Striling County 23 - 22 Melrose: Chalmers lost for long words but County deserve short neck win

Craig Chalmers was brutal, if terse, in his assessment of his side’s surprise defeat. “It was s***,” said the Melrose head coach before clamming up completely and making a hasty exit from Bridgehaugh.

In truth, County were deserved winners thanks to a first-half performance that laid the platform for victory. Their dominance in that first period built a lead that Melrose were unable to overhaul, despite a spirited fightback that had the home fans living on their nerves in the closing stages.

Brian Archibald kicked a brace of penalties to give Stirling an early advantage before Garry Mountford bulled over for the opening try. County played the vast majority of the first period in Melrose territory and it took the visitors until the 36th minute to make inroads, Andrew Skeen chipping over a simple goal. Stuart Edwards hit back almost immediately and stretched Stirling’s lead with a breakaway try from an interception, to which Archibald added the extras.

Melrose had to improve and they were much better after the restart, though it was County who again extended their lead when skipper Alex Moffat rumbled over the line. The visitors, however, finally stirred themselves into life, first Skeen, then Simon Webster and Fraser Thomson touching down, the fly-half converting two of the three to bring Melrose tantalisingly close.

A relieved County coach Eddie Pollock was full of praise for his men after the final whistle. “It was a real thriller. I thought our defence, especially in the last ten minutes or so, was excellent,” he said. “Our forwards were immense and made up for a poor performance last week. But we’ve still got Currie and Ayr to go before the split and we need to pick up more points.”

Scorers: Stirling County: Tries: Mountford, Edwards, Moffat. Con: Archibald. Pens: Archibald (2). Melrose: Tries: Skeen, Webster, Thomson. Cons: Skeen 2. Pen: Skeen.

Stirling County: B Addison; G Lindsay, D Gilmour, B Archibald, R Aitken; S Edwards, S Kennedy; M MacDonald, A Moffat, G Mountford, R Leishman, C Deacons, T Clarke, S Swindall, R Boswell. Reps: C Hutton, R Kennedy, S Robertson, M Doneghan, D Maw.

Melrose: F Thomson; A Dodds, J Murray, J Helps, S Webster; A Skeen, B Colvine; C Keen, R Ferguson, N Beavon, R Ovens, P Eccles, G Elder, R Miller, G Runciman. Reps: A Walker, R McLeod, S Johnston, S McCormick, C Murray.

Referee: N Paterson.