A half time downpour and the frequent heavy showers had by
now made the 3g surface decidedly slippery underfoot and as a result the game
began to open up.
The woodwork came to the visitor's rescue and denied
Stirling's Paul McCafferty for a second time on the hour mark when again the
Stirling man left keeper McCarthy rooted to the spot only to see the ball rebound
to safety.
The first booking of the afternoon came in the 65th
minute when University of Stirling substitute Angus Mailer sliding tackle took
out Wick's Jack Henry. The Stirling man
could have easily seen a second yellow a minute later when he dropped in knee
on to Ross Allan's back while the Wick man was on his knees in the penalty box.
70 minutes – Substitution: Richard Macadie made way for Korbyn Cameron.
Paul McCafferty was by now revelling in the wet conditions
and Wick hearts were in their mouths when the Stirling man's cross in from the
left was cut out by Andrew Hardwick's flying header – with
the clearance going perilously close to keeper McCarthy's near post.
David O'Brien was the next Stirling player to make his way
into the 18 yard box, weaving passed Wick's Danny Mackay into the 6 yard box. O'Brien had his run halted by Andrew
Hardwick, whether by means fair or foul was hard to tell, but with O'Brien on
the ground Wick were able to get the ball clear.
In the 76th minute it was Steven Anderson's turn
to show the crowd what he could do and after a driving run down the left he
powered his way past Lewis Hunter, Dominic Slattery and finally Rory MacEwan
into the edge of the 6 yard box – as the ball ran loose on the edge of the box
Jack Henry took over but his shot was wide of goal.
85 minutes – substitution: Brandon Sinclair replaced by
Aidan Reid
With 5 minutes to go substitute Korbyn Cameron found space
on the 18 yard line but his goal bound shot was cleared by Stirling's Alex Webb.
A final flourish saw some last ditch defending by both teams but it was Wick who felt most
aggrieved in the last few minutes when they had another penalty appeal turned
down by referee Dickinson when Marc Macgregor looked to all in the ground to
have been felled by Stirling defender Alex Webb.
Wick's Ross Allan picked up the second yellow card of the
afternoon as he up ended Angus Mailer in the dying minutes.
Stirling now go on to face Montrose in the second round.
