Stirling County 42-42 Aberdeen Grammar: County delight as youngsters step up to create thriller

There was a notable contrast in reaction from the respective head coaches at the conclusion of this thrilling, see-saw encounter.

County’s Graeme Young was upbeat and admitted to being pleased with taking three points, whereas his opposite number, Alex Duncan, was seething at his team’s profligacy in defence.

“Both sides had opportunities to win an open, free-flowing game and there were some fantastic tries,” said Young. “We had 12 players unavailable from our usual squad and I’m really proud of the younger players who came in. It’s testimony to the depth of the club that these guys can come out and perform like that in their first year or first game at this level.”

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Duncan, on the other hand, was brutal in his assessment of Aberdeen’s frailties. “We were not willing to work hard or to defend or to tackle.

“We had too many players who were hiding. We need to be much more committed to that chore. When we are under the cosh, we don’t front up the way we need to.”

For the spectators, the match was a cracker with the score tied on no fewer than seven occasions. County earned their points thanks to tries from Craig Deacons, Matt Lamb, pro Byron McGuigan, Stuart Edwards and Danny Gilmour, Edwards only missing a single conversion but augmenting his side’s tally with three penalties. Aberdeen had Ade Hales, Erlend Oag, James Knight, Will Wardlaw, Peceli Nacamavuto and Cam Eyre to thank for their touchdowns, with Mark Ryan bagging two conversions and a brace of penalties, and Alex Hagart guaranteeing the draw with a last-gasp goal after Eyre’s score in injury time.

Scorers: Stirling County – Tries: Deacons, Lamb, McGuigan, Edwards, Gilmour. Cons: Edwards (4). Pens: Edwards (3). Aberdeen Grammar – Tries: Hales, Oag, Knight, Wardlaw, Nacamavuto, Eyre. Cons: M Ryan (2), Hagart. Pens: M Ryan (2).

Stirling County: J Hope; G Lindsay, B McGuigan, D Gilmour, M Lamb; S Edwards, S Gillies; C Hutton, A Moffat, G Mountford, R Leishman, C Deacons, S Robertson, A Ashe, S MacDonald. Subs: S Raby, J Forrestor, E Dewar, B Barsanti, R Hogg.

Aberdeen Grammar: W Wardlaw; E Oag, P Nacamavuto, J Knight, A Hales; M Ryan, M Ward; S Corsar, S O’Connor, M Dixon, M Reid, Stuart Smith, M Douglas, C Eyre, G Ryan. Reps: S Bingham, A Wallace, T McGuiness, A Hagart, L Earle-Wright.

Referee: K White.