Solid start but uni fail to break through
minutes after his opener, the forward broke down the left side on the counter and placed the ball into the corner of the net for his second of the afternoon.
The University rolled the dice – taking off Burrows and Callum Downie and bringing on Louis Kennedy and Euan Baird – by switching to two up front.
However, just minutes later, the students were once again caught on the counter. Rodgers played a slick reverse ball through to Nicky Low who, despite the best efforts of left-back Marcus Lavery, found his way into the box and lobbed Fry with an audacious, chipped effort.
The home side had a couple of chances to score as substitute Calum Heath chested down in the penalty area, but his touch was too heavy. Jason Jarvis also had a good chance after his one-two with Kieran Hall allowed him a shot at goal, but the Shire goalkeeper did well to preserve his clean sheet.
Head coach Chris Geddes said: “It was a game of two halves. In the first, it was really even, probably the most even game we have played this year. In the second, we were not at it, and the Shire really upped their game and scored some really good goals.
“Obviously, from our perspective, we aren’t happy with the goals, but we have had a good week on the whole, managing to beat Bo’ness and running the Shire close in the first half, and now we just have to build on that for next Saturday.”
The students will attempt to return to winning ways when they host Gala Fairydean Rovers on Saturday.
Stirling University: Fry, Burrows (Baird, 63), Quigley, Doan, Lavery (Heath, 76), Berry (Davidson, 80), Brown, Downie (Kennedy, 63), Penker (Hall, 76), Jarvis, Mcgale.
East Stirlingshire: Connelly, Orr, Wylde, Murray, Malone, Gibbons, Dishington (Shirra), Peggie (D. Ure), Brown (Young), Low, Rodgers (Henderson).