NATIONAL U16 BOYS CUP FINAL Melrose U15 v Stirling Country U15 - 14/12/25
With Thanks to the Offside Line for permission to reprint their match report
DAVID BARNES for the OFFSIDE LINE @ Murrayfield Stadium
RAZOR sharp finishing when it mattered alongside uncompromising defence provided Melrose with a hard-fought and well-deserved victory over Stirling County in a breathless Youth U16 Cup Final on the international pitch at Murrayfield.
The Borderers spent almost all of the second half mopping up Stirling pressure, but their mastery of tight forward play on the two occasions they got close to their opponents’ line yielded a crucial brace of tries at the beginning and the end of that period, which meant they remained in control of the match even if they didn’t have very much ball.
It was a mature performance, with captain Finlay Mitchell a French-style ‘little general’ at scrum-half and winger Thomas Redmayne deadly with his two first half tries. But it would be unfair and misleading to focus too much on the contribution of certain individuals.
Similarly, Stirling can hold their heads high for battling away to the end and not letting the inevitable frustration at working so hard for so long with so little reward dishearten them. Two-try No 8 Liam Baartman was official player-of-the-match, and they really did throw the kitchen sink at Melrose during that second-half, but ended up passing up a number of clear-cut scoring opportunities through loose final passes as fatigue and pressure took its toll.
“When we last played them we fell off in the second half and conceded a lot of points so we knew that we had to stay strong and I think we did that with a great defensive effort,” said Mitchell afterwards. “They came at us with real intent but fortunately our boys really soaked it up. We knew we had to fight for it and we did, and we got ourselves in the right places on the pitch.”
Head coach Cammy Shand added: “As a season, this has probably been a couple of years building now. We’ve had a core group of boys who have been together for so long now and they’ve worked really hard. With everything we’ve asked of them, they’ve risen to the challenge, whether that is in training or during games, they’ve just really come together and they’ve trusted in themselves and the methods that we’ve put forward to them, and it all came together today.
“The way they stuck to task and the way they just gelled together when under a lot of pressure is a sign of the boys’ maturity, and that’s from every boy on the pitch, from the first to the last minute of the game.
While Melrose play in regional Borders Town Conference, Stirling have spent the first half of this season adapting to life in the shark pool of the new Open Conference, where they have managed just a solitary win in their last of seven matches in that competition away to Strathallan last week. There is a strong – some would argue irrefutable – case for expanding the ‘Open Conference’ concept to include more teams as early as next season, and Melrose would appear to be an obvious choice for inclusion if the format is indeed expanded.
“The Breadalbane Melrose Academy has been a groundbreaker for us, an absolute groundbreaker,” said Shand. “It gives the boys so much opportunity to just train, to be on The Greenyards, to be working together, to learn new things. The academy guys between 14 and 18-years-old opt in to train with the academy on Mondays and Friday, then have two sessions as a team, so it has been an absolutely brilliant investment and we’re saw the benefit of that out there.”
A sweeping Stirling attack featuring some slick handling and several quick recycles – with left wing Sean Stark adding impetus on a couple of occasions – took play from halfway to the Melrose line, before the formidably built Baartman powered over for the opening score.
Melrose responded in quick order, and got their reward when Mitchell opted for a quick tap from an offside penalty in front of the posts to exploit a three-man overlap on the left, which saw Redmayne scuttle over. Mitchell’s conversion gave the Borderers a two-point lead with 15 minutes played.
The pendulum immediately swung back the other way, and Melrose did well to get bodies between ball and turf when Cameron MacPhee bulldozed under the posts.
So, instead, it was Melrose who struck again with just half an hour played, when smooth hands off a scrum on the County 10 metre line gave Redmayne an opportunity on the left, but he still had plenty to do, and the winger showcased quick feet, core strength and a real burst of pace to brush off the desperate cover defence on his way to the line.
Shand had to hit top gear again just before half-time, when he found himself in a foot-race after a clever kick Stirling kick ahead into his in-goal area. He had the lightning quick Lochlan Dodds breathing down his neck, but managed to keep his nose just in front to get the ball grounded and ensure his side turned around with a seven point advantage.
Melrose extended that lead four minutes into the second half, when a period of forward-generated pressure on the Stirling line culminated tight-head prop Ross Miller rumbling over,
Melrose full-back Euan Williams did well to make the try-saving tackle after Baartman had burst through the middle. Stirling showed good composure to keep grinding away, earning a couple of breakdown penalties along the way, but they couldn’t find a way through Melrose’s committed defence, and a dropped ball on the right eventually activated the pressure release valve for the team in black and gold.
Stirling continued to monopolise possession, and after another breathless passage of play, all that hard work finally paid off when they found themselves with players to spare on the left and captain Josh Olds took advantage for the inconverted try, which made it a seven-point game with 12 minutes to play.
And that deficit was cut to just two points when Stirling worked a cleaver line-out move, taking advantage of Melrose not competing to throw a flat ball at just above head height to the middle, which was caught as if to set up a maul, only for Baartman to break immediately on the open side and pile over for his second try.
The conversion was unsuccessful and the PA announcer felt compelled at this point to remind the crowd to respect the kicker, which prompted a big cheer and some animated gesticulation from the Stirling support towards the Melrose crowd, who had brought a giant base drum along with them and were full-throated throughout. The pantomime season has definitely begun.
Stirling were on the ascendancy but their hopes of securing a comeback win were snuffed out when Melrose made good use of their first real piece of possession in the second half to get within striking zone for hooker Finlay Brown to snatch the try which settled it.
Stirling came agonisingly close to a consolation score when Lewis Taylor went hard for the righthand corner with three-minutes left on the clock and then managed to push the ball back infield when he was brought down by a brilliant cover tackle from Kai Telfer, meaning Dodds only needed to pick up and flop over, but it was ruled that the ball had bobbled forward.
Teams –
Melrose: E Williams; F Shand (D McLaughlin 39), L Gillian (K Telfer 50), H McDougall, T Redmayne; R Little, F Mitchell; L Butler (I Stoddard-Shannly 39), F Brown, R Miller, R Newins, R Erwin, D Gunn, O Wilson, J Gillespie (M Brown 65).
Stirling Castle: E Saunders; L Dodds, B Holmes, F McAdam, S Stark; C Murphy, N Sansom; N Adefemi (S Douglas 20, C MacPhee 50), R Fraser, C MacPhee (L Taylor 39), H Kirk, J Rodger (H Brown 54), C Ward, J Olds, L Baartman
Referee: Tom French.
Scorers –
Melrose: Tries: Redmayne 2, Miller, Brown ; Con: Mitchell.
Stirling Castle: Tries: Baartman 2, Olds.
Scoring sequence (Melrose first): 0-5; 5-5; 7-5; 12-5 (h-t) 17-5; 17-10; 17-15; 22-15.
Photos courtesy of Reiver Photography & Bryan Robertson Photography
