An early start and nearly a 3 hour journey to Ellon, for their Tournament. The Hosts were spot on with the fine weather, with good ground conditions and a nice wide pitch for Stirling County’s return to the rugby world.
And they did not disappoint. All credit to all of the players, having not played for along time and conditions not Brigdehaugh’s best. It not detract from them playing some sublime rugby. Yes there were areas of weakness, but their enthusiasm for play far out-weighed those.
U9
A round robin format was used for our age-group with 7 teams taking part.
Up first for County was Mackie, a good first test for the boys to play opposition, instead of teammates. It was though they had not been away. They remembered to do quick passing and straight running. Great to watch and with a 6-0 score line, a very pleasing first match.
Next up was Garoich, this was a tighter affair due to the lads not remembering how to tackle properly. 2 nil down within 2mins was not a good start. A short reminder on what was missing and wham!! tackling was back. Support play got better and we eventually ran out 4-2 winners. The wake up call was understood and they were ready for the next match.
Next matches were against both of the Ellon teams and they didn’t have an answer to Stirling’s fast passing / quick ball / out to the wings and constant pressure on the ball. County running out 7-1 and 6-0 winners.
Our last match was the decider for County; win this and we win the Tournament. No pressure, what pressure ? County completely destroyed Aberdeen Grammar 9-0. It was a brilliant display and credit to the boys; they really worked hard and well together. An excellent performance after a long lay off. Well done all. Stirling County retained the U9 shield for a second year.
U10
Due to some missing teams, the U10 tournament was based on a league format with 7 x teams with a single 10 x minutes per half.
1st game saw the hardest game of the day with a match against Highland. Stirling struggled to gain any consistency in the game and found their tackling wanting on a number of occasions. The game was end to end stuff however Highland proved able to control the game better and ran out 4-3 winners.
A quick turnaround saw Stirling face up to a physical Mackie side. Stirling this time were managing to better their tackling but again were found short on controlling the ball at the breakdown. Similar to the first match, the score ebbed backward and forwards with Mackie leading 4-3 with a few minutes to go. Stirling then put in a strong session of play and were attacking in the Mackie half when the ball broke loose and a breakaway from Mackie ended the match with a final try. Final score 5-3 to Mackie.
Next match saw Stirling come against our hosts, Ellon. The team now seemed to be in gear and began to show some promise with quick running and strong defence. A combination that Ellon found difficult to handle. Stirling piled on the scores from all areas of the field, ending up winners 9-0.
Now into their stride, Stirling faced up to Howe of Fife; continuing in the same vein as the previous match, Stirling found themselves 3-0 in the lead. Howe came back into the game and scored quickly, however this proved to be a false dawn as Stirling again began to dominate the game and ran out winners 8-2.
Our penultimate game saw Stirling up against Aberdeen Grammar. With their confidence back after the 2 good victories, Stirling scored easily and were soon 3-0 ahead. Aberdeen then began to fight back and were back in the game with a try in the corner. This seemed to spur on the Aberdeen side and they continued to attack Stirling with more and more confidence, eventually managing to score a further 2 tries. The matched ended in a 3-3 draw.
Our final match saw the team Garioch/Wanderers. Stung by the draw in the last game Stirling dominated the open play and with good interplay scored early and took a good 3-0 lead. Garioch managed to come back in the next few minutes scoring 2 quick tries and the game appeared to open up again. Both side traded tries and with time running out Stirling held onto a 5-4 victory.
In summary, a mixed day for the U-10s. Some strong running and support but we lost the 1st two games in the loose. Food for thought for the future to work on our tackling and improving our defensive play.
U11
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. That looked like being the story for the U11 team as they went into their final match at the Ellon tournament.
A slow start (where have we heard that before!) led to a 1-1 draw against Highland, in a game that County could have won. The team then went into their second match against Ellon and won 4-0, playing some good rugby and benefiting from spreading the ball wide. This game included a debut performance from a new recruit to the U11's and he made some tackles that will live long in my memory, let alone the recipients!
We went into the third match against Aberdeen Grammar, knowing that a win was critical. Aberdeen had been comfortable winners against Ellon and we knew they played with excellent continuity. Stirling showed good aggression combined with good use of space to run three tries in, without reply. It was another excellent performance.
Match 4. The group leaders Mackie were one point ahead of County in the tournament. This was the crunch game and it was an outstanding match to watch. The 0-0 scoreline doesn't do justice to some end to end attacking rugby and steely defence from both sides. The game was tense all the way through. Nobody could argue with the result.
And so we went into the final game thinking we were going to be runners up for the fourth time in four tournaments this season. But then, as we were 2-0 up against Howe, word came through that Mackie had dropped a point. It was all to play for. County played their most fluent rugby of the day, using the width of the pitch and ran in 6 tries. Again, great rugby to watch and another clean sheet. The whole squad had contributed fully through the day. 14 tries scored and only 1 conceded. That spoke volumes about the defensive teamwork from the boys. But was it enough.....?
Oh Yes! As the team lined up for the presentation, word came through that County were the tournament winners! Just reward for this squad and all the U11s who have trained so well through the winter. The boys should wear their gold medals with pride. OLE, OLE,OLE!
A big thank you to the supporters who travelled all the way to Ellon and to the tournament organisers for a thoroughly enjoyable day. The refereeing and hospitality were first class.
U12
1st game v Aberdeen Wanderers who were physically much bigger than ourselves and it was apparent from the kick off that we were rusty due to the layoff from competitive matches. However we were quickly onto the score sheet with a well worked try for a score in the corner. Straight from the restart Aberdeen lost the ball in contact and again quick ball through hand almost resulted in our 2nd try. Good work in the scrum allowed for a turnover and the ball moved quickly through the backs for the 2nd try of the game. A quick change at half time and County were off to better rugby resulting in 3 further tries in the 2nd half; final score 5-0.
Next up were Mackie who again were strong and adept with ball in hand a good well fought game play went from end to end with neither side conceding a score. Mackie were camped on County’s try-line but this was proving to be impregnable against the Mackie onslaught. Then came the try of the day; with a great box-kick and follow up to run half the pitch to score the only try of the game 1-0.
The final group game was against Highland who had bigger side than the other teams (and us). However our use of quick ball and the strength in the ruck created a platform for the backs to run at pace and run in some great scores. The final result being 4-0 to County.
We were into the final against the winners of group B; Aberdeen Grammar who (again) were a much bigger side than us. The County defence remained resolute and pinned Grammar back in their own half. The forwards provided a great platform for the backs to move the ball wide and this resulted in the 1st try of the game. Halftime came and the boys said what was needed to be done. From the kick off County were 2-0 up and confidence was high. After a stint of defence by Grammar, they were then camped on County’s try-line. They moved the ball wide got a well deserved try; 2-1 to County. Our boys regrouped and sucked in the Grammar defence, then moved the ball down the blindside for the final try of the game. The result 3-1 to County and thoroughly deserved victory for the efforts by the squad. Overall tries scores; scored 13, against 1.
