Stirling County women ready for crunch Corstorphine fixture in three-peat fight

It’s crunch time for the hopes of Stirling County’s women’s side to make it a Premiership three-peat as they head for a showcase fixture against runaway leaders Corstorphine.

County have scooped the Premiership crown in the last two seasons, but currently sit in second place behind the Edinburgh club with a record of nine wins and two losses.

One of those defeats came in September when Corstorphine claimed a 34-22 win at Bridgehaugh - a defeat County will be keen to avenge in the capital this weekend.

The match may also have some added eyes on it with all of the men’s domestic rugby leagues taking the weekend off with Scotland in action against Fiji in the autumn internationals on Saturday evening.

County head coach Mark Ainsworth is hoping the reduced schedule will see a bigger following come out for the women, but insists his players’ eyes are firmly on the tough task at hand.

Ainsworth told the Observer: “We were disappointed with our performance in the previous game, they thoroughly deserved to beat us at home and we know this is a match we probably have to win to have a chance in the top two.

“They put us under a lot of pressure in that game, their defence was really quick off the mark when we had the ball and at the breakdown with us in attack, we turned over too much ball and felt a little too disconnected.

“Hopefully the fact there are no other games on Saturday means we’ll get a decent crowd and it will get the size of attendance that this match really deserves.

“But the girls have their mind focused completely on the game and it will be the same processes in terms of our preparation.”

County bounced back last weekend with a dominant 88-5 win over Cartha’s Queens Park from a disappointing defeat in the match