By Andrew Robson at Falkirk Stadium
After a deserved weekend off, the University of Stirling were back in Lowland League action against East Stirlingshire on a freezing Wednesday evening at the Falkirk Stadium.
Goals from James Stokes and Ben Maciver-Redwood secured victory in the students’ 34th game of the season.
After victory head coach Chris Geddes was delighted with the way his side controlled the game. He said: “It was a tough game against a team that have new staff in so obviously they would have a bit of a bounce, and they got a good result at the weekend against the Braves, so we knew it was going to be tough.
“First twenty minutes I thought they were at it.
“It’s going to sound silly, but you could tell we hadn’t played in seven days. We looked a bit rusty.
“But, after that first 20 minutes, I think there was only one team going to win it. We showed the quality we have with the two goals.
In the opening exchanges, Uni goalkeeper Ben Fry was called into action. First, he saved a strike from range, and then a combination of Fry and the crossbar prevented Connor Greene from heading in the opener from a corner.
But beyond the opening 20 minutes, the Shire created very little, and the students took control of the game.
The deadlock was broken when Jason Jarvis switched play following some great work down the left-hand side. James Stokes stepped onto the ball and with only the full-back to beat he skipped by him with ease, his strike clipping the post on its way in.
The Uni pushed for a second before the interval and knocked the ball around with confidence. The best chance fell to Cammy McKinlay, but his powerful shot was straight at the keeper as the punters rushed to the concourse for hot beverages.
The second half was a drab affair, with the Uni enjoying most possession as both sides struggled to create any clear-cut chances.
The Uni would have their second five minutes from time.
Captain James Berry pinched the ball of Shire full-back Kyle Ewing and drove forward, playing a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Ben Maciver-Redwood. The striker chipped it past the keeper from the centre of the box sealing all three points in the process.
On Saturday the Uni play high-flying Tranent Juniors, one of the few sides to defeat them this season. Asked what sort of game he expected, Geddes said: “They’re one of the teams to beat us this season so full respect to the management there, since they’ve come in, they’ve done really well.
“Listen it’s just another game.
“We’ll let everyone else say how big a game it is, for us it is just a game.”
East Stirlingshire: Connelly, Ewing, Brown, Dunn, Greene, Moyes, Kay, Fotheringham, Kirkpatrick, Watson, Hodge.
University of Stirling: Fry, Lavery, Burrows (90’ Munro), Service, Berry, Heal, Jarvis (80’ Russel), McKinley (86’ Aslanoglu), Macinch (90’ Mirzasalimov), Maciver-Redwood (90’ McGill), Stokes.