Stirling County Under 18’s returned from Edinburgh last Sunday with their first trophy of the season, winning the Plate trophy at the Merchiston Sevens.
An opening round tie against the hosts second team was a hard fought affair with County caught cold and going behind by two tries in the opening half. A spirited response saw they score three tries without reply and looking as if they would move to the next round. However, some bizarre refereeing decisions resulted in a turnaround with the home side equalising twice and on the last play taking the lead to progress with County confined to the Plate competition. County can feel rightly aggrieved by some strange decisions, however, responded positively in the opening Plate match against Gala, running in a 41-0 score.
The semi-final against Loretto was a robust challenge with County having to match the physicality the Musselburgh based school side brought to the match. Again, County responded despite losing captain Scott Thomson to some foul play, winning 28-14 to set up the Plate final against Strathallan.
After a mid match flurry by the Perthshire school, County romped away with a handsome 31-19 victory to take the trophy.
Next Saturday, County travel south to Dumfries to take on the local side in a friendly match. With Dumfries in the National Cup Quarter final this will be a useful yardstick for the Stirling side.
