Maximum haul as nine-try Shire keep alive top-four aim

Aberdeenshire kept alive their hopes of a top-four finish in National 2 with a 61-41 win against Whitecraigs in Glasgow. Shire ran in nine tries, eight of which were converted, giving them a maximum haul of five points with three home games remaining. Alex Duncan, Shire’s director of rugby, was delighted by his side’s display. He said: “We scored some quality tries, overcoming two early yellow cards, and once again had kicker and centre Paul Paxton in fine form. “It was an entertaining game to which Whitecraigs made a huge contribution, scoring five tries of their own. Having a fullstrength squad made a huge difference.” The Woodsiders did not have things all their way and were pushed by a determined home side which was 26-22 in arrears at half-time. In the second half, the visitors demonstrated a greater cutting edge, as its back division cut loose, adding a further five converted tries to their first half tally of four. Centre Nat Clough was instrumental in setting up tries for his fellow backs, including winger Luke Taylor who grabbed a brace, as did scrum half Scott Simpson. Clough got in on the try scoring with a gem of his own. The other touchdowns came from Magnus Hendry and captain Greig Ryan. Matt Henry and Gareth Magaw completed the try scoring for the visitors. Shire now have a run of the home games to complete their campaign, starting with a match against league leaders Cartha Queen’s Park on Saturday.

“We scored quality tries after two early yellow cards”