A BIG COMEBACK
MacDonald try seals win after County hit back at Watsonians
Prop Mike MacDonald and full-back Jonny Hope were the Stirling County heroes with a try and conversion two minutes from time to beat Watsonians 21-19 at Bridgehaugh after being 13 points down.
County brought a number pf players back into the pack to bolster the team that lost to Ayr the previous week with MacDonald and fellow prop Adam Nicol returning to the front row, Callum Hunter-Hill was back in the second-row, Ruaridh Leishman returned to the back row and youngster Harry Henderson made his first start at No 8 in the absence of the injured Alex Taylor.
In wet conditions, the opening exchanges were dominated by the forwards with the visitors having the majority of early possession and territory and the Myreside men went ahead after 13 minutes when standoff Ewan Scott went over for an unconverted try.
County responded four minutes later through a successful 20-metre penalty kick at goal by Hope but Watsonians added another try on 21 minutes when winger Max McFarland sidestepped two despairing County tackles to gallop behind the uprights for a try, converted by Andrew Chalmers.
Before the break, Hope kicked a second penalty but tries proved difficluty to come by.
Watsonians pressed forward from the restart, aided by the home side’s tendency to kick away possession, allowing the visitors to attack down both flanks and keep County pinned back for long periods in their own half.
The pressure eventually told when flanker Angus Duckett was driven over to touchdown after a succession of drives by the Watsonians’ forwards. Chalmers converted to give the Edinburgh side a commanding 19-6 advantage with an hour played.
County responded immediately and from the restart Hamilton Burr broke clear from 40-metres out only to be tackled just short of the try line. The ball was quickly recycled by scrumhalf Nemia Kenatale and moved out wide, allowing winger Craig Pringle to exploit a gap and score an unconverted try in the left corner.
From the restart, County ran the ball deep into the visitors’ 22, leading to the sin-binning of Watsonians centre Tom Hart for cynically sealing-off the ball on the wrong-side. Hope kicked the straightforward penalty to bring County back into contention at 19-14 down with 14 minutes’ remaining.
Watsonians then had a period of possession in the County 22 but the County defence stood resolute throughout although the visitors will regret not kicking a penalty at goal on the County 22, when their replacement scrumhalf Euan McKirdy opted for a quick-tap with no reward.
It provde vital as County launched a late surge on the visitors’ line. With two minutes remaining, and after numerous attacking phases, the home side’s controlled forward play was rewarded when MacDonald was driven over under the posts to touchdown for the crucial winning try, converted by Hope, to edge County in front for the first time in the match; a lead which they held until the full-time whistle for a stunning victory.
Stirling County - Hope, Pringle, Cresswell, Lyle, Elliston, Jones, Kenatale; M MacDonald, Kennedy, Nicol, Burr, HunterHill, Leishman, Robertson, Henderson. Replacements: Emmison, Hutton, S McDonald, Turnbull, Lamb.
Watsonians – Chalmers, Young, Inness, Hart, McFarland, Scott, Cullen; Christie, Crombie, Borel, Poole, Borthwick, Dee, Duckett, Dods. Replacements: Miller, Eastwood, Morrison, McKirdy, Bertram.
County’s Man of the Match, sponsored by John Graham Metals, was Fraser Lyle.
Head coach David Adamson said “I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to the boys at the end of the match when we slipped to 19-6 down and looked like losing, but to their credit they fought back and in spells during the closing stages we showed what a good team we can be. We need to build on this win - it could be huge for our season.”
They moved up a place to seventh place in the league table and their next BT Premiership match is away to fourth-placed Heriot’s on Saturday, kick off at Goldenacre is 3pm.
Thanks to County’s main sponsor United Auctions and all others who continue to support the club.