The second half began much as the first had left off with
the two teams trading attacks, but, with the wind at their backs and playing
down the Harmsworth slope, Wick began to pressurise the University side. A run down the left by Ross Allan with a perfectly
weighted pass to Richard Macadie gave the Wick No 10 a chance for a shot on
goal – but his shot was well blocked by a Stirling defender for a Wick corner. And a few minutes later a cross in from the
right by Gary Manson was knocked down to Danny Mackay by Grant Steven but the
ball went agonisingly past the Wick man's outstretched leg.
First blood to University of Stirling in the 58th
minute – a cross in from the right hand side by Rory MacEwan was only partially
cleared by Wick's Jack Henry and the ball ran to Chris Geddes on the left edge
of the box, and his right foot shot had Wick keeper Sean McCarthy rooted to the
spot as the ball hit the back of the net.
Wick stuck to their task though and their next chance came when
a cross in by Gordon McNab was cleared for a corner by Daniel Ashe. Steven Anderson rose between two Stirling
defenders to get on the end of Ross Allan's floated ball in and his header
looked destined for the bottom left hand corner of the net until Stirling's
Paul McCafferty cleared off the line.
The first and only change came for Wick after 65 minutes
with Sam Mackay swapping places with Gordon McNab. The substitute's impact was
almost immediate when Richard Macadie shook off Stirling defenders, Lewis
Hunter and Alex Webb, and Mackay met his cross with a fierce shot from 20 yards
out, the shot just shaving the left upright.
Sam Mackay didn't have to wait long for his goal, when in
the 67th minute he finished off a flowing attack that started with Steven
Anderson turning Lewis Hunter on the centre circle – Anderson drove forward,
slid the ball through to Marc Macgregor, Stirling's Alex Webb managed to get a
toe to the ball to knock it away from Macgregor but the loose ball fell into
the path of the oncoming Sam Mackay and his left foot shot passed the outstretched
arms of Kevin Walker to hit the back of the net.
Academy had a chance to take the lead a few minutes later
when a neat knock on from Steven Anderson found Marc Macgregor on his own at
the edge of the 6 yard box. Stirling
keeper Kevin Walker was quick off his line and did enough to ensure the Wick
man put his attempt wide of the post.
Despite Wick's chances it was Stirling that took the lead
again in the 75th minute.
Paul McCafferty ran on to pass from David O'Brien, wrong footed Sam
Mackay to give himself space just inside the left corner of the box and
unleashed a shot that flew past Wick keeper Sean McCarthy to make it 2 – 1 to
University of Stirling.
The game turned back in Wick's favour when two tackles in 5
minutes on Sam Mackay by Kevin Keane drew as many yellow cards from referee
Harry Bruce, and the University team found themselves a man short for the last
ten minutes. Wick turned up the pressure
on the ten men and when a Marc Macgregor header rebounded off Stirling defender
Alex Webb into the path of Grant Steven the Wick man wasted no time in lashing
the ball into the top left corner to bring Academy level again.
There was time for a couple more bookings as things got a
little frantic in the last 5 minutes as both teams searched for a winner – Jack
Henry for a tackle on Lewis Hunter and Dominic Slattery for pushing down Steven
Anderson .
All square at the end – both teams had their chances and a
draw was probably a fair result. Academy
now face the return trip to Falkirk Stadium where University of Stirling play
their home games.
