
Stirling University will face Linlithgow Rose in the second round of the Scottish Cup following an impressive 3-2 victory over Keith at the weekend.
In a re-run of last year’s first round match, the students made the 300-mile round-trip to Kynoch Park, in Banffshire, on Saturday afternoon for the cup opener.
Despite taking a first-half lead, Chris Geddes’ side found themselves 2-1 down with 60 minutes on the clock – but they managed to find two goals to send them through to the next round.
Speaking after the match, Geddes said: “We are really pleased to have made the second round of the Scottish Cup. It was a very professional performance from the team – apart from the first 15 minutes of the second half, where we lost our shape and Keith managed to take advantage.
“Fortunately, we found our game again and went on to get a deserved win.”
Stirling began the match on the front foot – attacking against the wind – but lacked quality in the final third. On 15 minutes, Craig Brown played a defence-splitting pass – putting James Berry through one-on-one with the Keith goalkeeper – but the shot was saved.
The away side opened the scoring on 38 minutes after Conor Doan got on the end of a ball to the back post – after Keith failed to clear a Stirling free-kick – giving them a 1-0 lead at half time.
Stirling’s Jason Jarvis had an early chance in the second half – shooting just wide – but it was Keith who scored the first goal after the break when Craig MacAskill bundled the ball over the line, following a free-kick, on 48 minutes.
Just 10 minutes later, the home side took the lead when Cameron Keith took advantage of a parried shot by the Stirling goalkeeper, firing the rebound into the bottom left.
Geddes responded with two substitutions – with Calum Heath and Robbie McGale adding pace and energy to the Stirling attack – and the equaliser came on 67 minutes when Matthew Burrows headed home from a corner.
Stirling continued to push for the winner – and it arrived on 72 minutes when Burrows beat two players before cutting it back to Heath, who lashed it into the net with his right foot.
Keith fought hard in the final 10 minutes in the hope of again levelling the score, but Stirling’s defence held strong and the match ended 3-2.
Stirling will now play East of Scotland League side Linlithgow Rose at Forthbank on the weekend of October 18-20 in a bid to reach the third round for the second consecutive year.
University of Stirling: Fry, Quigley (Heath, 61’), Webb, Mailer, Downie, Burrows, Berry, Doan (McGale, 61’), Hall (Cowley, 80’), Jarvis, Brown
Unused subs: McMaster, Murray, Penker, Bushall
Goals: Doan (38’), Burrows (67’), Heath (72’)
Keith: Simpson, Young, Yeats, Robertson, Spink, Smith (Brownie, 70’), MacAskill, Thomson, Keith, Berton (Gray, 70’), Selfridge
Unused subs: Rae, Donaldson, Simmers
Goals: MacAskill (47’), Keith (58’)