Wolves back to winning ways
This was not a classic with a dull first half and too many mistakes from sides that had not played since the middle of December.
Still, the match came to life in an absorbing second half when the lead changed hands on several occasions, and the outcome was only decided at the death.
Inside the final 10 minutes both teams thought they had stolen the points and plaudits. Josh Henderson kicked County back into the lead around the 71-minute mark, only to see Heriot’s march back up field and lure County offside for a soft penalty from which Ross Jones stole the show with the simplest of kicks from in front of the posts.
The full-back ended up kicking 11 of his team’s 16-point haul, with three penalties and one conversion, every one of them crucial.
Still there was controversy as County’s captain Reyner Kennedy took the referee to task for ending the game early because the scoreboard clock showed 77 minutes when the hooter went. So far, so confusing, but the stadium clock sadly bore no relation to the real match time.
Coach Ben Cairns was clearly frustrated by his ill-disciplined team, pointing out that County top the charts for sorties into the opposition 22 but are the least effective Super6 side at converting this territory into points.
“When we stick to basics and do the simple things we are very effective,” said the coach. “But we just go off script and start doing our own thing when we don’t have to.
“The big one for me was we’ve drilled them in the maul at the end of the first half and should have scored. We’ve drilled them in the scrum, we played advantage, we come back for the penalty and we tapkick it. Why not come back for a scrum or a maul since we have just drilled them in both?”
He added: “When you have a set of individuals who struggle to stay on script and struggle to manage the game well, they are undisciplined in that regard and they are undisciplined in regard to penalties. We are better than that.”
The first half was uneventful as both teams struggled to find their feet. Heriot’s
Stirling County: Sorbie; MacGarvie, Kent, Hayes (Goudie 52), Trotter; J Henderson, S Kennedy; Brown, R Kennedy (Korteweg 65), Walker, Bartlett, C Henderson, Vakaloloma (Pow 52), Gordon,Taylor-Menzies.
STIRLING WOLVES ................................. 28 AYR ............................................................ 12
Stirling Wolves lifted the United Auctions Quaich against Ayr for the first time since it was first played for in 2014.
The Wolves won 28-12 at Bridgehaugh with tries coming from James Gibson, Ross McKnight and Mikey Heron for the home side plus 13 points from the boot of Jonny Hope to take the trophy which was presented by UA due to its links with both clubs.
The win lifts Stirling Wolves to seventh spot in Tennent’s National League Division 1
“It was a good performance, particularly in the first half scoring three tries,” said Wolves head coach Chris Faill.
“We are delighted to get back to winning ways and hopefully we can use this performance to build from. The only disappointment was that we couldn’t score a fourth bonus point try.”
Stirling Accies also came out on top in their West Regional Reserve League Division 1, thanks to a 32-5 victory against Ayr/Millbrae to make it a Stirling double against Ayr. There is no game for either the Wolves or Accies on Saturday.
Bannockburn went down to unbeaten Caledonia Midlands Division 3 leaders Dunfermline 2nds by 29-6. The Bluebellwood remain in second place and make the trip to Strathmore 2nds on Saturday.