County snatch it in another thriller
HERIOT’S 16-17 STIRLING COUNTY
This match was far from a classic but it kept everyone on the edge of their seats with the winning try coming in the final minute of the match.
There was just time for the restart but the ball was kicked dead and Stirling County could celebrate.
Two second-half penalties around the hour mark seemed to have won this match for Heriot’s but County showed great heart and some enterprise to take their chance when it came along.
They can thank replacement fly-half Andrew Goudie and Lady Luck in equal measure. With the clock running down and County facing a four-point deficit, Goudie dinked the ball over the Heriot’s defensive line. His opposite number Bruce Houston failed to secure the wet ball and he coughed up possession deep inside his own half.
County then worked their way to the Heriot’s line with a series of assaults and stayed patient until eventually centre Grant Hughes squeezed over in the right-hand corner to secure the slenderest margin of victory.
With neither side able to make the top two slots that will contest the Super6 final on October 17, they used this game to throw the ball about and try a few things despite the tricky conditions. Heriot’s in particular were guilty of trying to play too much rugby, especially when exiting from their own try line, because they got picked off and turned over on more than one occasion.
But both teams were guilty of forcing the issue, squeezing in that one extra killer pass in wet and slippery conditions that started badly and went downhill from there.
The match visibly deteriorated in line with the conditions until it was well nigh impossible to string together anything very constructive in a final quarter played under a biblical downpour. It was no accident that four of the five tries came in the first half and Stirling deserved the points if only because they scored the crucial winner against both
Heriot’s and the elements.
The traditional softening-up exchanges took place at the start of this Goldenacre encounter and the match was just seven minutes old when Heriot’s skipper Iain Wilson grabbed the first of his two tries. In between those two scores, County scored with what was their first concerted attack inside the Heriot’s red zone. They prodded and probed, stretching the home defence, until finally a gap opened up for Max Williamson. The big lock made no mistake and fly-half Euan Cunningham added the extras.
Winger Tom Roche and Archie Russell then combined to give the former the chance to make it 12-10 at the break.
The second-half stalemate wasn’t broken until after Heriot’s had replaced their entire front-row about 10 minutes into the second half. It seemed to work, because within the space of five minutes fly-half Houston had slotted two penalties from in front of the County posts, one close enough, the other from several yards inside his own half, to give the home team a handy 16-12 advantage that was gold dust given the conditions.
Against all odds County did manage to hold on to the ball and build some pressure inside the Heriot’s half only to see home replacement Lewis Govenlock latch on to a loose ball and charge 60 yards upfield to turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye. Russell did brilliantly well to hunt down the youngster and stop another score, because no-one else had the legs.
It looked like Govenlock and Heriot’s had done just enough to hold onto this one, but County still had one last trick up their sleeve.
“We don’t like making things easy for ourselves, do we?” questioned County coach Ben Cairns after the event. “When we had the wind in the first half we probably needed to turn around a little further ahead. When we kept hold of the ball we pretty much scored points and that was the chat at halftime – just keep hold of the ball and build pressure, which we didn’t really manage in the second half.
“But this is finals footy and we are keen to finish as well as we can with our eyes on a home game for the third/fourth place playoff. That’s the goal.”
Stirling County: Robertson; Hamilton, Russell, Hughes, Roche; Cunningham, Korteweg; Wood, Kennedy, Skinner, Pow, WIlliamson, Arnott, Gordon, Taylor-Menzies). Subs: Fraser, Crainey, Breese, King, van Vurren, Goudie, Hayes, Holden.
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