CLANSMEN EDGED OUT IN 50 POINT NAIL BITER

STIRLING CLANSMEN 24-STAFFORDSHIRE STALLIONS 26
(Pics C/O Isobel Hamilton)

A sudden death field goal from Stuart Wren was enough to clinch a nail biting come from behind win over the Clansmen on their own turf at Airthey Castle Playing Fields.

It what was a highly charged four quarters with a few unsavoury incidents thrown in for good measure,, the Clansmen cancelled out a Jermaine Allen touchdown with scores from Chris Martinez and Carlos Yanes Rocca giving Stirling a 12-7 lead at the break.

The Scots stretched their lead in the third with a second touchdown catch in two games from rookie, Jon Neilson.

Then the Clansmen appeared to step up a gear in the fourth cancelling out a second Allen touchdown with a 60 yard kick off return from Jeff Bryan, but Staffordshire’s running game plan made the difference with a touchdown from Quarterback Brett Rosenbaum and a two point conversion.

And despite a valiant effort to keep the English at bay during the final seconds, it was left to Wren to seal the points with a field goal inside the final 15 seconds.

As far as Bryan was concerned, it was the strength of the Staffordshire running game that made the real difference.

“They did not have anything on the passing game at all,” he said. “We are confident of passing against any team in this league. It was just their running game – it was tough time stopping it.”

"Everyone was exhausted in the fourth quarter. We had them on their heels but we were exhausted and they kept running through the middle. It was hard."

“There were some great tackles on defense. The guys were gang tackling a lot; they were flying to the ball playing passionately well.”

“Offensively we started off timid running the same play over and over but they then started to mix it up so it turned out OK.”

For the new look Clansmen, this was their biggest test of the season following their demolition of the Pyros last week.

And they soon found themselves under pressure on Staffordshire’s opening drive when Allen powered through the middle for the opening touchdown with Wren adding the conversion attempt for a 7-0 lead.

The Clansmen then made a lively start to their next drive when Martinez turned on the speed down the far side to the English 19 yard line.

Minutes later the Scots got a break on a long fourth down attempt when a pass interference call gave them a new set of downs at the 5 yard line.

And at the third time of asking, Martinez weaved his way through to the endzone to open the Clansmen’s account. But the English still held the advantage after a missed conversion attempt.