Stirling County 8 - 39 Glasgow Hawks: Visitors too strong

The scoreline might show a comfortable win for Hawks, but it's hard to know what to make of this encounter, given that both sides were peppered with professionals and, certainly in Stirling's case, players unknown even to their own fans.

Glasgow Hawks' George Horne scored his side's fourth try against Stirling County. Picture: John Devlin

Despite the fine conditions, the two sets of combatants contrived to produce a scrappy match that was littered with penalties, yellow cards and errors.

In the end, Hawks deserved the victory, having been first to get the scoreboard moving, when Josh Henderson scampered over, Grayson Hart converting, early on. Stirling pressure saw the deficit reduced when Jonny Hope nudged over a penalty, before Stephen Findlay bagged the visitors’ second touchdown late in the opening period.

After the break, Hawks improved and prop Grant Stewart sprinted in for their third try, Hart again on target with the extras.

George Horne got a fourth try before Rory Hughes crossed the whitewash as Stirling rallied but Hawks confirmed their superiority with late scores by Robert Beattie and Scott Rodgers, Horne converting both.