Deadly Mcgill at the double
Lowland League
STIRLING UNIVERSITY ............. 3 BERWICK RANGERS ................. 1
Stirling University proved they didn’t go hard with the turkey over Christmas after blowing away Berwick on Boxing Day to move up to fourth in the Lowland League.
The students had been on hiatus since their 2-0 win at East Stirlingshire on December 8, but showed no signs of rust as they rattled three goals past the Borderers in a rampant opening half at Forthbank which set them on their way to the win.
In the only match taking place in Scotland, the Uni had the perfect opportunity to put on a show and they made the perfect start on six minutes when Euan Mcgill got on the end of James Stokes’ low cross to finish confidently past Calum Antell in the Berwick goal.
It was an entertaining encounter, with play raging up both ends - but Stirling Uni were to double their lead just after the half-hour mark.
The counter-attacking nature of the action saw home keeper Ben Fry called into action, before play raged up the other end and Mcgill got on the end of a sweeping Uni move to notch his second of the afternoon.
Ten minutes later, the points were effectively sealed as the students scored their third goal.
Once again, it was a good passing move across the pitch from the home side and on this occasion, it was Ciaran Mcaninch who was there to apply the finishing touch.
The Uni squad needed only to look at the reverse fixture - when they themselves came back from two goals down to claim a point in October - to know the job wasn’t completely done.
Both sides enjoyed decent openings in an even second half before the Forthbank lights decided to join most of the country in a Boxing Day early evening nap as they conked out for a few minutes before power was thankfully restored.
With 15 minutes to go, Berwick signalled that the game wasn’t over yet as they pulled one back, with veteran striker Liam Buchanan getting on the end of a teasing corner from the right to finish at the back post.
The visitors had their tails up and the ball was soon in the net again on 80 minutes from another corner, but the offside flag was up on this occasion to save the blushes of the Uni defence.
Berwick had one more chance in stoppage time to reduce their deficit, but the angled shot went wide of the target and it was three points for the home side ahead of a trip to Edinburgh University on Hogmanay.
Following his side’s win, Uni boss Chris Geddes said: “I’m always going to be happy with three points, especially against a strong, physical, well-coached side.
“They’re a really experienced side – I think almost all of their players had played pro at some point in their career – so to win so comfortably in the end, there was a lot of pressure, but it was always going to be like that. They had three strikers playing through the middle so they were always going to cause us problems.
“We asked for loads of energy, loads of intensity plus the quality and if we can get that in games then we’ve got a really good chance because we’ve got a good squad this year. The goals were excellent.”
Of two goal hero, Euan Mcgill, Geddes beamed: “Euan’s got so much ability in the box and we trust him completely. Last year, he played up front in numerous games and he scored a few.”