The University of Stirling men’s football team concluded a perfect week on the pitch, beating Hearts B 2-1 in the Lowland League at Forthbank.
James Stokes opened the scoring but James Wilson equalised from the penalty spot before the break. Ben Maciver-Redwood’s deflected header regained the Uni’s lead, which was preserved late on as Yan Gromov Godik saved a second Hearts penalty.
Head Coach Chris Geddes said: “I think we thoroughly deserved the win. I genuinely believe we were letting them off the hook in the second half with the opportunities we had.
“There were times where I didn’t think the goal was going to come, then obviously Yan saves us at the end with the penalty, so a really good day for us.”
In what was an energetic game throughout, Stirling managed to start the strongest. Several early corners saw Alex Jeanes glance just wide with a header under pressure.
The Uni were also seeing success down the right wing through Stokes and Ben Heal, with the latter breaking into the box and narrowly misplacing a pass to Cameron McKinley who was in space.
Stirling found their deserved lead just after 20 minutes though as McKinley managed to keep alive a deflected cross, leaving Stokes the chance to cooly chip the onrushing Liam McFarlane from close range.
Hearts gained a stronger presence in the match after the goal but struggled to create opportunities. However, they found themselves with the perfect opportunity to level when James Russell handled the ball in the box.
James Wilson stepped up to convert the penalty, levelling the score at 1-1 going into half-time.
The Uni continued to find success out wide after the break and missed a golden opportunity to retake the lead on 55 minutes. Heal again did excellently to drive past defenders, he then unselfishly passed to Ciaran McAninch who fired over the bar.
Heal was involved again as the game reached the final ten minutes, picking the pocket of the Hearts defender but his eventual shot was saved well by McFarlane at his near post.
The goal finally came just two minutes later as a brilliant cross by Jeanes was flicked goalwards by Maciver-Redwood, deflecting off a Hearts man to beat a helpless McFarlane.
All hopes of a comfortable conclusion for the hosts were seemingly dashed though as the referee blew for a second Hearts penalty for an alleged trip in the box.
Luke Rathie struck low to Gromov Godik’s right, but the Stirling goalkeeper was down quickly to save and preserve the lead.
Stirling almost added to the lead in stoppage time after McKinley saw a shot saved, but the one-goal advantage was enough to seal all three points for The Uni.
They will look to build on the week’s momentum when they return to Forthbank on Wednesday for the visit of Cowdenbeath FC in the Lowland League.
The full match gallery can be viewed on the George Vekic Photography website.
University of Stirling: Gromov Godik, Lavery, Service, Jeanes, Heal, Scally, Russell (De Zoeten 73), McAninch (Aslanoglu 73), Stokes, Maciver-Redwood (Malcolm 86), McKinley (Vonk 89).