Boroughmuir 47 - 5 Stirling: Muir demolish County

Boroughmuir more than halved the eight-point difference between the teams to keep their hopes of escaping the relegation zone alive with only three Premiership games left to play.

Boroughmuir's Johnny Matthews. Picture: Graham Stuart/SNS/SRU

It was a systematic six-try demolition job – 23 points in the first 40 and 24 in the second – on a dismal Stirling whose capitulation means they are dragged closer to the relegation dogfight.

Boroughmuir’s pitch at Meggetland was booked out for an American Football match featuring the guys with crash helmets, so home advantage was foregone and the re-arranged fixture switched to an early kick off at Lasswade.

Muir started much the brighter on a chilly, overcast afternoon, creating field position for stand off Chris Laidlaw to kick three early penalties before Stirling even got their hands on the ball.

The green and navy pack were rampant for long periods but Stirling somehow survived the onslaught until their blindside flanker Harry Henderson was sent to the bin for pulling down a maul and, during the next attack, his opposite number Aubrey McCube crashed through the weakened defence for the game’s first try. Laidlaw converted. Stirling were soon restored to full strength but couldn’t prevent a surgical linebreak by centre Greig Cannie that took his team to within metres of the try line, where they stayed and kept the pressure on until winger Jordan Edmunds slipped through for the touch down. Laidlaw converted to keep the scoreboard ticking over and make it 23-0 at half-time.

After the interval Stirling upped their workrate but could get no change out of a solid Muir defence, who weathered the brief storm, waited patiently for an opportunity and seized it when the ball was fed to hooker Johnny Matthews, pictured, who carried tacklers over the line with him. Laidlaw converted.

An increasingly weary Stirling fought their way back into Muir’s 22 only to see winger Jordan Edmunds break out and run 50 metres before passing inside to Laidlaw who carried into the 22 but lost control as he went into contact. From the five metre scrum No.8 Rob Ure went over for the bonus point try.

The game was over as a contest but Stirling got some small consolation when prop Remy Cheis barged through to score. Muir still had plenty left in the tank as full back Grant McConnell and winger Mike Brown crossed, frustrating Stirling to such an extent that player-coach Peter Jericevich got himself yellow carded for preventing a quick penalty being taken which at least had the dubious merit of keeping the score below the half century.