Stirling County 34 - 14 Boroughmuir

There is an incredibly fine line this season between success and failure, as there are still multiple permutations as to who will be relegated and who will be safe.

Indeed, Stirling’s victory both failed to guarantee RBS Premiership rugby next season while, perversely, also giving them an excellent chance of a British and Irish Cup place next year, if they can beat Dundee at Mayfield this coming Saturday.

County knew they had to win well, and they duly put their visitors to the sword with a solid performance in difficult conditions, the first half providing the platform for the bonus-point win.

A try after five minutes from captain Alex Moffat, the consequence of a barnstorming forwards drive, sent them on their way, with further touchdowns before the interval for Ben Addison and Byron McGuigan, the last converted by Brian Archibald, who also contributed a penalty.

What looked like a serious injury to Rory Scott following a collision with Jonnie Hope finally spurred Boroughmuir into showing some fighting spirit midway through the second period, and good work by the pack resulted in Neil Rodger going over, with Ali Warnock adding the conversion.

Stirling, however, quickly restored their advantage, and secured the all-important bonus point, when Archibald burst through the middle for a score he converted.

Jordan Edmunds gave the defeat a patina of respectability with a late sprint in under the posts, Warnock adding the extras, but it was little consolation.

Tim Clarke scored a very late try to rub salt into Muir’s wounds, Archibald again on target with the boot.