Time is running out for County

Feb 4 2009 by Alan Rennie, Stirling Observer Wednesday

COACH Ian Jardine was contemplating throwing in a few raw youngsters against Melrose and he may now be regretting his decision to play it safe.

The same old failings that have anchored County at the foot of the table rose to the surface again on Saturday.

For fighting spirit and sheer effort, this County side can’t be faulted.

However, the decision making and quality of passing in midfield has let the team down time and time again this season. This leads to frustration and then mistakes creep into Stirling’s game.

County had the edge on the Border visitors throughout the first half of Saturday’s game but the scoreboard revealed that all they had to show was a solitary Brian Archibald penalty.

Several try scoring opportunities were squandered and a second kicking chance for Archibald was missed just before the interval.

Feelings that County could regret these missed chances were reinforced when the Melrose club’s tall and impressive stand-off Scott Wight slammed over a penalty within five minutes to level the match.

Centre Dave Whiteford then the dangerous Jordan Macey then notched tries, both converted by Wight, to put Melrose in easy street at 17-3 ahead.

County refused to bow down, however, and an Archibald penalty was followed by a good try by eager beaver wing Ross Aitken.

County huffed and puffed from then to the final whistle in a bid to get the converted try that would win them the match.

However, the lack of a cutting edge once again proved to be County’s downfall.

Voting for the John Graham (Metals) Ltd man of the match award saw Ross Aitken and Graham Calder get two votes each with one for each of Colin Eadie, Tim Clarke and Bruce McFarlane. Both coaches went for Ross so he got the casting vote.

It’s tough for cash-strapped County to compete against clubs like Melrose who had three Australians and two New Zealanders in their team on Saturday, plus a Samoan on the bench.

Stirling County – J Hope; G Lindsay, B Addison, D Gilmour, R Aitken; B Archibald, G Calder; M Hunter, J Graham, G Mountford, B McFarlane, G Gilchrist, C Eadie, T Clarke and C Deacons. Reps – W Davies, J Hill, K Bryce (all used), A Auld and C Black.

Melrose – J Macey; C Anderson, J Lew, D Whiteford, A Jessop; S Wight, S McCormick; S Williams, W Mitchell, R Higgins, G Dodds, S Johnston, J Dalziel, R Miller and B Wallace. Reps – L Gibson, N Beavon, K Palepoi, J Helps and D Dodds.

Referee – David Changleng, Border Referees Society.

Stirling County RFC is grateful for the support of main sponsors Simpson Donald and Ondeo Industrial Solutions.

My reading of the maths says that County will definitely be relegated this Saturday if they fail to gain a point at Hawick (kick-off 3pm) and Watsonians and Hawks record wins, five-point and four-point respectively.

If County win and the other pair lose then the relegation fight is still alive but it will be put on hold until March due to cup games and international matches.

Though they have games in hand, the appearance of Watsonians in relegation alley may seem surprising. However, closer study of the league results reveals they haven’t won a game since mid-October.

Their slide could be County’s salvation although “games in hand” are very useful at the dog-end of a season when the opposition can lack motivation.

With a number of players involved in Caledonia training at Under 17 and Under 18 levels, Stirling County Under 18's had no games last Saturday.

The next fixture is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10 when they take on George Watson's School side in Edinburgh in a friendly fixture.

This match will again reflect the ambition of the squad to take on the best sides at youth level in Scotland.