Stirling City are spot on in cup final

Jun 10 2009 by Jean Pedder, Stirling Observer Wednesday

STIRLING CITY 2

CLAREMONT 2

(Stirling won 4-2 after penalties)

THE Ochilview Stadium in Stenhousemuir was the venue for the Challenge Cup final.

City were clearly up for the game slightly more than the Alloa side and took full advantage being first to every ball.

Ross used Adam to break down the left side as City forced Claremont to retreat into their own half.

Forcing a corner gave City the reward of a goal after a scramble as Adam scored 10 minutes into the match.

City continued to play flowing football mostly down the left channel but Claremont were getting wise and shutting this out.

City moved the ball around and looked for other avenues. Richard broke free but was pulled over and from the resulting free kick team captain Ross floated a ball to the back post but the attempt was sent wide.

Claremont found a way to the nearside by-line but crosses were not finished and the chance was gone.

Claremont were easily catching Billy and Liam offside regularly which frustrated both players. The first half was brought to a close with City on top with a slender one goal lead.

City made no changes at half-time and knowing that an onslaught by Claremont was imminent, pushed forward in numbers in an attempt to break down the City defence.

For quarter of an hour City stood firm but they were eventually broken when Claremont got the equaliser to level the game.

The tide seemed to have turned in Claremont’s favour as they had found a new hunger to win the game.

Billy came off for Stewart and Josh for Adam as City looked for fresh legs and a different attack to regain the upper hand.

City got the breakthrough when Richard broke down the right and took the ball into the penalty area, his low shot was parried by the keeper but Josh had supported and found himself with an open net to slot home and give City a 2-1 lead.

With time running out for Claremont they charged forward en-masse to try and create the opening to force the game into penalties. With almost all of the three minutes extra time played Claremont squeezed through the centre and poked the ball home to level.

The referee blew before the game could be restarted which meant the game would be decided by penalty kicks.

Richard scored for City; Claremont’s opener was saved by Colin; Jack scored for City; Claremont’s second was slotted home; Scott’s was saved, Claremont scored again to level at two all. Stewart stepped forward to take City in front then the Claremont penalty was missed.

Liam stepped up with a chance to win the trophy for City. The ball struck the back of the net, the team celebrated, the coaches were over the moon, the supporters rose to their feet and saluted their team.

A thrilling end to a cup game and City’s first piece of silverware of the season.