Stirling boss finds the positives for group stage finale after Hearts rout
Stirling Albion boss Alan Maybury admits his side were on the end of a harsh lesson as Hearts swept to victory in front of the TV cameras, but he believes lessons can be taken as the league kick-off looms.
The Binos were never in the game against Derek McInnes's slick Jambos, with three first-half goals putting an end to the contest before a second of the game for Craig Halkett sealed a comfortable 4-0 winning margin for Hearts.
It leaves Stirling pointless after their opening trio of games in Premier Sports Cup Group E ahead of Saturday's trip to Dunfermline Athletic to round out their group campaign.
Dubliner Maybury - who turned out 112 times for the Gorgie club in his playing career - bemoaned his side's lack of positivity in a first half display where they barely moved up the pitch.
But he said their second-half improvement gives some hopeful points for the weeks and months ahead.
Maybury said: 'You're fearing the worst in the first half when they were playing really well; it was another change in shape which maybe didn't help and opened up some gaps but we quickly went back to what we normally do.
'They got their tails up and you're hoping to catch them on a bad day, but they've got the new manager to impress and we felt their pressure in the first half.
'We tried to be positive in the second half and where we were a little cautious in the first half, we managed to get our shape a little better and frustrate things.
'We're in a game we're not going to win by that stage, but we'll learn more from that second half than we will most games in the season.
'Hearts hemmed us in, but we gave away three goals from set pieces today which are preventable, giving the ball away in the middle of the pitch and that is punished as well so those are things we need to be better at.
'They can say they took the foot off the gas off the second half - and I'd probably agree - but I'm more concerned with my own team having a better mentality and trying to be positive.'
Albion once again rotated their side for the contest as the search for valuable minutes in the legs ahead of the season opener at Edinburgh City on August 2 appears on the horizon.
The Stirling gaffer hopes playing against a top side which includes several Scotland internationals will offer key points to learn from for some of the Binos' young talents - including midfielder Cooper Knox, who started the match.
Maybury added: 'It will be a valuable lesson for the young boys in particular; a top team who don't take too many touches, move it quick and physically stronger, there are so many things to be learned and it's nothing complicated, doing the simple things well every time.
'I recognise my goalkeeper played well and they could have scored more goals, but we let in preventable goals and that's what we want to take out of these games if we're not winning them, playing in the manner we want to and you could see that in the second half.'
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