Students make debut in style

Aug 22 2008 by Donald Morton, Stirling Observer Friday

STUDENTS MAKEDEBUT IN STYLE

AFTER two false starts due to heavy rain, Stirling University finally opened their account in the East of Scotland League with a home match against Hawick Royal Albert.

And their started in remarkable style, hammering Hawick Royal Albert 11-0 in their opener.

It was a historic day for the university and one which Raleigh Gowrie’s young elite squad will remember fondly as they took the struggling Hawick side apart.

Stirling dominated from the off and opened the scoring after just two minutes. Craig Glass and Mark McCullagh combined well down the right flank before the latter crossed for midfielder Calum Forbes whose header found the top right-hand corner of the Hawick net.

The goal was a signal for what was to come as the students effectively wrapped up the game in the first 20 minutes with four further goals from former Hibs centre half Nick Anderson as well as strikers Jason Bolam and Stuart Mooney (2).

Gowrie’s men continued to flood forward before half time, playing some sublime attacking football and it was no surprise when Graham Anderson joined the party with two excellent strikes on 35 and 40 minutes to make the score 7-0 at half time.

Stirling sensibly made two changes at the break with Michael Donnolly replacing Anderson in central midfield and Ryan Topp coming on for Mooney up front.

The first 15 minutes of the second half saw Stirling take their foot off the pedal, but their trialist goalkeeper was still a virtual spectator.

On the hour mark a bad day for Royal Albert was made even worse as the Stirling left-back Creag Robertson was crudely chopped down resulting in a Hawick player receiving his marching orders.

The onslaught however was not complete as Forbes scored from the spot to make it eight and Topp worked well with Bolam to finish off another excellent Stirling move.

In the last 10 minutes Topp scored a second and Forbes completed his hat trick as the students racked up eleven goals in their much awaited debut match.

Gowrie’s squad travel to Edinburgh tomorrow (Saturday) to face Ormiston in the Image Printers East of Scotland Cup. Their league campaign continues on August 30 with a return fixture at Hawick.

Stirling University: Trialist, McCullagh, Milne, N.Anderson, Robertson, Glass (Thom 70), G.Anderson (Donnolly 45), Forbes, Shave, Mooney (Topp 45), Bolam. Subs not used: Black and Dewar.