Stirling Albion 0 - 2 Motherwell: Shaun Tuton makes his mark

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson declared himself satisfied with his side's first pre-season run out after using 21 players in yesterday's victory at Stirling Albion.

Shaun Tuton makes his debut for Motherwell. Picture. Gary Hutchison/SNS

Three trialists were among those who featured at Forthbank, with striker Shaun Tuton, who was at Barnsley last season, enhancing his hopes of landing a contract with a stunning goal ten minutes before the interval. The 25-year-old arrowed a half-volley into the top corner from 18 yards.

Former Leicester City defender Cedric Kipre also played as a trialist in the first half, while ex-Barnet centre-half Bira Dembele was among ten players introduced at the break.

Ryan Bowman added a second for the visitors in the 59th minute when he converted Chris Cadden’s perfectly weighted pass.

The 592 travelling fans also caught a glimpse of summer recruits Andy Rose, Charles Dunne and Craig Tanner in action for the first time.

Robinson, whose side take on Livingston on Tuesday as they build up to their first competitive match in the Betfred Cup against Queens Park on July 15, said: “It was a super finish from Shaun. The trialists will play again on Tuesday night, or some part of it. We’ll have a look again and then we’ll have to make a decision. We can’t keep them all, we need to get people out before we can bring anymore in.”

On the match itself, Robinson added: “In the first half you could tell we had boys that had been out for a long time, Stephen McManus, Richard Tait and it was Charles Dunnes’ first game in six months.”