County can’t claw back large deficit
Stirling endure first-half horror show at Heriots
Heriots FP ........ 29 Stirling Co ....... 15
Kevin Robertson Stirling County conceded four firsthalf tries at Heriots on Saturday to slip towards the foot of the BT Premiership.
A spirited second-half fightback wasn’t enough from County and they now lie eighth in the table – level on points with Borougmuir and four ahead of Hawick at the halfway point in the campaign.
Alex Taylor returned from injury to the forward pack in place of the injured Struan Robertson and youngster Logan Trotter made his first start for the senior XV on the left-wing with Craig Pringle moving to cover outsidecentre.
Heriot’s opened the scoring after three minutes when the referee surprisingly awarded a penalty to the home-side following an evenly contested scrum on halfway. They kicked to the left corner, secured line-out possession and swiftly moved the ball in-field for Edinburgh Rugby prop Murray McCallum to touchdown for a try close to the posts, converted by Alex Hagart, before rushing to Murrayfield as a late call-up to the Edinburgh bench.
County responded and took play into the Heriot’s half, forcing the under-pressure home side to conceded a series of penalties. The visitors missed two penalty kick attempts at goal, before kicking another to the left corner, where line-out ball was secured by the forwards, who drove over for hooker Reyner Kennedy to ground the ball for an unconverted try.
For the remainder of the first half, Heriot’s had the majority of territory and possession aided by a succession of unforced errors by County, running in three tries.
Hagart kicked a penalty to make it 10-5 on 25 minutes before three tries in 11 horror minutes – two of them converted – put Stirling behind the eight-ball.
The rampant home side made the most of poor defending by County with tries scored by Edinburgh professional No8 Cornell Du Preez (28 minutes), Hagart (32 minutes) and centre John Semple (39 minutes), with Hagart converting the first two to put Heriot’s into a commanding 29-5 interval lead.
Stirling’s second try came in 47 minute after Matt Lamb caught a clever defence-splitting cross-field kick by inside-centre Fraser Lyle and evaded despairing tackles to score an unconverted try.
Then on the hour mark, debutant Logan Trotter marked his first match to squeeze in for an unconverted try in the left corner.
County continued to press forward in search of bonus points but careless handling and
A Pts 270 149 35 280 175 35 346 223 32 234 193 25 232 266 23 191 215 22 221 268 20 194 256 15 215 290 15 166 314 11
inaccurate line-out throwing in the final third of the field prevented them from creating any further clear-cut scoring opportunities.
Man of the Match, sponsored by John Graham Metals, was Alex Taylor.
Head coach David Adamson was frustrated that his team came away from Goldenacre empty-handed after their strong second-half showing.
He said: “Heriot’s didn’t have to work hard for their tries in the first half. We just made it really easy for them. Our defensive shape was good but individual errors and our desire to make the tackle cost us.
“At half-time our target was to get a bonus point in the second half, which we came close to achieving.”
On Saturday, County are away to bottomplaced Hawick, kick-off at Mansfield Park is 3pm.
Thanks to main sponsor United Auctions and all others who continue to support the club. Heriot’s: Parker, Simpson, Rasolea, Semple, Boisseau, Hagart, Simmers; Bouab, Turner, McCallum, Smith, Marshall, Maltman, McLean, Du Preez. Replacements: Liness, Cessford, Nimmo, Ball, Rae. Stirling County: Hope, Lamb, Pringle, Lyle, Trotter, Jones, Kenatale; M McDonald, Kennedy, Nicol, Burr, Hunter-Hill, Leishman, Taylor, Henderson. Replacements: Emmison, Hutton, S McDonald, Turnbull, Cresswell.
Our defensive shape was good but errors and our desire to make the tackle cost us