The University of Stirling men’s first football team suffered defeat in the opening match of the Lowland League season, losing 3-1 away to Linlithgow Rose.
A Cameron Mckinley goal in the first half was unable to earn a new-look Stirling team a result at Prestonfield.
Head coach Chris Geddes said: “We’re disappointed because of the goals we lost but it’s our first game. we had new players and boys making debuts against outstanding forwards and they were the difference today.”
“We’ll build, we’ve got boys in there who are playing their first season with us. It’s a process and we’ll just have to keep going, there’s nothing we can do about it we’re beat and we’ll go again on Wednesday.”
The first half began frantically as Linlithgow Rose took the lead within two minutes. Dylan Paterson forced a good save from Yan Gromov Godik but the ball fell kindly for Paterson to cross in for Connor McMullan to fire in.
This early setback did not faze the Uni as they looked comfortable in possession. Ben Maciver Redwood came closest to an immediate equaliser, taking the ball around the goalkeeper but running out of room before applying the finish.
Stirling didn’t have to wait much longer for an equaliser though as Mckinley struck just five minutes later. Neat play down the left saw James Malcolm break into the box, cutting the ball back for Mckinley to fire low into the bottom left corner.
Mckinley caused many problems for the Linlithgow defence in the first half and after 30 minutes he won a penalty on the right side of the box. Ciaran McAninch struck the ball low to the right but the Linlithgow Rose goalkeeper produced an excellent save to keep the scoreline level.
Frustration for Stirling after Penalty miss
This penalty miss proved pivotal in the game as just six minutes later, Linlithgow retook the lead. A great piece of skill from McMullan allowed him to cut back to Jack Ogilvie who swept past Gromov Godik.
The second half saw the introduction of Jamie Wallace for the Uni, replacing Maciver Redwood who had been unwell in the week. The more physical presence up front led to several dangerous deliveries into the box from Malcolm and James Stokes.
Linlithgow extended their lead 10 minutes into the second half. A long ball from the goalkeeper released Paterson on the right who played the ball inside for Jamie Allan to volley home from the edge of the box.
Stirling refused to give up with half an hour left to play and continued to pressure the hosts. The Uni looked threatening from corners but was unable to capitalise. Both McKinley and Wallace went close whilst substitute Archie Munro saw a shot blocked.
Linlithgow Rose were able to withstand the pressure and condemn the Uni to an opening-day defeat. Chris Geddes’ side will look to respond positively when they host Cumbernauld Colts on Wednesday.
University of Stirling: Gromov Godik, Lavery, Morris, Aslanoglu, Scally, Heal (Munro), McAninch (Manomey 84), Stokes, Malcolm (Woloszyn 59), McKinley, Maciver Redwood (Wallace 45)
Featured Image Credit: Andrew West
Sports Editor @brignewspaper
[…] “Similar to Saturday, we had opportunities. We had one 15 seconds into the game and should have been 1-0 up. We got ourselves into some really good areas for the first half an hour of the game, but they got two goals in two minutes which was really disappointing, we know we can do things better”. […]