Match Report: Sunday 26th September Stirling County v Watsonians Rugby - Stirling County Rugby Football Club

Match Report: Sunday 26th September Stirling County v Watsonians Rugby

FOSROC SUPER6: ROUND 8

Match report from this weekend’s FOSROC eighth Super6 match. Stirling County went up against Watsonians on Sunday afternoon at Bridgehauge.

County’s No.10 Euan Cunningham kicked off the game and within the first minute, Stirling opened the scoring as the ball found scrum-half Caleb Korteweg and he went over the try line with ease. Euan Cunningham added the conversion points. [7-0]

A penalty was awarded to Stirling as the Watsonians were penalised for not rolling away, and stand-off Euan Cunningham extended the hosts lead. [10-0]

Stirling were looking unstoppable as George Arnott went through to score Stirlings second try of the afternoon in and around the 13th minute, further extending their lead. [15-0]
Watsonians kicked back in the 19th minute as right-winger Harvey Elms pounced on the ball to score the visitors their first try of the afternoon. No.10 Marc Morrison successfully added the conversion from out-wide. [15-7]
Moments later Watsonians, Marc Morrison, added three more points to their tally with a long range penalty. [15-10]
However, Stirling County weren’t letting Watsonains get too close as George Arnott went on to score his second try of the afternoon and County’s third. Euan Cunningham successfully added the conversion. [20-10]
Another penalty was awarded to Watsonians in the 25th minute and it was Marc Morrison again who added the extra three points. [20-13]
In the 27th minute, County found themselves with a bonus point try as Tom Roche scores County’s forth try of the game. Euan Cunningham is again successful with the conversion. [29-13]
The half an hour mark saw the replacement of No.5 Josh King with No.19 Max Williamson.
Just before half-time Watsonians Lewis Berg pulled through with another try and Morrison was again successful with the conversion. [29-20]
A yellow card was shown to Watsonians No.8 Sam Daly in the 38th minute.
On the stroke of half-time, captain Reyner Kennedy secured the ball down at the rolling maul and scored try number 5 for County. [34-20]

HALF-TIME: Stirling County 34-20 Watsonians Rugby

Watsonians were wasting no time to get the scoreboard moving in the second-half, Sam Grahamslaw crashed over for the visitors and made the eighth try of the afternoon. Joe Reynolds slots for the conversion. [34-27]
The 43th minute saw County Captain, No.2 Reyner Kennedy, be replaced by No.16 Angus Fraser.
Tom Roche scored his second try of the afternoon in the 44th minute of the match, adding to the lead for the host. Euan Cunningham nails the conversion from the touchline. [41-27]

No.18 George Breese stepped on the pitch in the 45th minute to replace No.1 Adam Wood.

Watsonians weren’t letting County out of their sight as another try was scored by Watsonians Michael Badenhorst in the 55th minute and a successful conversion from Joe Reynolds. [41-34]

The 60th minute saw the replacement of No.8 Dean Taylor-Menzies, No. 10 Euan Cunningham and No.14 Stevie Hamilton with No.20 Callum Cruikshank, No.21 Andrew Goudie and No.23 Ross McKnight.
Scrum-half Caleb Korteweg was replaced with just ten minutes to go with No.22 Landon Hayes.
County continued to build pressure, however, Watsonians continued to push back. Watsonians scored a try in the 77th minute as No.8 Sam Daly secured the ball down over the home side to secure their fifth try of the afternoon, bringing the score tight towards full-time. [41-39]
No. 17 Billy Dineen was brought on in the 78th minute to replace injured man Callum Cruikshank and Watsonians Luis Ball was shown a yellow card for a high tackle.
The full-time whistle blew at Bridgehauge, and the hosts were your round 8 winners. It was an intense affair between the two teams but an outstanding game of rugby to watch. The result leaves both County and Watsonians still in with a slim chance of earning a place in the final next month with two rounds of the regular season to go.

FULL-TIME: Stirling County 41-39 Watsonians Rugby

Head Coach

Ben Cairns commented on the teams performance and thoughts on the final:

“Watsonians generally manage games very well, and that’s one of their big strengths, and it’s probably our biggest weakness. So you’ve got us playing a lot of good rugby and scoring some quality tries but because we can’t manage the game it still becomes very close. We knew they would come back in the second half.”

“It’s still all to play for, we could also still be in the fifth/sixth play-off, but it puts us in a good position to be thinking about up the table rather than down the table. We have to go again next week, and that’s the beauty of the competition.”

Match report by Eve Allison

SCORERS Stirling County: TRY: Tom Roche (2), Caleb Korteweg, George Arnott (2), Reyner Kennedy CON: Euan Cunningham (4) PEN Euan Cunningham Watsonians: TRY Harvey Elms, Lewis Berg, Sam Daly, Michael Badenhorst, Sam Grahamslaw CON: Marc Morrison (2), Joe Reynolds (2) PEN: Marc Morrison (2)

MATCH OFFICIALS

Ref: Ian Kenny

AR1: Keith Allen

AR2: Michael Todd

NO4: Willie Anderson

Time: Andy Summers

FOSROC Player of the Match Grant Hughes (Stirling County) CARDS Yellow: Sam Daly (Watsonians Rugby) Luis Ball (Watsonians Rugby)

Stirling County: 15. Craig Robertson, 14. Steven Hamilton, 13. Archie Russell, 12. Grant Hughes, 11. Tom Roche, 10. Euan Cunningham, 9. Caleb Korteweg; 1. Adam Wood, 2. Reyner Kennedy CAPTAIN, 3. Lewis Skinner, 4. James Pow, 5. Josh King, 6. George Arnott, 7. Connor Gordon, 8. Dean Taylor-Menzies

Replacements: 16. Angus Fraser, 17. Billy Dineen, 18. George Breese, 19. Max Williamson*, 20. Callum Cruickshank, 21. Andrew Goudie, 22. Landon Hayes, 23. Ross McKnight*

Watsonians Rugby: 15. Jamie Forbes CAPTAIN, 14. Harvey Elmsm, 13. Lewis Berg, 12. Scott King, 11. Lomond Macpherson, 10. Marc Morrison, 9. Roan Frostwick*; 1. Sam Grahamslaw, 2. Ross Graham, 3. Angus Williams, 4. Luis Ball, 5. Michael Badenhorst, 6. Kwagga Van Niekerk, 7. Karl Main, 8. Sam Daly

Replacements: 16. Cal Davies, 17. Harrison Courtney, 18. Nathan Borel, 19. Kieran Watt, 20. Harry Fisher, 21. Murray Scott, 22. Dom Coetzer, 23. Joe Reynolds

*FOSROC Scottish Rugby Contracted Academy Player

Stirling County Rugby Football Club
Bridgehaugh Park, Stirling, FK9 5AP

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