The University of Stirling’s men’s first football team is into the semi-finals of the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) National Championships, after a 4-0 win over Nottingham Trent University on Wednesday.
Midfielder Jason Jarvis scored either side of strikes from Cameron McKinley and Ciaran McAninch in a first-half goal fest.
Head coach Chris Geddes said: “It was an excellent first half. We were ruthless in front of [the] goal, and the quality of the finishes was good to see.
“We weren’t at our best in the second half, but still had some good chances. It’s always good to win though and get a clean sheet at home.”
The first-half performance was all that mattered, however, as Stirling wasted little time in inflicting a third defeat on the visitors this season.
Geddes’ side had to be patient early on, but after neat hold-up play in the box from Jake Service, the ball was curled in by Jarvis in 21 minutes.
After taking the lead, the BUCS Premier North champions took control and doubled the lead six minutes later.
Ben Maciver-Redwood set Jarvis for a strike at goal and it could only be nudged back into play by Trent’s goalkeeper with McKinley well-placed to slide home.
Again, the threat was created down the right, as Euan McGill broke into the box and squared the ball for McAninch to fire in a third on 36 minutes.
Nottingham’s journey home was sure to be a long one, as Jarvis booked Stirling’s place in the semi-finals at the stroke of halftime.
Service smashed the ball long towards McAninch, who brought it down superbly and found Jarvis on the other side, and his near-post strike brought up his 15th goal of the season.
Both sides had chances in the second half, first Stirling through Euan McGill before Nottingham’s Rio Molyneux had a low strike well saved by Ben Fry, but the damage was done in the first 45 minutes.
Stirling will host Nottingham University in the last four of the competition on Wednesday, March 8.
University of Stirling: Fry, Burrows, Service (Thompson 45), Lavery, McGill, Berry, Russell, McAninch, Jarvis, Maciver-Redwood (Munro 68), McKinley (Rae 78)
Featured Image Credit: George Vekic
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