Lions Win reserves Cup

Teenage striker Liam Boland netted a double to lead Stirling Lions to a 2-1 victory over Bayswater City in the Reserves Soccer Pools Cup final.

Boland’s strikes came either side of a Ryan Frisina penalty in a tightly fought contest that always seemed destined to be settled by the odd goal.

Bayswater started brightly and nearly took a shock lead in the fifth minute when Gustavo Maralunda forced a fine low save from Tom Dixon with a powerful drive from 20 yards.

Boland’s first sight of goal came from a seventh minute free kick which deflected inches wide of Bobson Koroma’s post. Six minutes later Maralunda sent a free kick just wide, before Stirling’s Matt Italiano was denied by a fantastic saving tackle from Cesar Gonzalez on the edge of his own six yard box.

After the frantic opening quarter of an hour, the game settled into a lull as the first half wore on. Referee Josh Mihevc handed out yellow cards to three Bayswater players in the space of just six minutes. With so many fouls being called up, the game stopped flowing and both sides seemed to lose rhythm.

The game sparked back into life in the 31st minute when Boland scored his first goal almost out of nothing. Remo Venditti made a strong run from the midfield before feeding a low ball into the feet of the blue-booted attacker. Instead of taking a touch to control the ball Boland subtly redirected the ball, sending it past Koroma and into the back of the net.

Bayswater went close in the 40th minute when Frisina found himself one-on-one with Dixon but the Stirling keeper made a fine save to keep him out.

Just two minutes later the same two players were involved in a very controversial incident. Frisina again found himself in behind the Stirling defence, bearing down on Dixon’s goal. The goalkeeper rushed off his line and dove at Frisina’s feet but the striker seemed to push the ball past him and then go down under the challenge.

Referee Mihevc waved away all shouts for a penalty and awarded Bayswater a corner instead, suggesting he believed Dixon got a touch on the ball.

There was no doubt about Dixon’s contact with the ball three minutes after the restart when he again rushed off his line and this time stood tall to block Gareth Whittle’s fierce shot.

Bayswater seemed to grow in confidence as the second half progressed, with Maralunda making several strong runs from midfield. One such run on the hour mark led to him rolling the ball to Frisina who shot just wide from 25 yards.

Just a minute later Maralunda made another run which carried him into the box where he was tripped by a Stirling defender. This time the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Frisina stepped up to send Dixon the wrong way and level the scores.

Parity only lasted for two minutes, however, with the next shot on goal taking Stirling back into the lead.

Keith Clevenger went down under a clumsy challenge on the edge of the area and Boland dispatched the free kick just inside the near post.

Jason Trpevski could have made it 3-1 in the 65th minute when he found himself one-on-one with Koroma but the midfielder fired high and wide from a tight angle.

A diagonal ball into the box by Dennis Galan caused Koroma a headache when it took a wicked bounce and nearly flew into the top of the net. However, the Bayswater keeper made a sharp save to tip it over the bar.

As the game wore on, the superior fitness of the Premier League side became a deciding factor, with Bayswater losing their shape as they pushed for a winner while trying to stop Stirling wrapping up the game on the break.

The most obvious example of this came when Italiano beat the offside trap and found himself through on goal with a Stirling player to either side. However, instead of taking the chance himself he decided to slide the ball to a teammate who was obviously offside.

Bayswater immediately countered and Maralunda went close with a shot from 20 yards, but that was to be the last of their chances to take the game to penalties.
Koroma made a fine late save to deny Italiano and soon after Mihevc blew the final whistle, triggering the Stirling celebrations.

After the game, Stirling coach Willie Herd was understandably delighted with the victory.

“We knew it would be a tough game but I think in the end our fitness really showed through because we created five or six chances that we should have put away,” he said.

“Before the game I told the lads Stirling has never won the Reserves Cup so it’d be a chance to make some history for the club, and we did it.”

Report by Michael Bate courtesy Football West

Stirling Lions 2 (Boland 31′, 63′)
Bayswater City (Frisina pen 61′)
Sunday October 4, 12.30pm
BGC Stadium
Referee: Josh Mihevc

STIRLING LIONS: GK. Tom DIXON, 3. Tom SENIOR, 4. Ben SENIOR, 6. Jason TRPEVSKI, 7. Matt ITALIANO, 8. Remo VENDITTI, 9. Keith CLEVENGER (15. Nduma MAKECHE 66′), 10. Liam BOLAND (17. Damian CHAPELEAU 80′), 11. Dennis GALAN, 12. Rick DEL BASSO (19. Jake GEDDES 73′), 20. Paul RECHICHI
SUBS NOT USED: 2. Zoran VRTESKI, 14. Dave SCREAIGH
YELLOW CARDS: Matt ITALIANO 50′, Jason TEPEVSKI 82′
RED CARDS: None

BAYSWATER CITY: GK. Bobson KOROMA, 2. Joshua PIRONE, 4. Cesar GONZALEZ, 5. Damir KUDUZOVIC, 6. Paul HICKEY (3. Michael KOVACEVIC 78′), 7. Gustavo MARALUNDA, 8. Carlos LOPEZ, 9. Gareth WHITTLE, 10. Ryan FRISINA (13. Blaz RADOVANOVIC 71′), 11. Ahmed HAFEZ, 15. Frank MADAFERRI
SUBS NOT USED: RGK. Gianni PAPALIA, 12. Alex DUNCAN, 14. Trent JONES
YELLOW CARDS: Frank MADAFERRI 10′, Damir KUDUZOVIC 20′, Paul HICKEY 23′, Ryan FRISINA 26′, Joshua PIRONE 56′, Cesar GONZALEZ 58′, Gustavo MARALUNDA 72′
RED CARDS: None