Young Binos impress at Broadwood

Apr 3 2009 by Donald Morton, Stirling Observer Friday

STIRLING Albion’s under-13 team continued their progress last Sunday with another good performance against Clyde at Broadwood.

Keeper Liam Harper pulled off two fantastic saves as the young Binos scored three times through Greg Piscazio, Alex Cleland and Daniel McLaren.

Stirling have introduced a number of trialists in recent weeks and while the coaches are delighted with the development of all the players currently in the squad, further triallists will be viewed in a game on Friday, April 10 at Forthbank astro.

Head of Youth Stewart Taylor said: “We are delighted with the way that the team is now playing. As expected it took our young players some time to adjust to the demands of playing at Youth Initiative level. Now their performances are reflecting their progress and they are enjoying competing well and winning some more games.

“We are still looking to strengthen the squad for next season and our trial game next Friday will assist with that.”

The under 15s also performed with great credit on Sunday when they fought out a 1-1 draw with Arbroath at Forthbank.

Arbroath scored against the run of play at the start of the second period with a clinical finish but Shaun Johnston beat his defender and struck home from 18 yards for a deserved equaliser. On Sunday the under 15s make the short journey to Alloa to play at Recreation Park.

The under 17s helped the Scottish Independent Schools' Select with their preparation by playing them on Friday night in a friendly at Forthbank. The game finished 3-3 and was a useful exercise for both teams.

On Sunday the team travelled to Greenock to play Morton and although they lost the game 2-0 the scoreline did not reflect the close nature of the game. A goal before the end of both periods sealed the result for Morton but team coach Ally Breton was happy with the effort shown by all the players in what was a limited squad due ti injury and unavailability.

The team now face Queen's Park away on Sunday in their next League Cup match.

The under 19s were soundly beaten by an excellent Livingston team in their League Cup tie on Sunday at home. Beaten heavily by the full time club in the league fixture the team knew it would be tough and then lost a number of players to suspension and injury before Sunday's game.

They did however capitulate fairly easy as poor defending allowed Livingston to race into an early 4-0 lead. Ross McEwan scored a clever goal from a good Macadam through ball but all hope faded when Livingston scored a fifth almost immediately.

In the end an embarrassing 8-1 defeat was endured and the team coaches will be looking for a suitable response tonight (Friday) when they meet Dunfermline at the Forthbank astro with a 7.15pm kick off.

On a brighter note Thornhill youngster Kenny Feaks made a brief first team debut on Saturday in the 2-0 win over East Fife when he replaced Andy Graham for the last five minutes. Kenny has battled back from a season of injury and has done well when training with the first team squad.

Kenny joins an illustrious rank of players to come through the youth teams to reach the senior squad including Nathan Taggart and Liam Corr.