Stirling Rangers thump Rovers Black in round seven of the under-18 Albany Junior Soccer Association season

Stirling Rangers easily accounted for Rovers Black in the Albany Junior Soccer Association under-18 competition last Saturday, emerging comfortable 5-0 winners. Stirling Rangers were made to work hard against their opposition, with Rovers goalkeeper Seth Collins producing a spirited display to keep them at bay for long periods of the game. Most of the chances were for Stirling Rangers but it took 20 minutes before they broke the deadlock, snagging their first goal through Falen Robinson. Rovers were still in the game and had chances going forward but couldn’t find the final pass to challenge the Rangers’ defence and put their goalkeeper under any real pressure. Several more fine saves by Collins kept the Rovers’ spirits high before Bastian Morecombe scored just before the break. A brace by Justin Otway and a well-taken fifth by Tully Franklin sealed the victory for the Stirling Rangers. In the other under-18s match, Polonia were a little disjointed against a well-organised Rovers Gold but had just enough to get the win 2-0, which included an audacious outside-of-the-right- boot flick by Kevin Poole. John Calvin are always good on the counterattack and Albany Bayswater were forced to stay alert and not lose too much focus in their encounter. Albany Bayswater held the ball well and threatened every time they went forward but John Calvin proved solid in defence, keeping the attackers at bay for periods of the contest. A few minor lapses in concentration were all that were needed for Albany Bayswater to capitalise, and they broke the contest open in the second half to surge to an 8-2 win. John Calvin scored two goals through Malcolm van Burgel but ultimately didn’t have enough to match Bayswater’s attacking prowess.