Golf returns

BRIDGE OF ALLAN

Winter competitions continued at Bridge of Allan last weekend and the mild weather led to good entries and excellent scoring.

In Friday’s Gents Senior 9 hole stableford Ian Ainsworth got back in the winners circle with his 22 point score. Gordon Darlington was second on 21 points with Raymond Aimer taking third place on a countback from a group of players on 22 points.

The rollover twos pot was also shared between Jimmy Mckenzie and Raymond Aimer.

In Saturday’s latest round of the Mccallum Rosebowl there were no less than 7 scores returned in the 40s and leading the way to claim first place was Brian Paterson with 44 points. Alistair Smillie and Hugh Dent were second and third respectively both scoring 43 points.

Three second-half goals from East Stirlingshire sunk the University of Stirling in their 200th Lowland League match.

The Shire ran out 3-0 winners on Saturday afternoon – much to the frustration of a Stirling side who competed well in the opening 45 minutes, but struggled to make the breakthrough.

The students went into the game in form, having beaten Caledonian Braves and Bo’ness United in their previous two matches. However, East Stirlingshire’s wealth of talent in forward areas threatened to spoil the occasion.

The game began as a cagey affair with neither team able to unlock each other in the opening stages. The University looked to play out from the back, whereas East Stirlingshire sat slightly deeper and waited for opportunities on the counter attack, which led to the away side’s best chance of the half. Sean Brown took Conor Doan out of the game with a deft touch and went through oneon-one with Stirling goalkeeper Ben Fry, who denied the striker with an impressive low save.

Jamie Penker had Stirling’s best chance of the half – but was unable to finish from an acute angle after going through on the left.

East Stirlingshire emerged for the second half a different side – and turned up the pressure from the first whistle. That pressure paid off on the 53rd minute when a lobbed pass played over Matthew Burrows found Andy Rodgers alone in the box. In attempting to recover, Burrows slipped and inadvertently tripped Rodgers – who tucked away the resultant penalty.

There was no respite for the students as the away side searched for a second goal, and Rodgers soon obliged. Ten