STIRLING County came from 6 – 19 down to beat Watsonians with two late tries in a dramatic conclusion to this BT Premiership encounter; a pivotal result which maintains the Bridgehaugh sides’ aspirations for a top-four league finish.

County were able to bring back a number of players to bolster the team that lost to Ayr the previous week, particularly in the pack with props Mike MacDonald and Adam Nicol returning to the front row. Callum Hunter-Hill was welcomed back to the second-row and captained the side after his recent selection for Glasgow Warriors in Italy. Ruaridh Leishman returned to the back row, where youngster Harry Henderson made his first start at number eight in the absence of the injured Alex Taylor. In the backs, the only change saw Ryan Elliston start on the left-wing. Winger Matt Lamb, along with forwards Matt Emmison, Colin Hutton and Shaun MacDonald, dropped to the bench.

In wet conditions, as expected the opening exchanges were dominated by the forwards, with the visitors having the majority of early possession and territory. Watsonians went 0–5 ahead after 13 minutes, when flanker Diarmaid Dee broke into the County 22, the ball was quickly re-cycled to scrum-half Reiss Cullen who offloaded to supporting stand-off Ewan Scott who scored the opening try in the left corner. Scott missed the conversion and retired injured two minutes later.

County responded four minutes later through a successful 20-metre penalty kick at goal by Jonny Hope, after Watsonians were caught offside and the penalty was moved 10-metres forward by the referee after home scrum-half Nemia Kenatale was impeded taking a quick tap-and-go.

Watsonians extended their lead to 3-12 on 21 minutes, when the ball was spun wide to the right-winger Max McFarland who side-stepped two despairing County tackles to gallop behind the uprights for a try, converted by Andrew Chalmers.

Soon after the re-start, County pushed Watsonians off a scrum just inside the visitors’ half, and Hope successfully kicked the awarded 35-metre penalty between the uprights to reduce the deficit to 6–12.

Watsonians made better use of the ball and looked more composed in the final third of the field, however County urged on by the large vociferous crowd attacked at every opportunity but a succession of handling errors denied any clear-cut scoring chances.

County gained good field position just before the break, with an attacking scrum five metres out, but as the home-side spread the play they couldn’t keep the ball in hand and failed to capitalise on their last opportunity before the break.

Half-time: Stirling County 6 – Watsonians 12.

Colin Hutton temporarily replaced Mike MacDonald in County’s front-row for the start of the second-half, but it was Watsonians who pressed forward from the re-start, aided by the home-sides’ tendency to loosely kick-away possession, allowing the visitors to attack down both flanks and keep the hosts pinned-back for long periods in their own half.

County’s McDonald and Lamb replaced Henderson and Jake Cresswell respectively before the visitors’ pressure eventually told, when their flanker Angus Duckett was driven over to touchdown after a succession of drives by the Watsonians’ forwards. Chalmers converted to give the Edinburgh side a commanding 6-19 advantage with an hour played.

County responded immediately and from the re-start Hamilton Burr broke clear from 40-metres out in centre-field only for the powerful second-row to be tackled just short of the try-line. The ball was quickly recycled by scrum-half Kenatale and moved out-wide, stretching the Watsonians’ retreating defence, allowing winger Craig Pringle to exploit a gap and score an unconverted try in the left corner, reducing the visitors’ lead to 11-19, with 18 minutes to play.

Burr went off injured to be replaced by Matt Emmison, and from the re-start kick, County ran the ball deep into the visitors’ 22, leading to the sin-binning of Watsonians centre Tom Hart for cynically sealing-off the ball on the wrong-side. Hope kicked the straight-forward penalty to bring County back into contention at 14 – 19 down, with 14 minutes remaining.

Watsonians then had a lengthy period of possession in the County 22, with their pack retaining possession through a series of attacking phases as they sought their fourth try, but the County defence stood resolute throughout, although the visitors will regret not kicking a penalty at goal on the County 22, when their replacement scrum-half Euan McKirdy opted for a quick-tap with no reward.

In the closing stages, County launched a late surge on the visitors’ line. With two minutes remaining, and after numerous attacking phases in the Watsonians’ 22, the home-side’s controlled forward play was rewarded when Mike MacDonald was driven over under the posts to touchdown for the crucial winning try, converted by Hope, to edge County in front for the first time in the match; a lead which they held until the full-time whistle for a stunning victory.

Full-time: Stirling County 21 – Watsonians 19

County’s head coach David Adamson said “I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to the boys at the end of the match when we slipped to 6 – 19 down and looked like losing, but to their credit they fought back and in spells during the closing stages we showed what a good team we can be. We need to build on this win - it could be huge for our season”.

Scorers: Stirling County - Tries: Pringle (62 minutes), MacDonald (78 minutes). Conversion: Hope. Penalties: Hope (3).

Teams: Stirling County - Jonny Hope, Craig Pringle, Jake Cresswell, Fraser Lyle, Ryan Elliston, Ross Jones, Nemia Kenatale; Mike McDonald, Reyner Kennedy, Adam Nicol, Hamilton Burr, Callum Hunter-Hill (capt.), Ruaridh Leishman, Struan Robertson, Harry Henderson. Replacements: Matt Emmison, Colin Hutton, Shaun McDonald, Colin Turnbull, Matt Lamb.

County’s Man of the Match, sponsored by John Graham Metals, was Fraser Lyle.

County moved up a place to seventh place in the league table, and their next BT Premiership match is away to fourth-placed Heriot’s on Saturday (22nd October) - kick-off at Goldenacre is 3pm. See Club website for match preview.