Stirling Clansmen 42 Caledonian Roughriders 12
 Four
touchdowns and two successful conversions attempts from Matt Westwater
capped off another great day at the office for the reigning British
Champions coming from behind once again to record a convincing victory
of over the British College League’s “New Kids on the
Block” at Airthey Castle Playing Fields.
Having been forced to move from their normal base
down the road at Gannochy Sports Centre, the Clansmen appeared to
have settled well into their new home which is situated within Stirling
University and with a scenic backdrop that would have been fit to
grace any Scottish tourist advert.
And so far they had been able to continue their
fine form at home from last year on their new turf after comfortable
season opening victory over Newcastle.
Now having clocked up three wins out of three so
far, Stirling came into today’s match (Nov 9th) as firm favourites
against a Caley side who kicked off their first ever campaign last
Sunday with a road loss to Sheffield
As in last week’s game against the Tigers,
the Clansmen were slow in getting of the mark and found themselves
in trouble after their opening drive, when a high snap resulted
in a panic punt attempt against the wind which came back to be downed
in the endzone bay Alan Cain to give the Roughriders a six points
lead.
The Clansmen were struggling to get their offense
in gear until the latter stages of the first quarter when a big
scramble by quarterback James Thompson brought the Clansmen to the
Roughriders 16 yard line.
The Stirling side appeared to be running into a
brick wall on their next set of downs until a run up the middle
from Mike McKenzie kept the drive alive.
And on the next play Westwater powered his way over
the goal line for a tying score.
The Clansmen survived a scare early in the second
quarter when Westwater lost possession after a another powerful
run up the middle, but the fumble was quickly recovered by O Lineman,
George Brand.
Minutes later Thompson fired his first touchdown
pass of the day, connecting with Carlos Yanes – Roca at the
far corner of the endzone to put the home side in front for the
first time.
The Roughriders failed to make any impact on their
next drive and were soon in trouble again when Thompson took to
their once again, firing a long pass to Yanes – Roca who managed
to keep control of the ball and take the ball home for another touchdown
with Westwater adding the two point conversion to make it 20-6 for
the Clansmen.
The Roughriders had a chance to get back in the
game, when the Clansmen turned the ball over during the final minutes
of the first half, but the drive stalled at Stirling’s 14
yard line, when Graham Porterfield was intercepted by Yanes –
Roca with seconds remaining.
 The
visitors could not have wished for a better start to second half
thanks to another special teams breakdown by the Clansmen on the
opening kick off, which was taken back up field by Ian McGowan for
a well executed touchdown.
But any thoughts of a comeback were soon dismissed
when Westwater turned on the pace once again giving his markers
the slip for his second rushing touchdown of the day.
The Clansmen were not playing with more confidence
and were threatening the goal line once again, when a terrific punt
return by Jeffrey Bryan was stopped at the visiting ten yard line.
The home side then ended the third period on a high
note when Westwater found a gap in the Caley defensive wall, blasting
through for his third touchdown and then ran into the opposite side
for another two point conversion to give the reigning champions
a commanding 34-12 lead.
It looked as that was going to the final score,
with both sides defences determined not to give up any more points.
That was until the final minutes of the match when
Westwater turned on the speed again, cutting inside for a fourth
touchdown with Stephen McLaughlin bringing in the conversion attempt
ending what had been a very rough day for the Roughriders.
GLASGOW TIGERS V STIRLING CLANSMEN
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