THAT’SMORELIKEIT
Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz hailed his side for their five-goal display after they thrashed Cowdenbeath 5-1 at Central Park on Saturday.
Top scorer Andy Ryan netted a double to take his tally for the season to 12, with on-loan Hearts midfielder Chris Hamilton, defender Kyle Banner and striker Dylan Mackin also on target.
It was Albion’s biggest win at Cowdenbeath since Allan Moore’s men stormed to a 5-0 success on the final day of the 2003/04 season, when they were promoted as Division Three runnersup.
Saturday’s victory moved the Binos level on points with secondplaced Edinburgh City going into last night’s meeting with Gary Naysmith’s men at Forthbank in the last game of the regular season.
With Stirling guaranteed to finish
Bannockburn Rugby Club have made the historic move to bring women’s rugby to the club for the very first time.
Coaches will run four weeks of open training sessions for women, starting Wednesday, April 28, at 7pm.
The training will be a gentle, non-contact introduction to the sport with a blend of fitness, technique and teamwork drills.
Part of a trial to gauge interest, the sessions will give the area’s women a chance to try rugby in a safe supportive environment.
Those who want to sign up should message the club’s Facebook page for more information.
The trial sessions follow data from the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (SPICe) suggesting participation in Scottish women’s rugby has increased by 78 per cent between 2015 and 2021.
Stirling is already something of a hotbed for ladies rugby in Scotland, with five Stirling County players representing the national side in the 2021 Six Nations tournament.
Now, Stirlingshire has a new spot for women to enjoy rugby in a safe and fun environment.
Bannockburn RFC Director of Rugby Jimmy Samuel said: “It’s a new avenue for us, but one we couldn’t ignore.
“We want to offer women in the local area a safe space to enjoy a gentle introduction to rugby – even if you’ve never played before.
“Participation in women’s rugby is on the up across the UK and we’d love to make this a permanent fixture at the club.”
The training sessions will follow all coronavirus protection measures. Register your attendance by messaging the club’s Facebook page. second or third after 18 games, it means their first post-split fixture will also be against Edinburgh City this weekend, with the venue dependent on the result of Tuesday’s fixture.
Kevin Rutkiewicz’s team will also play Queen’s Park, Stranraer and Elgin City in the hectic schedule of post-split games, with the full fixture list to be confirmed by the SPFL today.
Stirling are on course for a play-off place after Saturday’s stylish showing in Fife, which took them four points clear of both Stranraer and Elgin, but there is still work to be done. Rutkiewicz was unhappy with the performance against Stranraer last midweek but was much happier after seeing his side demolish the Blue Brazil at the weekend.
He said: “We had a terrific response – there was no hiding the fact I was disappointed on Tuesday but to a man on Saturday it was a really strong performance. It was just what we needed and hopefully that was the catalyst to propel us into a very important part of the season.
“We passed the ball well and the third goal typified that. It’s exactly what we didn’t do against Stranraer when we fell into a trap of going too long, too often but we were more patient at Cowdenbeath and it shows what we can do when we play to our strengths.”
Banner became the first Stirling defender to
score in League Two this season and Rutkiewicz was pleased to see that drought come to an end when the 21-year-old headed in a Jack Leitch corner.
He added: “It’s been a long time coming and I’m delighted for big Kyle to get a goal like that from a set- piece.
“He was really good, and as a team we didn’t take our foot off the gas and allow it to become pedestrian. We were unlucky not to add one or two more goals and it was very encouraging overall.
“Dom Docherty came into the team having not played since the Brechin match and I thought he was excellent. There were so many positives and we also got some game time as subs for Cammy Thomson and Dylan Bikey.”
Meanwhile, Albion have confirmed they will have two new kits for season 2021/22, with SAFC Trust members again having the chance to vote on the choice of home jersey.
In his programme notes for last night’s game against Edinburgh City, chairman Stuart Brown said: “You will be aware that, following on from the hugely successful Go Fund Me campaign, the club board decided not to ask our supporters to dig deep into their pockets again by having to fork out to buy a new home (or away) shirt and we stuck with both sets of the current kit for season 20/21.
“The news for season 21/22 is the polar opposite – we will be replacing both sets of kit! This is necessitated due to our main sponsor, Prudential, undergoing a rebranding.
“While I don’t yet have confirmation as to what the front of our shirts will look like, all will be revealed in the near future.
“I appreciate that this will have potential cost implications for fans, but I can confirm we will work towards ensuring as attractive a financial package as possible for those who want to purchase both.”
lNumbers drawn on April 14 for week 34 of the Stirling Albion Supporters Trust lottery were 1, 8, 11 and 26. There were no jackpot winners so the jackpot is now £2,700. Three lucky dip winners each received £20. They were: J Harrison (Buchlyvie), S Taylor (Balfron) and A Rintoul (Bridge of Allan).