Bonus point win caps fine display from young County title challengers

Mar 11 2009 by Jean Pedder, Stirling Observer Wednesday

STIRLING County Under-18s visited Glenrothes on Saturday and returned with a 24-0 victory – including four tries which earned a bonus point.

County are still on course for a strong tilt at the Caledonia League title with four matches remaining.

County again had seven players involved in the Inter-district tournament but were bolstered by the return of Under- 17 players.

The match opened with County pinned in their twenty-two as the home side made use of the strong wind behind their backs.

However, well-organised defence kept the Fife side at bay and the County backs looked dangerous in any breakouts.

After some effective handling down the right captain Mark Marchbanks touched down under the posts. His conversion established a sound platform for the rest of the half with solid defence and threatening attack from County, dominating proceedings.

After pressure on the Glenrothes line Marchbank struck around the edge of the ruck to extend the lead to 12 with seven minutes to go before half-time.

After the break County began to extend pressure with some effective kicking pinning the home defence within their own half.

A change of stand-off with Craig Robertson coming on and Marchbank moving to centre allowed the County coaches to experiment with next season in mind.

However the change did little to disrupt the one-way traffic towards the Glenrothes line.

Surprisingly, it took until the 55th minute before a further breakthrough was created, this time with an over-lap on the right creating a space for full-back Andy Parker to go over in the corner.

With eight minutes remaining Kyle Dalziel drove over after good momentum had been created to secure the bonus point. Robbie Hogg, who had a fine game at centre, struck a confident kick to close the match at 24-0 for County.

This week the side travels to Dunfermline, a side who are always competitive. A win would set up an interesting end to the league campaign with three games left.