Glittering Football Performances Earn Stirling Their Silverware

Despite the lack of sunshine, the day was brightened by the energy of the fantastic teams which made it to the finals of their respective competitions. University of Stirling were playing University of Aberdeen for the prized Women’s Cup, while Abertay University competed against University of Stirling for the precious 96 year-old Queen’s Park Shield.

The Women’s Cup started strongly for Stirling, with a goal in the first 3 minutes from Rachel Donaldson. Undeterred, Aberdeen upped their defence and held off a series of shots at goal before conceding another from Rachel Donaldson at 25 minutes. Kim Guthrie then had her chance to shine with the help of a strong assist from Rachel Donaldson at the 35^th minute. Stirling looked comfortable at 3-0.

Half time gave both teams a great chance to recover and, fresh from the changing room, Katy Morris scored a dazzling strike in to the back right of the net for Stirling (47^th minute).  Rachel Donaldson then scored from a corner kick to make the score 5-0 (55^th minute), then again from behind the goalie (61^st minute). Aberdeen fought back with many excellent runs and only narrowly missed a goal from a corner in the 77^th minute.

The golden girl Rachel Donaldson responded by taking the ball up the pitch, defeating a close defender and finishing with a touch behind the goalkeeper (78^th minute). Stirling were denied an 8^th goal 82 minutes in after being offside, however Demi Falconer soon corrected this with a blazing strike from outside the box. Aberdeen had another chance with 3 minutes to go from a free kick, though this cleared the bar.

The match ended 8-0 to Stirling. Rachel Donaldson was awarded equal top goal scorer over the entire competition with Ellie Olsen of University of St Andrews, while the MVP was given to Hayley Sinclair of Stirling.

The Queen’s Park Shield match began with a fight for territory and a shot at goal for each team in the first 3 minutes. Both teams took it in turns to tease the crowd with imaginative play denied by strong defence. Lewis Bonar of Stirling took the first goal 11 minutes in with a shining header over the top of the Abertay goalkeeper. The attack continued from both sides, and it was Tomos Jones of Stirling who scored the second goal after a brilliant assist from Kyle Faulds (23^rd minute).

Stirling didn’t wait long before adding their third of the match. Kyle Faulds once again crossed a lovely ball in to the box, this time received by Lewis Bonar who placed it in the back left of the goal (27^th minute). Undeterred, Abertay renewed their attack and held Stirling off until just before half time, when Lewis Bonar scored another golden header over the goalie after it had come back off the crossbar (40^th minute).

The second half was incredibly close, with shots at goal for both sides saved spectacularly by the keepers. Stirling marched on, wrestling with the Abertay defence before scoring their fifth and final goal of the match from the left foot of Paul McCafferty which soared in to the top of the net (75^th minute). Despite the score, Abertay pressed on with glowing spirit seeking gaps in the Stirling defence wherever they could, however it was not meant to be and the score finished 5-0 to Stirling.

Lewis Bonar of Stirling was awarded the MVP and Murray Macintosh from Abertay was the top overall goal scorer in the competition.

Congratulations to all teams for making it to the Football Finals Day, and especially to Stirling for winning both matches in such a spectacular fashion.

To watch the matches in full, please click here

Women’s Highlights

Men’s Highlights

Goal Scorers

With thanks to our partners Youth Football Scotland, IENA and Mars.