Selkirk 4- 3 University of Stirling

By Callum Hodgson at Yarrow Park

JOHN Coughlin secured his first win as Selkirk boss at the weekend but had to endure a nervy ending.

The Souters raced to a deserved lead thanks to strikes from Daryl Healy, Reece Donaldson and Ross King.

The visitors did pull one back on the stroke of half time through Kieron Hall, but the three-goal advantage was restored when Dale Baxter’s stunning strike looped over Owen Klijsen.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Rory MacEwan grabbed a goal before Aiden Peden struck on 90 minutes to set up a heart-in-mouth finish.

Coughlin was without a number of first team regulars and wasn’t helped when Donaldson had to be subbed for a head injury and Sean McKirdy limped off on 81 minutes.

He told the Border Telegraph: “It’s the three points that matter, but we made hard work of it. It hasn’t been helped by the number of injuries we have at the moment. It’s not fringe players or kids, it’s key players and another two came off today.

“Looking back at this game it’s great to get three points, but to lose three goals at home, in the manner in which we lost them, is a little disappointing.

“However, before the game we certainly would have settled for the three points – it doesn’t matter how you get them, so we’re delighted to get the win.”

The home side took the lead on 14 minutes. King burst down the left and picked out Healy in the box. He managed to prod his shot over the line despite the keeper getting a hand on it.

And they could have been two up just five minutes later when the shaky Stirling stopper whacked his attempted clearance against Healy on the edge of the box – but the keeper did enough to recover and make the save.

The Souters did extend their lead from the resultant Baxter corner. The former Hearts man found Donaldson unmarked at the back stick. He made no mistake.

And it was three, three minutes before the interval after a wonderful attacking move.

Jordan Hopkinson picked up the ball on the right, threaded through to Healy. He then found King whose shot went straight through the hands of custodian Klijsen.

However the visitors did respond a minute later after what looked like a lack of concentration at the back. Callum Downie’s throw-in was not dealt with and Hall managed to curl his effort around a group of bodies and into the net.

But that looked a scant consolation. Just four minutes into the second half, Baxter was given too much room on the 18-yard line and he lobbed his superb shot into the top corner.

The visitors stepped up their intensity and managed to reduce the deficit four minutes later. Substitute Blair Lyons and MacEwan linked up well before the latter fired into Amos’ goal.

And Selkirk were forced to make their first change when Donaldson bravely stuck his head into a group of players to defend a Stirling attack, resulting in a six-minute stoppage in play.

The visitors continued to pile on the pressure as they looked to get something out of the game. Lyons had a shot saved after a goalmouth scramble and fired wide minutes later in the six-yard box.

And they got their third bang on 90 minutes when sub Peden fired in from 25 yards.

However Selkirk battled on in the seven minutes of stoppage time to gain the hard-fought victory to climb back to fifth place with a couple of games in hand.

Selkirk: G Amos, R Sclater, R Donaldson (J Davidson 67), A Fleming, M Christie, D Healy, C Chalmers, J Hopkinson, D Baxter (G Brown 90+2), S McKirdy (D Brown 81), R King. Subs not used: Zac Nicol