Stirling have City in sight

A Paul Sludden hat-trick saw Stirling University close the gap on leaders Edinburgh City to six points after a 3-0 victory over East Kilbride at Forthbank.

The striker was in superb form and opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 22 minutes.

He then doubled the hosts’ advantage ten minutes after the restart before completing his hat-trick nine minutes from time.

Elsewhere, Spartans thrashed Selkirk 5-2 at Ainslie Park, despite trailing the Borders side 2-1 at the interval.

Ross Gray put Garry O’connor’s side in front after just seven minutes, but Aaron Murrell quickly restored parity with a deft finish. Former Dundee United midfielder David Robertson gave Selkirk the lead again with a 25-yard effort only for Dean Horribine to equalise four minutes after the restart finding the bottom corner.

Connor Duthie then put Spartans ahead for the first time as Jordan Allan was then sent off for the visitors.

The home side capitalised on their numerical advantage by adding a further two strikes through Keith Murray and Jamie Dishington.

In the only other league clash of the weekend, Edinburgh University edged out local rivals Preston Athletic 1-0 at Peffermill.

Joe Aitken struck the only goal of the game just before the half-hour mark as Preston goalkeeper Chris Flockhart could only parry Jack Guthrie’s initial effort.