Victory takes the heat off County
Stirling show their mettle in‘must-win’game
It was an early start to the new year fixtures for County’s 1st XV as they hosted Aberdeen Grammar, and with both clubs hovering near the three space relegation zone this was a must-win for the Bridgehaugh side.
With the festive hangover lingering, the first 10 minutes was a litany of County errors. After the Aberdeen kick off, County were penalised for offside at the ruck – which allowed Aberdeen to kick to the corner and set up an attacking lineout on the County five metre line.
A combination of squint lineout throws and holding on penalties from County kept Aberdeen in the County half. An Aberdeen attacking lineout set up an attacking maul which crossed the line on the eighth minute – putting Aberdeen 0-5 up. The conversion was missed.
County won the restart and applied some attacking pressure on Aberdeen, resulting in Aberdeen going off their feet in a defensive maul – this penalty was within kicking range of winger, Gregor Smith, and he executed well to narrow the score to 3-5.
County’s bad luck was not finished, with veteran scrum-half Ross Drummond being removed from play on the 11th minute with a dislocated shoulder. He was replaced by David Scott.
County needed to up their game and a series of attacking phases found Gregor Smith on the right wing. A clever grubber kick into touch on Aberdeen’s five metre line allowed County to apply some much-needed pressure. The Aberdeen lineout was squint – resulting in an attacking County scrum.
A key positive of the full match was the strength and domination of the County scrum, and this was evident with a free kick win for County at the scrum.
Fast thinking from Jonny Hope enabled the quick tap which put Gregor Smith on the charge. Smith’s quick feet and direction changes had Aberdeen’s defence unstructured and he spotted a gap and went over the line on the 24th minute.
The subsequent conversion was missed to leave the score at 8-5 in favour of the hosts.
The following phases of play allowed County to increase the tempo on their attacking play.
A holding on penalty against Aberdeen gave County another shot at the posts, which was missed. But a further penalty against Aberdeen on the 31st minute, for side entry to the ruck, was converted by Gregor Smith to extend County’s lead to 11-5.
The second half saw County lose winger Ross Maiden to injury on the 41st minute. This resulted in versatile backrower Calum Macpherson moving to the wing.
A series of Aberdeen attacks was absorbed well by the County defence, culminating in a line break by County’s outside centre, Ben Yarrow, who travelled 30 metres into Aberdeen’s half before an illegal high tackle brought him down.
The subsequent penalty set up a series of attacking County phases which came to an end with a dropped ball from loosehead Kevin Crainey.
With the County scrum dominance and forward play, Aberdeen were penalised again for side entry to the ruck.
Jonny Hope kicked for the corner and an attacking lineout was set deep into the Aberdeen 22. The lineout resulted in a strong County maul, which set up Jonny Hope to go over the line on the 52nd minute to make it 18-5.
County won the restart and revisited the Aberdeen 22 with a kick from Gregor Smith setting up another lineout.
Another impressive County maul drove them to within five metres. Clever cross field phase play kept the Aberdeen defence guessing and on the 57th minute Macpherson crossed the line to give County a third try. The conversion was missed, making the score 23-5.
The remainder of the game saw County reduce the tempo that had given them the lead – and that resulted in a series of attacks by the ever-resilient Aberdeen.
County’s defence held strong until the 70th minute when Aberdeen secured their second try.
After a successful conversion, the scores stood at 23-12 to County and the hosts hung on to see out the match with a vital win.