Milton 2004s 0-4 Stirling Albion U18s
With Government restrictions still preventing our youth teams from proceeding with their fixture list, we were delighted to be invited to play a local friendly against Milton’s 2004 squad. Although technically the visiting team, Stirling Albion’s U18 squad lined up at Forthbank on a drizzly Wednesday evening with the addition of four players from the 2005 squad.
Despite having the bulk of possession and chances in the first half, Stirling were only able to take a one-goal lead into the break. Ross Pincombe, who impressed in the centre-forward role, came close twice before scoring after 35 minutes. Pincombe almost doubled his tally before half-time but saw his shot come back off the bar.
Throughout the 90 minutes, both teams served up a good, open game of football and, although the bulk of the chances fell to Stirling, the hosts certainly played their part in the spectacle. Milton defended very well, showing good organisation and shape, and when in possession they moved the ball impressively. When Milton did threaten, goalkeeper Evan Taylor was up to the challenge. Milton’s best chance came in the second half when a low driven shot looked certain to square the game up, only for Taylor to make a fine one-handed stop and push the ball around the post.
For all their chances, Stirling were quite wasteful in front of goal and it took until the final quarter of the match for the game to be put out of sight. Matthew Meechan hit the post from close range before doubling the Binos’ lead when Kyle Johnston released him with a fine ball over the top. Jonny Mair added a third with a diving header after great work from Evan Rennie before Ben McWatt finished the evening off in fine style with a stunning strike from the left-hand side of the box.
Under the current circumstances it was great to get more game time for our Youth Academy and we thank Milton for organising the friendly.
