Stirling County 24 - 18 Gala: Guile sees Stirling to victory

There’s a panache about Stirling at the moment that buoyed them to another fine result over their title-chasing visitors. The bullishness comes off the back of good performances in last week’s win over Currie and recent good form in the Caledonian Cup.

Once more their confidence did much to carry them to victory, but they again had their formidable pack to thank. The forwards have been putting in barnstorming displays of late and were much to the fore in this encounter, getting the better of their opponents in the set piece and the loose.

It was Stirling, indeed, who were first to put points on the board, a jinking run from Graham Lindsay taking him through the Gala defence for a score that Brian Archibald converted. Craig Robertson hauled Gala back into it with a touchdown before Archibald added a further three points. A Danny Gilmour try stretched Stirling’s advantage, Archibald continuing his fine kicking display with the extra points, but Robertson again gave Gala hope with a score right on half time.

However, County skipper Alex Moffat restored his team’s lead straight after the break when he barged through the bodies to score, Archibald again converting. Gala’s resilience was rewarded when a spell of pressure brought a penalty that centre Lee Millar nudged over.

County’s ebullience, though, was not to be dampened and they stuck to their game plan to force the visitors back. Millar brought Gala tantalisingly close with an injury-time try but it was too late to affect the outcome.