B Team
Sturt put themselves under pressure early by giving Stirling far to much room on the ball and getting caught in possession, Stirling being right in our faces whenever we had the ball. Some poor refereeing decisions for both sides took away what should have been a strong, close contest between both sides committed to attack.
Once again we conceded an early goal when we lost possession in their half after a soft tackle. The ball was deflected to their midfielder who played a good ball down their left where a cross was put over and caught Tom underneath it for an easy tap in at the back post.
Sturt attacked down the left and put a low cross to the near post where Hayden met it with a strong low header which whistled past the outside of the post. Some inconsistent decisions cost Sturt dearly as Ron was booked for a challenge similar to one committed by Stirling 30 seconds earlier that went unpunished. Ron asked the question 'Why' and was shown the yellow card. However a minute later, Ron still fuming crunched a Stirling player and was given a second yellow and sent off.
After a reshape, Sturt settled a little and held off until halftime.
The second half saw Sturt play with more determination, lifting there games and out maneuvering Stirling for long periods without breaking through. Simon Green came on for an injured Damien Chico and caused some problems in their midfield supplying good balls for Jez & Graffs. Big Jimmy took a knock to the foot and was replaced by Elliott Brown who immediately changed the pace of our game with darting runs down the right, twice coming close to scoring.
Hayden up front covered every inch of grass chasing down the Stirling Defence. Mark & John combined well to hold the defence together with Adam & Dave holding off the Stirling attacks. It was only a matter of time before the legs got a little weary and Stirling took advantage of it. The defence got caught on the ball and Stirling took the ball and slotted it past Tom in goal. A 3rd followed shortly after when Stirling got a corner on the left and played it to the near post where it was headed goal ward and was deflected in of a shoulder of a following Stirling player.
All credit to Sturt because they never gave up after halftime and showed that they can play. If they can start games like this then they will win a lot of the remaining games, as they played better in the second half than they did for all of the previous game.
Good games from Hayden Cawley, Steve Grafton, John Hamp, Mark Zanella, Elliott Brown.
Halftime score - Stirling 1 - 0 Sturt Marion
Full time Score - Stirling 3 - 0 Sturt Marion
TEAM. - Tom Beatty, Damien Chicco, Ron Parry, John Hamp, Adam Gray, David Liddiard, Mark Zanella, Steve Grafton, Jeremy Limbert,James Stevenson, Hayden Cawley, Subs. - Elliott Brown, Simon Green, Dave Woodifield, John Santos
Special Comments: Robin Goldfinch (14/4/06)