Club round-up: Jardine quits as Stirling County coach after team's relegation confirmed



Published Date: 23 March 2009
By David Kelso
IAN Jardine last night quit as coach of Stirling County after watching them lose their battle to survive in the top flight.

Jardine's side pulled off one of their greatest ever victories by beating Hawick 29-18 in the basement battle of Mansfield Park. However, because Edinburgh Accies and Watsonians also won, they hurtled through the trapdoor along with their hosts inheartbreaking fashion.

Jardine was quick to insist that he would have been leaving Bridgehaugh even if Stirling had dodged the drop. "I had already decided that three years was long enough in the job," he explained. "I am not sure what is happening in terms of who will take over, but I had made my decision at the start of the season that this would be my last year.

"Unfortunately, this is not the best way to finish, but we have a lot of good guys who will stand us in good stead. To get a win at Hawick was a fair achievement in itself, but we are obviously disappointed to be going down."

While County are accustomed to yo-yoing between divisions, it will be Hawick's first taste of life outside the top flight. "This was devastating result for the club," said spokesman Rory Hutton.

Alex Moffat, Ross Aitken, Graham Lyndsey and Ben Addison pounced for the Stirling tries – Brian Archibald bagging the rest with the boot. The Hawick tries went to Gary Johnston and Matt Landels, the kicking spoils being claimed by Craig Neish.

Elsewhere, Frazier Climo delivered the knock-out blow as newly crowned Premier champions Ayr won 22-19 in the cup and league double header over Currie at Malleny Park.

The contest looked destined to go into extra time – until Climo slotted a long-range penalty with the last kick.

He had already jumped to Ayr's rescue by converting his own try two minutes earlier. The other touchdowns for the seasiders came from Richard McCallum and Damien Kelly, with Climo kicking the rest. But Ayr's joy was diluted when they learned scrum-half Ally Macfarlane had suffered a broken leg.

Edinburgh Accies, Watsonians and Glasgow Hawks all ensured top-flight survival with home wins at the expense of West of Scotland, Selkirk and Heriot's respectively.

Hawks recovered from a shaky start at Old Anniesland to edge out Heriot's 35-30. Gavin Mories, Stevie Swindall, Craig Gossman and John Maclay went over to capture the bonus point, with Mike Rainey landing three conversions and three penalties.

Selkirk's hopes of claiming the runners up slot in their first season after promotion suffered a 35-14 dent at Myreside. Ben Di Rollo, Richard Minto, Mike Fedo, Tanna Saenna and James Johnston notched the hosts' tries, while Mike Ker kicked five conversions.

This article was posted on 23-Mar-2009, 07:56 by Hugh Barrow.