County and Ayr win National Youth League Cup
Both Stirling County and Ayr were victorious in their respective under-18 and under-16 National Youth League Cup finals at BT Murrayfield today. In the under-18 final, County defeated Ayr 17-12 in what was a close affair between the two sides and a repeat of last year’s under-16 final, which resulted in a draw. The early exchanges proved difficult for both teams as they began to settle their nerves, Logan Trotter pushing a penalty wide for County in the opening ten minutes. It was Ayr who came away with the first points on the board, Jamie Roberts burst through the defence to set the ball for Robbie Smith who made his way over in the 14th minute.Stirling County soon responded with an excellent break from Harry Henderson to find Duncan Hendry in support for a score in the right hand corner before Trotter converted in the 21st minute.Impressive exchanges between the two teams made for entertaining rugby with a score of 7-5 at the interval giving both sets of supporters hope going into the second-half.Ayr came out firing after the break and minutes later blindside flanker Cameron Reece forced the intercept pass to canter towards the line for a try, Paddy Dewhirst adding the extras.As Ayr looked to be in control, County fought back with a score of their own through Wallace Nelson who sprinted over after sustained pressure from the forwards with Trotter converting in the 49th minute. Stirling County maintained possession for the remainder of the game and with three minutes to go, Trotter extended his side’s lead through a successful penalty attempt.Both teams gave it their all in the final minutes but it was Stirling County’s day after boot to ball forced the final whistle and celebrations erupted.Stirling County captain, Murray Anderson, said: “It feels unbelievable to have won and we always said at the start of the season that the National Youth League Cup was the one we wanted to win.Ayr presented us with a challenge today and I think we worked really well as a 15, we put bodies on the line and saw the game through to the end.”Full-time: 17-12Referee: Calum LazenbyPlayer of the Match: Conner Clark In the under-16 National Youth League Cup final, Ayr sealed the title with a comprehensive 36-13 win over Highland.Highland opened the scoring in the 14th minute through Jamie Carson who nailed a penalty after Ayr were caught offside.However, it was Ayr who managed to score the first try of the game with replacement Jack Harris getting on the end of impressive link play from Olly Mossie and Scott Clelland in the 18th minute. Both sides began to build momentum in attack but costly errors halted play on several occasions.Carson secured another penalty for Highland before a half-time score of 6-5 kept the BT Murrayfield crowd guessing.Minutes after the break, Ayr’s forwards drove on to secure quick ball, which lead to Jake Jacobson touching down and Jack Gaw slicing the posts from the left for the conversion attempt. Gaw then proved his impressive kicking ability by landing a penalty from the left touchline to extend Ayr’s lead in the 45th minute.Moments later, Jack McDougall crashed over for Ayr after Ollie Smith made the initial break with Gaw converting.Highland then gathered momentum and while in the 22, began to build promising phases before Jack Doherty sprinted for the line which Carson converted in the 63rd minute.However, Ayr soon mastered a plan of attack and scored two tries within minutes of one another to signal the close of play and Cup victory. Kerr Borland rumbled over before Cammy Black made the most of a break in midfield with Gaw converting both scores.Ayr captain, Rollo Press, said: “We are delighted to have won the game and to have scored so many tries.The team kept the pressure on throughout and we worked well as a unit to secure the win against a very good Highland side.Full-time: 36-13Player of the Match: Jack Gaw Referee: David Harvey The teams…National Youth league Cup under-18 finalAyr: James Baird; Mark Conlon, Calum Gaw, Harry Lynch, Jamie Roberts; Paddy Dewhirst, Angus Boyle; Gavin Hollins, Robbie Smith, Ruairidh Sayce, Tony Hall, Logan Richardson, Cameron Reece, Seth Rae, Alexander Howie CAPTAIN. Replacements: Stuart Collier, Patrick McCahill, Fyfe Paterson, Ross Arthur, Lewis Young, T J Bunten, Rory McMurray.Stirling County: Logan Trotter; Matthew Manners, Morgan Whitton, James Gibson, Andrew McLean; Kieran Gammie, Andrew Holdstock; Conner Clark, Liam Brymer, Ross Dunbar, Duncan Hendry, Ross Bundy, Wallace Nelson, Murray Anderson CAPTAIN, Harry Henderson. Replacements: Daniel Morrison, Jack Cowie, Ross Murray, Josh Cooney, Aiden Reddick, Cormac Wcislo, Ross Campbell.National Youth League Cup under-16 finalHighland: Angus Richards; Jack Doherty, Ryan Robertshaw, Matthew Grant, James Cook; Jamie Carson, George Hurst CAPTAIN; Joshua Ryder, Lewis Marshall, Fraser Weller, Tom Smith, Scott Dingwall, Cameron Kent, Ritchie Dinnes, Will MacNaughton. Replacements: Zach Fraser, Nathan Crush, Angus Wilson, Struan Gardner, William Moncreiff, Jacob Powell, Tom Neil.Ayr: Grant Hutton; Ollie Smith, Cammy Black, Jack Gaw, Chris Easton, Ross McCorkindale, Jake Jacobson, Jack McDougall, Scott Clelland, Craig Miller, Kam Beck, John Neil Mitchell Wyllie, Olly Mossie, Rollo Press CAPTAIN. Replacements: Jack Yuille, Jack Rennie, Declan Bryce, Jack Burns, Kerr Borland, Harry Ledgerwood, Jack Harris.
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