The Binos made the long journey north on the A9 to take on Championship opponents Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup.
Darren Young made one change to the team that beat East Fife with Harrison Clark coming in for Ross Davidson.
Inverness came out the quicker team in the opening exchanges but the Stirling defence was equal to everything that was thrown at them.
The early part of the first half was mostly a midfield battle but the breakthrough came on 27 minutes. Kai Fotheringham chipped a ball into the 6 yard box after a corner made its way back to him. He found Dale Carrick who bulleted a header past Caley keeper Cammy MacKay making it 1 nil to Stirling.
Inverness weren’t behind for long though. On 30 minutes a corner fell to Wallace Duffy, unmarked in the middle of the box, and he managed to guide a header past Blair Currie into the corner drawing the hosts level.
Stirling had a few chances just after the equalizer with both Aaron Dunsmore and Kai Fotheringham seeing shots just slip past the right hand post.
Shortly after, Inverness took the lead for the first time in the match. Another corner swung in and dropped to the feet of Max Ram who squeezed a low shot under Currie from the centre of the box. 2-1 to the hosts.
Stirling fought back strongly and were soon level. In stoppage time of the first half, Dale Carrick does what Dale Carrick does – score goals! A loose pass in the Inverness defence led to a poor touch and allowed Dale to stride through 1-on-1 with the keeper and slot home drawing the Binos level going into the break.
Half time: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 – 2 Stirling Albion.
In the 68th minute, the hosts regained the lead. After some nice work down the right Aaron Doran slotted in from close range. The rest of the second half was a hard midfield battle with the game being played out largely in the middle third for majority of the time. Stirling did have a few chances from crosses in the dying seconds with Jordan McGregor coming the closest but he was adjudged to have fouled the Inverness keeper in the build-up.
Full Time: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 – 2 Stirling Albion
The Binos gave a good account of themselves against higher league opposition but came up just short on the day.
Starting XI: Currie, Dunsmore, McGregor, McLean, McGeachie, Banner(Davidson 22’), Clark(Cooper 82’), Denholm(Moore 70’), Leitch(Thomson 70’), Fotheringham, Carrick.
Subs not used: Law, Burns
Our next game is away to Stranraer in the SPFL cinch league 2 on Saturday December 2nd. See you there!
